Back in May I bugged Onasled to make another short shift kit extension for me since I envied the one he made for his MINI. Onasled agreed and sent me a custom extension. I have been putting off the installation for some time (for no real reason), but I finally got around to it this past weekend.

Installation of the ALTA short shift kit is fairly straight forward. The most time consuming part is getting the MINI properly lifted and secured. Once installed, I proceded to install Onasled's custom extension. The extension threads onto the ALTA SSK and utilizes a set screw to prevent it from moving. Due to the length of the extension, it raises the shifter by 6 to 7" and returns the shift lever to just above stock height. When the ALTA SSK is set at it's lowest setting, the shifter is quite low. Using this custom extension gives you the nice short shifts you want, without having to shift by your ankles.

Here are some photos of the SSK with custom Onasled extension installed:





Pros:

• Allows for short shift travel without moving the shifter too low
• Looks very "trick"
• Allows use of a variety of shift *****
• Solid, one piece design

Cons:

• Top of extension is not threaded (would be nice, but not totally necessary)

 

Very cool! I'll have to contact him about possibly getting one.

 

I am curious why you wouldn't get the Helix SSK since that one does not shorten the height at all? either way it works!

Mark

 

I think I am going to use this to raise the shifter closer to the level of the steering wheel. This will make it higher than stock, but it will have shorter throws than stock.

 

The Whalen **** increases height about 3/8 to 1/2 an inch, if memory serves correctly. Also, not all short shift options lower the ****. Ones like Helix's and Rogue's (the one I currenlty have) maintain stock height. Matched with something like the Whalen, one gets throw reduction (about 20%), plus a **** that's closer to the wheel, not further...

 

~40% shorter throws without reaching down by my knees to shift. Shifts are really quick now.

 

Thanks for the feedback Chris.
Just got back from having my butt kicked at the Glen, but had a great time.. . Seems like everyone there had a race car ...

I'm not out to sell these things as I've said before, I make no money on them.
The reason I'd go with this extension rather then the Helix is that you have the Alta adjustability and the ability to drop the lower portion of the shifter so low that it can rub the heat shield (but you don't want to do that). Your getting a short throw and also keeping the **** close to the wheel. With that Alta shifter you can also angle the lever towards the wheel witch puts 1st gear very close.
I can make these to any length, so if you have an Alta, just measure where you'd like that **** to be, remembering that you can spin that lever.

Greg V

 

I believe throw reduction is defined as the distance one's hand moves from shift point point to shift point, like 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc...

So if stock is let's say 5" for a given shift distance, then a 20% throw reduction would make it 4". There are two ways to achieve such a reduction: lengthen the armature below the fulcrum (in the tunnel), or shorten it from above (what we see out of the shift boot). The opposite, an extension on the shifter, increases the throw distance, and while that is not desirable typically, the positives are that less force is required to change gears, and of course less distance traversed from the steering wheel to the ****...

With the Alta, as onasled just mentioned, one can really walk the line with this approach by maxing it out down below (right up to the heat shield), and then take it up to closer to the steering wheel.

Making the stock shifter a couple or so inches taller would probably bring me back to near stock throw distance, however with the aforementioned two positives. Another negative about going longer from below is the strain on the linkage. There have been reported issues due to the increased angle of the connection point, so getting max throw reduction at the bottom does come with that caveat. Oh, so many trade-offs...

How about a huge bus steering wheel that would be a couple inches from the shifter .

 

Onasled,

How can we go about getting one?