I'm torn: is this useless and gimmicky or cool and useful? I've driven manual transmission cars for 35 years without one, but now it seems like a must-have.

Seems like a easy install and -- how did this get by ASAP -- it requires no coding by the dealer?!

 

When I first saw them I thought it was the coolest thing. However, now that I fought the urge to purchase and have thought about it for a while I don't think I would like it. Perhaps if you track your car often it would be useful but I imagine for daily driving it would become irritating seeing flashing lights at you all the time.

If I saw it in someone else's car though I would ooo and ahhh

 

I had a Focus that had a shift light to remind you to shift early and save fuel. So irritating! But after about 2 years I managed to ignore it. I would say for daily driver don't bother and spend $$ on something else.

If you track your car often, I think it would be rather useful... but again, I would rather spend the $$ on something else.

 

Does the car not have a tach? The Tach and the sound of the engine will tell you when to shift. If you are looking at lights to tell you when to shift then you need to practice some more. You will be a lot quicker and safer around the track without looking at silly lights.

 

I was considering picking this up but more I thought about it the more I thought it's cheesey.

 

fun light show but useless (I have one)

 

I have seen one in person and for me personally it is too much light in my face.

 

Mini need to come out with a steering wheel like the BMW Performance wheel for 3 and 1 series. I would be interested in that.



G-meter, a stopwatch with lap timing functions, a quarter-mile timer, an engine temp readout, and adjustable shift lights.

 

Check the light out on youtube videos and see if you like it.

 

there is a switch that can turn it off ,as its too bright at night

 

I was wondering about that.

 

I watched several of the you tube videos and it seems annoying to me. At $300+ it's certainly not cheap. If I really wanted a shift light, I'd just buy an aftermarket generic light and mount it on top of my tach.

 

Yeah, well, I think I'm going to take a pass on the shift light, mostly because I can use the money instead for a Garmin Nuvi with EcoRoute. Having navigation with lifetime traffic and map updates, PLUS the EcoRoute interface seems like a far more useful way to spend $250.