Stark Performance Paddle Shifter Extensions
 

***UPDATED PRICING: See our thread in the vendor classifieds here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...65#post2417265***

***We are now offering an exchange service for those that purchased the original hand made paddles that wish to upgrade to the new injection molded design. PM for details.***

We are pleased to present our final iteration of the Stark Performance paddle shifter extensions for the FR-S and BRZ. Some of you may have heard of or even own a set of these that were made by hand. Since demand was more than we could keep up with, we decided to invest in $erious tooling to get these produced more efficiently. The quality is top notch and still made here in the USA.

Made from durable ABS plastic and finished in satin black, our paddle shifter extensions give a clean, OE quality appearance while improving the overall driving experience. Excellent ergonomics in both shape and feel make this an excellent addition to any ride with factory paddles.

One of the advantages of having plastic parts that are touched regularly is that plastic has a relatively low coefficient of thermal conductivity. The human body is incapable of detecting temperature, but can detect heat transfer. When something feels hot, it is simply warmer than the part of the body that is in contact with it. The temperature differential results in heat transfer through conduction. This is also why alcohol feels cold. The evaporation of the alcohol absorbs heat as it phase changes from a liquid to a gas. Metals also feel hotter or colder to the touch than plastic because metals transfer heat at a faster rate than most other materials. This is one of the reasons why modern automobiles use non-metallic parts for surfaces that are touched frequently and why these extensions are plastic as well.

From the outset, we decided to design these so that they are easy to install and prevent permanent damage due to installation. As such, adhesive was chosen over set screws or a two piece sandwich design with visible screws. The adhesive we use is a 3M VHB that has a long term temperature tolerance of 300 degrees and a short term temperature tolerance of 500 degrees. As such, the adhesive maintains an excellent bond at the elevated temperatures the interior of a car can reach when parked in the sun on a hot summer’s day. This stuff isn't the body molding tape you find at your local parts store that becomes gummy and loses adhesion when the interior starts to get hot. Therefore, it is nowhere near as cheap as one might expect. Several other adhesives were tested and found to perform poorly in comparison despite being rated for the expected conditions. The adhesive we use is also die cut to match the shape of the paddles and makes installation a breeze.

Here are some pictures of the latest iteration of the paddle shifter extensions:


To see our classified thread, please go here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...65#post2417265

Have you considered offering a group buy price or any special deals for forum members?

Yes, my dealer, API Motorsports in Taiwan is running a group buy for his customers right now. I am certainly not opposed to my dealers running group buys if they wish.

These have been released for a while now no? I believe it didn't have the logo on them (which I would personally prefer)

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Correct. They were previously made by hand and I couldn't keep up with the orders.

I was going to ask the same thing. $86 dollars is quite high for just some ABS and 3M tape. A group buy may be a bit hard to fulfill though, esp also since its only for AT drivers, which not that many exist compared to manual. I am def interested, but the price does not really show the value in my opinion.

Since introducing the new, injection molded design, we have reduced the price. Please see our classified thread here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...65#post2417265

In addition, we are offering those that purchased the original hand made paddles an opportunity to upgrade to the injection molded design for free. All you have to do is send us the original paddles and cover shipping of the new design back to you. It's our way of saying thank you for your support. :)