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Shiftknob choice or a perceived performance advantage isn't a placebo or anything like that, it's a preference. It's the object that your hands interact with the second most on the entire car.
Some people want different shapes or stuff that looks cool, and some people want either heavier or lighter knobs. Again it's all preference. Aesthetics aside, there is some obvious physics to go along with a heavier or lighter shift knob. It's just like swinging a heavier or lighter hammer. A lighter knob is going to be able to start moving easier, but isn't going to have the momentum through the shift of a heavier knob. This will completely change the way your shifts feel and can sometimes be the difference between something that is very notchy or buttery-smooth.
I find that most people prefer a heavier weighted knob on cars equipped with short shifters. With the change in mechanical advantage of the short shifter it requires an increased effort to get into gear. The heavier weight (and extra momentum gain) from a weighted shift knob can alleviate that increased effort, and really changes how the shift feels.
The weight will also change the way you feel the vibrations from the transmission coming through to your hand. More weight = more damping. I barely feel anything with my weighted knob, but I sure do feel a lot when i switch to my delrin knob.
So there is a ton of preference and aesthetics in shift knobs, but there is also a method to the madness and some not so obvious physics at play. Don't forget how these metals react to temperature changes. A very large metal shift knob will get hot when its very hot out, and it will get cold out when it's very cold out due to its large thermal mass. A delrin knob or plastic or even glass knob will be more resistant to these temperature changes, but usually won't have the weight advantage (or disadvantage if it's not your thing).
We carry both weighted stainless knobs, and delrin shift knobs for that exact reason. But if you want the best of both worlds look at Raceseng's lineup of knobs, as they have weighted delrin in some pretty sick designs.
Chase
Engineering
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