I thought, I've posted this... but I was wrong. Back in mid Jan, I got my new shift knob from Raceseng. Raceseng do make good parts plus and they support 86/BRZ from the beginning, so I want to support their business much as I can.
As always, they pack their goods nicely.
They have new shift knob called Stratose. They have 3 different options, alcantara, perforated leather and solid leather.
I got with solid leather. Reason why I went to leather is, I love the feeling of leather when I'm driving.
It have nice weight compared to stock one. Built and leather quality is def nice. Design... could of been lil bit more better.
Here are before and after pics
Before:
After:
It's kinda hard to see it, but Stratose raise the shift knob position fraction higher, as you can see from this pic
Now, lets get down to the real talk here.
Price: Raceseng Stratose cost $180~$190, depends on material you go with. That price tag is more than TRD/STI shift knob ($170 or so). There are other universal leather shift knobs that's cheaper.
Quality: Stratose quality is superb, good weight on it... but better? Questionable. Stratose leather quality is good, but it's a bit thin for my liking. This sounds a bit horrible to say, but it feels like leather was painted on. Yes, I know, you can't "paint" the leather. It's that thin leather. Not sure you know this feeling, but there's no softness from leather when you squeeze the shift knob. From OEM shift knob, it have that feel and even TRD/STI shift knob have that.
Design: This vary, but raceseng make cool looking shift knob. My wife have Sphereology on her WRX and do love the design. It fits wife's hand and even my hand nicely. Stratose? Hm... can't same the same.
Conclusion: Is it good? Yes. Is it worth the price? For me, no. I hope they update and make better ones. When it does, I'll buy it again.