New RACING short shifter from Individual Racing Parts

[Tor]

I just got a new short shifter from IRP-Germany (Individual Racing Parts - www.irp-germany.com). I put "racing" with capital in the title to avoid confusion. It’s not the ordinary “short-throw” modification. This is a full replacement of the shift lever, that not only reduces the throws but reduces the distance between the steering wheel and the shift lever.

If you think it's ugly or looks impractical, it's not for you! Personally, I find it beautiful. This is what it looks like:



It's made by a German company called IRP-Germany. They have been making short shifters for BMWs for many years. Someone in Germany approached IRP to get them to make a shifter for the FT86. There was quite a lot of writing about in on the German forum where it caught my interest.

Those the know the CAE shifter will see that it is similar in principle. The good news is that the IRP shifter will install without any visible cutting of the center console and it will fit below the stock shift boot.

Another good new is that it's less than half the price! In Germany, it's 450€ vs 1000€ for the CAE. 1000€ was simply out of my budget. Looking at the top quality of the IRP shifter, I can't see a justification why I should pay double the price for a product with similar functionality either.

For me personally, the price of the CAE and having to cut my center console were both no goes. I am sure there will be others who had the same reason like me.

Here some pictures:





Unboxing:



Stolen from the German forum, this is what it looks like installed (not my car). Pretty stealth:




As always, time is an issue for me. I hope to get it installed in the next month or so. Unfortunately, the season will have ended by then, and I probably won't drive it on track until next year. I will give my impression on driving it on the street, though.

[Icecreamtruk]

Very interested in how it feels after installed.

[ryoma]

how do you get into reverse?

[Tor]

A picture is worth a thousand words, here 25 pictures per second.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx8tc1xYsb8"]IRP short shifter, teaser - YouTube[/ame]

[Venom1506]

Do they have a website?

[ryoma]

oh wow that reverse button is pretty cool lol

[Teseo]

Any chance they got the "stock version" (regular height)?

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Venom1506

Do they have a website?

Yes but it's in German. Though it's pretty self-explanatory.
http://www.irp-germany.com

Originally Posted by Teseo

Any chance they got the "stock version" (regular height)?

There is just that one version. I am sure it's not as simple as just chopping it down. There is probably a lot of geometry to consider. A shorter version would kind of defeat it's purpose too.

Personally, I think the stock shifter is fine with regards to the throws. Hence, I never bothered to get one of the short throw modifications. The main thing for me is to bring the shifter closer to the steering wheel. Doing so requires a real short shifter like this because the geometry is changing.

This shifter will bring the top of the shifter in level with the lower edge of the radio. Go and sit in your car with your hands 9-3 and try to move your hand to an imaginary shifter that's just below the height of radio. That's just so much more natural. That's why race cars with sequential gearboxes have shifters up at this height.

I have the armrest option installed and can shift gears without moving my arm away from the armrest. I was a bit worried about how it will work daily driving myself too. But I decided to take the jump anyway. In the end, I assume it's just a matter of habit. Obviously, I will know more once I get it installed.

[Venom1506]

Damn they don't ship to California

[ryoma]

bummer that they don't ship to Cali... my kartboy was half the price of this so it looks like a really good deal for a legit short shifter. I really liked the CAE but the expensive price tag steered me away. keep us updated on it after you install

[djwishbone]

Wow, I love this. It looks a bit out of place, but seems to be designed well and I never understand why most people wanted their shifter lower. If anything I usually want it higher, this is an extreme example, but I can see the obviously benefits of having it closer to the steering wheel. Any US distributor?

[NLSP]

Seems like they don't ship to the US or Canada

[churchx]

I'd be more happy to rather see something like this made for our cars. Not full sequential gearbox, still needs clutchwork, just shifting pattern conversion mod, but also at way more reasonable budget unlike real sequential gearboxes.

[The Racers Line]

Very nice, I have something similar designed, but haven't figured out my reverse lockout yet. I would love to try this thing out though.

A customer of mine is racing in Germany currently, I wonder if he can bring it back for me....