RaineMan

Hey all... as promised... my thoughts on the Hurst shifter.

After driving and racing with the Hurst installed... I must say I'm thoroughly impressed with it. I wouldn't call the shifts "shorter" necessarily... I would call them more direct. For daily driving and in traffic the shifter does a fine job... but get in a race situation and this thing really shines. You can slam this thing as fast and hard as you want to... it is fast and smooth... no chance on missing the 2-3 shift as I have done a few times at the strip (how embarassing). It also won't fall apart on you (like the crappy plastic stocker).

The other nice thing about the Hurst is the feel. I found the stock shifter difficult to get a comfortable grip on b/c of its triangular shape. The ball on top of the Hurst is perfect. Grab it from the top... grab it from the side... it dosen't matter... the ball fits comfortably in your hand and you feel much more connected to the car. Between my new Bwoody solid mounts and this shifter I really feel like I've got a new car again. It's more connected, more soild... just a feeling of raw power that wasn't there before.

Unfortunately there are two marks for this shifter on the negative side of the line right now... one of which may change... one of which is gonna stay there.

First... the knob on this thing gets HOT. I've got tint... I always keep my sunshades in the windshield... and the knob will still scorch my hands when I first get in to drive home from work. I followed the suggestions of some intelligent person on the boards here and put a hat over the shifter when I park the car... this keeps it cool enough to touch in the afternoon heat. To anyone looking at this shifter... definately do so.

Secondly... 5th and Reverse can sometimes be hard to find. The shifts are shorter so 5th is no longer all the way over and up... it's really over about where 3rd used to be... so it takes a little practice to be able to get in there. The same goes with reverse... if you go all the way over with the Hurst you're off in nowhere land... reverse is about where 4th is on the stock shifter. Sometimes I have a problem hitting these gears... just b/c they are in a different place. I'm hoping that this will change with a little more practice.

That's pretty much it. To anyone thinking about getting the Hurst... I say go for it... it's worth the money (cheap) and you'll love the feel.

Mattman6

Also in the winter that Knob will be cold as ice lol. I used to have a knob like that in my old probe. I really want to get a STS but money is tight right now. Nice review man!!

an0malous

your shifting issues are due to improper cable adjustments,
if you dig in there and play with it a while you can get it to feel exactly like stock

I do agree with the temperature of the knob though

wombat

I completly agree with everything stated above, but as an0malous said, you can play with the wires to get it to feel like stock...becuase my fifth and reverse are both where they were before.

On the heat part, take a white sock and stick it on there! Works like a charm, for heat, or cold...Looks a bit silly, but hell, if you ever lose a sock, you know where to find it!

syP

absolutley no problems with mine.. i guess i got lucky.. 5th and reverse are PERFECT..


yes mine gets super hot.. thats why i carry a (clean) shop towel/rag in my car... i just put it over the shifter and drive.


Also.. forgot to note, i had to put some rubber washers under the knob, because when i tightened it down, the 1-5-R diagram was facing 180* the other way.

Herndon_High_SS

You might of just sold me on getting a STS. I just wish there was metal bushings like another company offered...

RaineMan

If you check in the instructions... there is a way to fix that.

Simply put the knob on and turn it until it faces normally... then you loosen the piece that holds the lockout spring in until it snugs up right under the knob. You can then tighten the knob all the way down and it will be straight.

It took me a few tries... but it worked perfectly.

As far as the metal bushings go... I don't see what advantage they have over the stock ones.

RedEcotecSS

Raine, i took mine out and tried to tighten it so it would stop that left-ward movement it has in it, but i had no luck. The one I need to tighten is that one in the black 'pivit' ball, right?

1gmfanatik

You only adjusted the one cable when installing the shifter. The cable that made it so that you could get her in Reverse and 5th, the other cable is the one you need to adjust so that you don't have to go WAY to the right for 5th. lol...I believe that's the issue at hand, I did the same thing. I'm not too worried about it though, it's not like I'll be power shifting into 5th and if someone steals my ride, they won't be able to find 5th which will limit their speeds. LMAO

RaineMan

Yeah... that set screw is the one that needs to be tighter.

If you can't get it we'll hook up sometime in the next week or so and I can take a look at it.

Maybe need to run to the hardware store and get a new set screw for it... it's a pretty common part... should be fairly easy.

Yeah... I only "adjusted" the cable that I had to unhook to pull the stock shifter out. The other one is just fine. I'm honestly not too worried about it b/c as you pointed out it's not like you powershift to 5th anyways.

Herndon_High_SS

The metal bushings are supposed to tighten up the feel of the shifts even more. Thats why I wish a vendo would make them.

CTCOBALTSSS

Congrats man. I just installed mine yesterday and I agree with you.

It's not really shorter just tighter and more direct. I like it.

When you screwed the knob down all the way was it sitting upsidedown?
Mine was. I had to loosen it a little and lock-tight it up that way.

RaineMan

Ouch... you lock-tighted it? Mmm... all you have to do is loosen the screw-on piece right under it... then tighten the whole thing back down. It says so in the instructions.

CTCOBALTSSS

I used the blue lock tight. It's plyable, it's not stuck on. I can take the knob off anytime so I will go give that a whirl. Congrats again.

mIkeyG312

Just installed mine yest I loveee it especially wen getting on the car it goes in gear so nice and ur deff right about 5th and reverse

CTCOBALTSSS

I just did that. It worked. Now the knob fits perfect, no locktight.

No doubt. 5th is very close to third now and reverse is way over to the right.

RedlineBrian

My fifth gear is quite far off from third. Mine shifts great. Nice and smooth.

mIkeyG312

Yea I was just adjusting the cables a lil now and 5th is were it used to be so its good now shiftss really nice I had no idea at first u had to adjust them so wen I put it in at first I thought I did something wrong cuz I couldn't get first and 2nd gear

RaineMan

what cable did you adjust to make 5th/rev easier?

stealththx

The cable on the left side. Pull underneath the clip towards the front of it to release it and push down on the clip to lock it.

Well, I am almost done installing the Hurst shifter and I have run into a few problems. First let me start off by saying the reason I replaced the stock shifter is because the shift knob kept popping off then a plastic piece finally broke off and I got stock in 3rd in my driveway (thanks GM). Alright, so everything has gone alright besides the hex screw they give you to prevent the shifter from twisting back and forth. At first it wouldn't go in all the way so I had to torque the hell out of it to secure it on the flat spot on the rod. I ended up stripping it out and used a torx bit to tighten it down the rest of the way. Of course as soon as I get the damn thing installed it comes loose and now it twists back and forth. Tomorrow I am going to pick up a longer screw and tighten it back down. Adjusting the cables took a little while and I ended up getting it set great with the exception of using the Dremel to file down the plastic so that I can get it into reverse easier. The reverse lockout works good but like I said I am going to have to use the dremel to get it to where it needs to be.

All in all I think for $160 I am very dissapointed with the whole thing. I think when you are spending that much for something that was not relased on time to fix problems by Hurst then there should be no problem at all installing it and getting it going. I really can't comment on the performance of it yet but as far as the install a little modifying may be necessary which to me is unacceptable. IMO the only reason you need to buy something like this is if you stock shifter breaks and you need a replacement otherwise the stock setup should be left alone.

1gmfanatik

I don't know how you had so many issues with your install. Mine goes into reverse as well as 5th quite easily. You have to adjust the cable that you disconnected, then try to put her into reverse as well as 5th and keep making adjustments until she goes in smoothly. Adjusting the other cable will make it so that you don't have to move the shifter far right, then bring it back to get it into 5th such as I do as of now. lol...

When changing something like this out, you have to expect to make some adjustments, it's not product issues, it's installer issues. No offense.. I did not have to dremel anything.

stealththx

Yeah, I was adjusting the cable for awhile and finally got pissed and busted out the Dremel. I know I could have eventually gotten it without it but it was about 3 in the morning and I didn't have any patience. I just shaved about 1/8" of plastic and it works great. I am still not happy about the set screw that connects the pivot ball coming loose.

Did you have any issues with that? I read something about somebody tapping a bigger hole in there but I'm not sure what size I would have to get.

Deathscythe

quick question though, when I bought my car it came with a "short shifter". Do all ss/sc's come with a short shifter? and if not, then what is the difference between the two? I have gotten used to the feel and throws of my shifter and it doesn't feel that bad. The throws seem to be a little distant, but not nearly as bad as my cavalier. Even in hard shifting, I have not had a single issue with the shifter.

an0malous

yeah the ss/sc is a shorter shifter to begin with.
but these are just shorter than that

thumbs up for the hurst from me too

havent missed a quick shift to third since i bought it.

Deathscythe

cool thanks