The Dolomiti Shifter install has been completed and I have given the car and shifter a good shakedown with quite a few miles on it, so time for some impressions (I'll split this into a two sections (Install and Impressions)):
Install:
Install was fairly straight forward, took about a day to remove the old shifter and get the new one in, adjusted, and then out for a test drive. So if you have one, set aside a day or so and just take your time. I HIGHLY recommend viewing the videos Manuel (
@dzcmnl) created on YouTube on setting the shifter adjustment once installed, he goes through in good detail how to set everything up once you're ready for that part (no instructions on installing the shifter itself, but I'll touch on that now).
Videos Here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbD6Xhzpprh66oeuGy41H_Q
For actually putting the shifter in, it's pretty straight forward, the shifter comes in two sections (the front with the shifter, and the hand brake side). Usually you would have the two pieces separated and install the shifter side first, and then install and attach the hand brake side to the shifter side. Being me, I did it slightly different. I had the full shifter connected, but removed one of the sides of the hand brake and slid the wires in that way and then connected it together, it worked well and gave me plenty of space to sort the wires, get the block/cables in, hand brake in etc..., or you can install it the traditional method of both pieces being separated and combining them, either way works. Picture for reference of how I installed mine by removing one side:
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Lastly for the install, here's the settings I did for the throws, I went with the shortest throw distance. However, for the cross gate distance, I went a tad shorter than the longest throw on the cross gate (I don't like cross gears being super close, but personal preference), here's pictures of that:
Throw (Shortest Throw):
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Cross Gate (Just a tad down from the longest setting):
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Shifter Feel and Driving Impressions:
Alright, the actual reason you're reading this (or skipping the above), what are my thoughts... Quick background, I've had the car now for almost three years with the Inokinetic shift cables I installed the first year I got the car, other than that, Stan's Mod, and Inokinetic front/back engine mount inserts (Side note, seriously, add the inserts, they make a huge difference even with the stock transmission), the rest of transmission is stock. After giving it a good shakedown and putting quite a few miles on it here the last two days, going through all gears, up shifts, down shifts, heel toe, etc... Well... It's absolutely freaking fantastic!
I honestly can't say enough nice things about this shifter, the feel compared to stock is just outstanding. Gone is the vagueness and sloppiness of the stock shifter when putting it into gear from my perspective. The shifts just click into gear now and are so much tighter. I can't stress enough how much better it is in terms of of it being a much tighter and direct shift than stock for myself. It just feels so good going into gear. On top of that, having a shorter throw makes such a huge difference, and it being on the shifter side just makes it easier to adjust if needed, unlike the LETSLA. Every time I shift now it just feels so direct and precise. Don't get me wrong, it's still a Lotus cable shifter so it doesn't solve every issue that presents, but it tightens it up at the least and transformed the shifting for me. Let's not forget about how well its engineered and built too, Manuel did an amazing job designing and putting this together, and the time and effort he put into this product to perfect it shines through from the moment you get it. It is an extremely well built piece of work and what an awesome contribution to the community!
Out with the old and busted and in with the new and shiny:
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Thanks for reading my jumbled thoughts, big shout out to Manuel
@dzcmnl. The product he built is top tier and the engineering of it is so precise and so smooth, it really is a huge step above stock (can't comment compared to the Inokinetic one, but maybe
@me73 can provide that comparison if he installs his).
Let me know if you have any questions, but in summary, Dolomiti Shifter is absolutely amazing, can't say enough nice things about the shifter and the way it feels and Manuel himself for making it and supporting it!
