Review on 45043 Precision Sport Shifter by Ron Long

Got this as a Christmas present from my wife, finally got around to installing it. First, let me walk you through the installation process. MY GOD! if you think you can put the combination key under the car to remove the rubber boot. no You can not. We had to get a special wrench with a flexible head and remove the sensors and such to gain access. it was a very annoying part of the job. At one point we had a 13mm deep head on the gimbal, 2 extensions, another gimbal, another extension and finally a ratchet. After we removed the rear right hex bolt from the top, it found itself underneath the metal frame, so we had to support the gearbox to get to it. We ended up removing it so we couldn't remove it so we had to cut the plastic off. to remove it, fortunately, this part was not needed. Installing the new derailleur was fairly easy and reassembling took a lot of effort screwing under the car for the trunk. The shifter works as advertised, shifts are smoother and shorter than factory. This seems to be wrong. I can still shift through all the gears but 1-2 feels almost in the middle, 3-4 is a bit higher so slips are a lot easier to shift than factory. 5-6 and R are pretty much over so no problem. That's not bad and of course you can get used to it, but it not only closes up and down, but also left and right, which in my opinion is almost too short. I suspect that in intense scenarios it's quicker to shift almost straight into 3rd, so maybe that's intentional, but just something to watch out for. I've read from others that installing an extra centering spring can help line it up better, but why not just install it first? Another thing I noticed when in gear is that the stick flexes a bit, maybe half an inch backwards. and further. Not sure if it was there before or if it was somehow muted by the stock change, but it feels a bit. not loose, but not tight in gear for some reason. So for the money this is a great addition to the GTO, allowing you to shift faster and smoother while still maintaining the stock look, which I like. Has some quirks with alignment and may need some tweaking to get it perfect and don't be fooled by the instructions, getting under the car and removing the bolts is no small feat.