Forge Quick Shift...fitted

[lsc]

I Fitted the Forge front to back & left to right short shift kits a week or so back and I’m pretty pleased with the results, the gear changes feel a lot more solid as well as being a lot shorter, but, as I’ve said in another thread it has now highlighted another week link, the clutch pedal, I think the travel is too long and I would have liked to have adjusted the biting point to make operating the clutch pedal quicker, but apparently, like most other hydraulic systems it's none adjustable. But alas, nothing is ever ‘perfect’ there’s always something you’d like to improve about a mod, that’s the nature of modding…that’s my personal gripe, not everyone of course will come to the same conclusion...

I ordered the Forge Quick Shifters from JKM performance and managed to get free delivery as well: http://www.jkm.org.uk/performance/gearbox.htm

Here are some ‘before and after’ measurements I took so that I had hard data to confirm the improvements in the throw distance:

Front to Back:
OEM from neutral to 3rd = 55mm
With Forge kit fitted, neutral to 3rd = 38mm, a reduction of 17mm or 31%

Left to Right:
OEM from 1st to 5th (in neutral) = 73mm
With Forge kit fitted, 1st to 5th (in neutral)  = 62mm, a reduction of 11mm or 15%

The left to right Forge kit may seem less worthwhile as it only reduces the travel by 15% but as a complete package I think it works really well.

The front to back also reduces the distance from neutral to reverse from 65mm (OEM) to 50mm (Forge), not really important but every little helps!

It’s worth noting that I was a little disappointed with the quality of the finish of the front to back arm which is a cast alloy. The finish was very rough and I needed to use a fine file and some emery paper to smooth the surface of the arm that connects to the ‘E’ shape white plastic guide on the side to side arm as it was as rough as sandpaper and I’m sure would have worn away the guide after repeated gear changes and also would have made the shift action a little course. I intend to contact Forge about this as I suspect mine may have slipped through their ‘quality control’ and possibly shouldn’t have been like this. Anyway 5mins fettling and problem solved.

Another note, the Forge installation instructions (download here, right click and save as: http://www.forgemotorsport.co.uk/media/Short%20Shifter%20Install(1).pdf) suggests compressing the spring (at the end of the cable linkage that connects to the newly installed short shift arms) between your thumb and index finger and then releasing it to take any tension out of the cable before reconnecting it. I’ve not seen this mentioned on any other posts so make sure you do this.

Some Pics:

This is the view onto the gearbox (with air inlet box still in place), you can see the front to back shift arm with the shift cable attached in the middle of the pic:


Forge quick shift arm (front to back) on left with OEM arm on right:


Forge quick shift arm (left to right) on left with OEM arm on right, note the Forge arm is a VW part with a slot machined into it:


Forge quick shift arm sat on OEM arm to illustrate how the reduction in shift throw is achieved by positioning the cable connector pin closer to the splined pivot. The distance from the pivot to the cable pin on the OEM arm is 60mm, on the Forge the distance can be adjusted from 44mm (shorter action) to 68mm (slightly longer than OEM):


Forge left to right shift arm top, OEM bottom. The distance from the pivot to the cable pin on the OEM arm is 75mm, and on the Forge, the distance can be adjusted from 58mm (shorter action) to 70mm (still slightly shorter than OEM):

[Top Cat]

Very informative and a great write up.    well done. 

[SteveP]

Good work LSC 

Mods sureley this is one for the stickies in the maint. section ?

[SteveS]

mmm... as my gear changes seem to be clunky i may thinka botu doing it..

did u have to remove intake? easy enough for a novice?

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Taking bets now for who will be the first to ask about a quick shift for DSG. 

      

[bacillus]

Taking bets now for who will be the first to ask about a quick shift for DSG. 

      

TT could please you check your PM... 

[john_o]

superb very detailed writeup  

Many people have mentioned that at max adjustment (40%) the throw is too short and heavy/notchy
Are you at max ? or nearly (given the % change you have reported)

more things to buy  

[182_blue]

nice write up

[lsc]

mmm... as my gear changes seem to be clunky i may thinka botu doing it..

did u have to remove intake? easy enough for a novice?

SteveS, yes you have to remove the intake but it's dead easy to access after that. The whole install is very easy really, the toughest part was working the OEM front to back arm free from the spline, you just have to be very patient and be very careful, and take care not to damage/bend anything. Altogether it took me about 2 hours but I was taking measurements as I went and taking my time. If I was to do it again I reckon about ½ hour would cover it.

superb very detailed writeup  

Many people have mentioned that at max adjustment (40%) the throw is too short and heavy/notchy
Are you at max ? or nearly (given the % change you have reported)

more things to buy  

John_o, pretty much yes, I intentionally left about 2-3mm spare at the end of the slot on the front to back arm (you can see this in the picture) to make it easier to adjust whilst still fitted to the gearbox as the recess at the end of the slot blocks access to a spanner if set to to the shortest setting, but in hindsight I could have gone the full wack as the throw isn't too short after all. It could even handle being shorter. I think that the 40% reduction would apply to standard VAG 6 speed cars as I think the GTi and ED30 are already shorter than standard, the same as the S3.