Miata Roadster Short Shifter after I.L. Motorsport shifter

The American · Postby **The American** » Sun May 10, 2015 8:53 pm

I made an interesting discovery when replacing the I.L. Motorsport short shifter on my 2003 NB with a Miata Roadster shifter. Interesting and slightly painful.

Manufacturers of short shifters for NB's have to deal with a change in shifter design half way through the model run. The change is related to the size of the ball on the lower end of the shaft and the size of the bore into which the bush around the ball must fit. Miata roadster know this, and supply a bush to fit the space (based on a cut off at a certain VIN).

When I removed the I.L Motorsport shifter and tried to install the Miata Roadstershifter, the Miata Roadster bush wouldn't fit all the way down into the housing.

About this point I realised there was a metal ring inserted (press fitted?) in the shifter housing to accept the I.L. Motorsport bush and that was preventing the Miata Roadster bush from taking its place.

Then followed Drillbits, grease to catch filings, cursing, sacrificial chisel to split the metal bushing. Painful.

The Miata Roadster tall angled shifter is installed now, and it is brilliant. "Snick,snick".

The wreckage of the I.L. Motorsport shifter is spattered about the garage - be warned! Reversing one of these is not easy. Reversing the Miata Roadster version is simple.

Trackphotos · Postby **Trackphotos** » Sun May 10, 2015 10:12 pm

Good to know. I'm planning on ordering the tall angled MRSSK once DIYAutotune admit my ecu was defective and give me a refund. Heard nothing but good things about them, gotta wait until July for it to actually arrive though

The American · Postby **The American** » Mon May 11, 2015 9:37 am

I've got the tall, angled version. I was expecting it to be angled towards the driver (at perhaps 4 or 5 o'clock), but it's actually angled towards the steering wheel at 3 o'clock. The angle and position works well and doesn't come close to fouling anything. I does look a little odd with a factory shift knob. It might look better with a knob that is round.

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:32 am

Both the MR short SSK and long-angled SSK are a big step-up from the MSM/SE 6-speed stock shifter and after owning both, I MUCH prefer the long-angled SSK, finding reverse is easier with the long-angled version (the short version not as good but still better than the stock shifter - with the stock shifter I used to fail to engage reverse about 1/3 of the time).

The long-angled version definitely deserves a Voodoo knob, it doesn't accentuate the angle as much and allows you to place your hand on it in the most natural position.

madjak · Postby **madjak** » Mon May 11, 2015 12:33 pm

The American wrote:I've got the tall, angled version. I was expecting it to be angled towards the driver (at perhaps 4 or 5 o'clock), but it's actually angled towards the steering wheel at 3 o'clock. The angle and position works well and doesn't come close to fouling anything. I does look a little odd with a factory shift knob. It might look better with a knob that is round.

I installed my MR SSK on the weekend. Tall angled as well and I think it places the knob in the perfect spot up close to the wheel. I have a spherical white nylon shift knob and it feels great in the hand. Nice and light and it also means it stands out in your peripheral vision.

Trackphotos · Postby **Trackphotos** » Mon May 11, 2015 5:27 pm

I got a gloss black voodoo knob a month or two ago, and already it improves the shift feel in a big way. Very much looking forward to the SSK paired with it

The American · Postby **The American** » Tue May 12, 2015 9:58 pm

I'd go as far as saying, the MRSSK has improved my 6speed shift feel beyond that of my old NA8 5speed.

It's certainly much, much better than the I.L. Motorsport shifter with it's flogged out nylon bushing.

khlmx5 · Postby **khlmx5** » Tue May 12, 2015 11:02 pm

I really miss the shifting feel of my 5sp na6. Is this mrssk going to make the six sp shifting feel tighter and more solid?

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:04 am

The Miata Roadster tall angled that I have in my NA6 with a 6 speed is excellent.

I had OMGPham http://omgpham.com/store/custom-gear-knobs.html
make one of his custom gear knobs (dildo short) that puts the stick nice and close to the steering wheel and the action is still short and sharp. The attached photo is of the actual gear knob installed in my NA6.