6 Speed shifter mania

[Rich Z]

Yeah, I know this is a dumb question, but what shifter knob do you all prefer for your shifter? I'm talking about manual transmissions here, since us gear wranglers have to have the hand on the knob most of the time we are driving, so this is kind of an intimate relationship to have with the car. It's got to feel good in the hand.

When I changed out my Hurst shifter for the MTI unit, I originally had this one on the Hurst:



I liked the feel of it, but the plastic insert wasn't really all that good for a nice firm feel. It felt loose and I found myself having to twist it on occasion to get it lined up right. Well when I tried to put it on the MTI unit, I found that I just could not tighten it up and finally bottomed out with it cocked 180 degrees from where I needed it to be. To the credit of the place I got it from, they have offered to take it back and replace the plastic insert with a metal one which they say will make all the difference in the world.

So I had to fall back to a shifter knob I bought a while back, but seemed to tall for me:



In a way I like the feel of this one, as it makes the ease of shifting much lighter then the other knobs I used. Likely because it IS taller, so it changes the leverage needed. I'm tempted to just keep it, but this one too, uses a plastic insert and I'm not sure how long it will hold up before becoming loose as well. I REALLY cranked down on this one to put it into position, so it could be a while before it becomes a problem. But still, I have this kind of plastic phobia now.

When I had my GTO many moons ago, I had one of those horizontal pistol grip knobs on the shifter, which at the time I liked, but for some reason I think it would look like a monstrosity in a Corvette. So I've been looking for something else and found that the regular old ball shape kept catching my eye....



The black one, of course, is the one I liked, so heck I ordered one. These are supposedly made from the same material that billiard balls are made from, so I think it will have some heft to it. Which is kind of what I am looking for. A knob that has some mass to it. I think the weight in the hand would make shifting just FEEL easier for some reason. Heck if I could get a tungsten steel one, I think I would for that one reason alone. Lead would likely be too soft but maybe not. Certainly the threads couldn't be lead.

Anyway, anyone found the "perfect" shifter knob, in their opinion? Yeah, I know this is all subjective, but maybe there is one out there that I just haven't seen and considered yet. The height of the knob does have a bearing on the shifting ease of motion, so I guess I have to keep that in consideration as well. I would seriously even consider going back and trying the stock knob again, as it sits pretty low, but no WAY I'm ever going to put that retaining plug back in there. The last time I tried to remove it I could NOT get it out. Probably because I whacked it a good one when I put it back in after installing the Hurst shifter. BAD mistake. I had to let the vette tech at the dealership get that one out for me. I have no idea what he did, but he did it. So any of you putting in a new shifter and using that stock knob, be GENTLE tapping in that cursed retainer.