As of last week a member of
Ralco RZ created a thread looking for interest in there new short shifter and if anyone was willing to test it for our 370Z. So I submitted my info and they accepted. So they sent the short shifter out first business day and I received two days later.
As soon as it came I got to work on changing it out for I had a track day in just two days. Perfect time to test this product. So I quickly changed out the new
Ralco RZ short shifter. It only took about me about thirty minutes being I have a lift and no interior. So once that was done I started to get a feel for the new shifter for I've never owned one nor even been in a car with one. So it was all new to me. I have read other reviews on other shifters so I had a basic idea.
First of all the
Ralco RZ short shifter is 1/2'' shorter than stock coming to 33-35% reduction in throw. Definitely a solid made piece and little lighter than the OEM shifter. Well I got to feeling out the shifter just sitting there. It's definitely a shorter throw and you can actually feel the engagement of each gear. The shifter also has more mechanical feel to it. We are usually thrown by this due to the OEM shifter has a big rubber insert within there shifter to make things more pleaseant for the average driver. Now being the shifter has a shorter throw there is more effort in shifting but at the same time don't confuse this with the mechanical feel of the shifter. I feel there is a difference in this aspect. You are changing the fulcrum point after all. This is my first impression after spenting a good bit of time with it.
Well come today driving to and from the track I got some street time in with the shifter. For myself driving threw some rural areas just shifting it's pretty nice. The notchiness that we feel with our stock setup is less evident with the
Ralco. When in the city or heavy traffic the shifter becomes more noticeable and the shifts need to be more precise to get a smoother engagement unlike when just going threw the gears more rapidly. But this is not uncommon with other shifter reviews I've read. Seems like the faster you go the better it is.
Now at the track is where the most benefit seem to come alive for myself with the
Ralco short shifter. Going threw the gears on the straights was very pleasent. And when it came to down shifting and revmatching exacution with every gear was point on. I just like the fact that with the Ralco shifter you know that each throw is shorter, quicker, and the point that you can really feel the engagement of the gears in a intense environment due to the mechanical feel off the device adds assurance
One more thing I'd like to point out being this is my first short shifter and I haven't seen others first hand but the
Ralco shifter (upper portion) where it meets bulged section that will be covered by the boot has a small ball like pivot built inside that rotates very little when shifting. There's another mechanical movement that is pretty nice in itself. For everytime you go to shift this portion of the shifter will move/ pivot first acting as a brief slight extra momentum force to help throw the lower portion of the shifter to move the linkage instead of one solid piece of movement. Pretty nice.
So over all I'm very well pleased with the
Ralco RZ short shifter. I'd highly reccommend purchasing this product for you enthusiast. Which I'm sure will be priced nicely compared to others. The craftsmenship was flawless IMO.
This will be placed in production soon so if interested contact Ralco RZ @ 732-938-3730 or PM Super Jon.
Stock (Well for my car)
Remove these four bolts (10mm) around the plate and then remove the smaller shifter boot
Remove the three bolts (10mm) from the triangled plate
Jack up car or use left to gain access to the bottom side of the shifter which just above the driveshaft. Just pull down rubber boot and shift out of the way.
Remove bolt from linkage (12mm)
Remove shifter and spring
Remove shifter from mount with a rubber mallet. Be it a vice or two boards placed together.
Comparing shifters
Install new shifter in base mount but grease before so. Same as removal.
Remove zip tie. Here you will see two washers to be used in the same manner when attached to linkage.
Here's all the parts that come with the kit
Install round spacer into shifter mount
Reinstall OEM spring
Install new shifter assembly
Install new triangle spacer
Reinstall OEM reverse lockout plate
Reverse lockout plate should look like this with the shifter pin on same side as the notch in the reverse loockout plate. The shifter mount only goes in one way.
Install the three extended bolts with washers that came with kit. But leave lose for now. Just a little loose.
Now take the bolt that you removed earlier from the linkage from underneath the car and two washers that were zipped tied to the new shifter earlier ans reinstall/ connect to the linkage. Afterwards reinstall linkage boot.
Now to get the reverse lock out plate aligned with the shifter. Put shifter in fifth gear. Align reverse lockout plate against the knob on the shifter. Hold on place and tighten down three bolts.
Reinstall mini shifter boot
Once the mini boot is on you will notice there was a black spacer like gourment that came with the kit. Place it over the the upper shifter and slide it down. Now install the larger boot over the shifter and bolt down. The align the upper portion of the boot around the black gourmant.
Now enjoy. I'm sorry I dont have pics of the hole interior removal but there's plenty of DIY'ers here on the forum. Thhanks you.