Quote:
Originally Posted by WolfSong
Actually the purpose of the taller shift knob is to keep your hand on the steering wheel longer.
Most people don't take this into account but your shift begins when you remove your hand from the wheel and ends when you put your hand back on the wheel. If you are driving seriously... you have both hands on the steering wheel as much as possible. Because of that, a professional driver shifts with one movement, and the smaller you make that movement, the quicker it is.
The less distance from your hand's position on the steering wheel to the shifter and back. Less time with your hand off the wheel. Quicker shift.
You see rally cars with long shifters or dash mounted shifters... they actually tried that on the last USDM Civic Si but everyone said "Ewww..." so Honda gave up on it. This is so the driver spends more time with his hands where they're needed... on the steering wheel.
One of our customers who was an ex F3 driver did this in his '99 Si... we joked about the d***o he put on the shifter, but I tell you, sitting in the passenger seat and watching him shift... we shut up pretty quickly.
In a street car... it boils down to personal preference... but in race cars, there is actually a purpose behind it.
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Wow that is actually a really good point...The ep3 did have a good thing going with the dash mount shifter