Subaru WRX Forum banner

Shifter bushings

2K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  Mikie13 
#1 ·
So I am eyeing some new shifter bushings...I have the factory short throw shifter (2011 STI), but I notice a little bit of slop. I have read time and time again by you folks that you feel these to be a worthwhile mod. For $60-$70 I figure why not. I am looking at the Kartboy and the COBB front and rear bushing (figure why not do both if I am going to be getting down in there). Any opinions on which might be better than the other? They are both about the same price and I know they are both popular and reputable companies, so I am having a hard time deciding! Help me out! If there is no reason to go with one over the other then I will resort to the coin flip:)

Thanks,
 
#2 ·
They're both urethane bushings, so do you like black or blue? That's really the only difference.

FWIW, I have Kartboy bushings in the front, and the Cobb rear bushing. Both brands look and feel identical aside from color.
 
#3 ·
As Isaac says...they really are the same thing, only different color.

Which company would you rather give money to? Either way, you'll gain a noticeable difference in shifting feel.
 
#6 ·
Yeah I went with Kartboy when I did my short shifter.

Thank you TiC!
 
#7 ·
Go on the Turn-in Concepts page and order the complete shifter package from them, which includes a lever and all four shifter bushings you'll want to replace.
 
#8 ·
+1 for Turn-in Concepts.

I got the Kartboys to support the smaller business. I wish i got the whole package from Turn-in Concepts. I will be going back and getting the other bushings to add. Would have been easier to do them all at once.
 
#10 ·
11blackSTi said:
What bushings did you end up getting...Just front and rear shifter bushings? I just ordered those (TiC - thanks guys:)) I got a good deal by getting them together. And it looks like they didn't charge shipping.
You didn't get the entire bundle with all four bushings? If not, call them back and amend you order.

I've never been charged for shipping from them. The price you see includes it, and they sometimes include a toy to go with your parts...
 
#12 · (Edited)
I went with both the front and rear shifter stay bushings. Improved feel but still a fair amount of lateral play. The interwebz say the additional linkage bushings from TIC are supposed to help eliminate that. The nice part about only doing the front are rear stay bushings was not needing to take out the whole shifter mechanism.

Also, I would recommend a swivel socket and many extensions (I think I used 2x 10 or 11" extensions) to remove the bolts on the rear shifter stay bushing. The process might be a little different when you take out the shifter mechanism, but just thought I would share. Some Youtube videos say to unbolt the trans or something like that but I was able to unclip the O2 sensor, sneak the heat shield out, then reach the rear stay bushing bolts with the help of extensions and the swivel socket. It was much easier than the videos made it sound. A great DIY project. Have fun!
 
#16 ·
Contrary to what some people have said, I didn't notice much of a difference when I added the kartboy front and rear shifter bushings. The biggest difference I noticed in feel and tightening of sloppiness was the short shifter itself. Bushings on top of the short shifter didn't really add much more if anything. All it really added was peace of mind I replaced the OEM components for better quality ones, oh well.
 
#17 ·
Polyurethane bushings are basically the same whether you get them from Cobb or kartboy or whoever. They do help some.
I have the sti ss factory shifter in my 2013. Got the kartboy short shifter and bushing combo about a month ago.

Overall not a bad upgrade. Well worth the money, just Not quite the night and day difference some people say IMO.

The kartboy ss and bushing make the shifting feel about the same as a stock 05+ mustang gt shifter. I might be a little biased as I was expecting a steeda tri-ax type shift feel from my kartboy setup. But ended up with a shifter that's about as good as my 05 gt was when it was stock.
Still a lot better than factory so worth it in every way
 
#18 ·
Well I am not looking for night and day and am not unhappy with my factory short throw shifter in any way. Compared to the 2.5i I had 2 years ago, the STI shifter is awesome. There is just a little sloppiness that I notice in the shifter and I have heard time and time again that this bushing package will clean that up. For $100 I am willing to see how it goes. If the shifting feels any crisper at all then I will be happy. If it feels the same than it won't be the end of the world. My hunch is that it will be crisper.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top