Improving Shift Feel with Cobb Tunings Weighted Shift Knob

Our Project GD STI has been running a Cobb Tuning short shifter and we really like it.  We have it adjusted so the throws are not Syncro crunching short and we appreciated the crisp direct feel that its urethane bushings give.  One thing we thought could be better is that the shifter is shorter in length than the stock shifter, even when adjusted to its maximum length, and although many people like a shorter-in-length shift lever, we are not particularly fond of it.  Cobb Tuning came to our rescue with the release of their taller weighted shift knob.  We had seen this knob at the PRI show and we just had to try it.

The new Cobb tall knob is on the left with our old knob on the right.  As you can see the new knob will give us about the perfect height that we want.   The styling of the knob is reminiscent of the shift knobs found on many sequential racing boxes.  The Delrin material used for the knob was chosen because it feels warm to the touch in cold weather and doesn’t get burning hot in hot weather.

The knob comes with two trim collars in red and black.  They are retained by this O-ring.  The O-ring is seated in the groove of the base of the knob and the trim collar is pressed down over the O-ring.  It is a good idea to pre-install the knob to clock the Cobb logo on the trim collar before pressing it into place so it won’t look weird when you tighten the knob down.  The threaded base of the knob is machined from stainless steel and it will never loosen or strip out.

We choose the black collar because we thought it would match our interior better than red.  The knob is also weighted and weighs 325 grams.  Adding weight to the shift knob is a trick the OEMs use to damp out vibration noise and to give a smoother shift action.  It will make a notchy feeling shifter feel much smoother without sacrificing the shift precision.

We really liked how the new knob looked in our car.  The longer knob also makes the length perfect for our taste.