Could some aftermarket guys make a metal shift gate that is shown like in ferrari's i would certainly buy, and it would look awesome

 

It would be a pain to use the shifter though... it is not exactly practical.

 

why not? thats exactly what your shifting through except you only see the boot instead of just fealing where it engages/

 

The shifter in the RX-8 is intuitive enough already. Personally, I don't see a need for it.

 

You would have to be very exact when shifting, unlike with the current solution.
If you read car magazines talking about the gated shifters of Italian supercars, they almost always point it out that those gates are more trouble than worth...

 

well how much would it cost for some to fabb it up id pay for the metal and let me test and see if its really more trouble. I never tried one but sounds fun, i never heard of that on the road and track reviews.

 

Here is one link from Motor Trend

Quote one " Gated shifter means maddeningly slow and difficult gear changes."
Quote two " Gated shifters: an Italian curse "

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/coup...fe/index2.html

 

my dad has a 355 and a testarossa and the gates do look cool, but are not nearly as easy to use. not that it would be a huge hassle, but it would be a learning experience.

 

When it comes to metal shift gates, it's not a matter of need...it is just a definite want.

 

I know they say its a curse but im willing to pay 50-75 bux to at least try it out if not slowing me down at least it would look decent but flame on. "just remember im not putting huge race boy graphics on just a shift gate"

 

No one can blame you for wanting to be like Ferrari...

 

YEa the 2 dougs think alike.,
Doug m- meet doug r ME!

 

Agree, they look sexy, but if you've ever driven a car with one, you'd know how much of a bad idea they are ...

 

the 8's throws are kind of short...wouldnt the gate be small as well?

 

still would love to try 1 even if they made the gates small so netrual would have more forgiveness on me.

 

They might look cool, but they're a pain in the ***... especially on a car with a great gearbox. I drove a Miata with an aftermarket gated shifter and it made speed shifting very awkward and frustrating. Maybe on a car that had a clunky shifter to start with, but not on a short throw smooth shifting tranny like the 8's.

Anyway, just wait- I'm sure mods like this will hit the market in the next year.

 

thanks guys

 

With the short sideways movement between the 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 gears, I don't think there's enough movement to be able to put a gate-finger in there. I don't think the shifter moves much more than its diameter between those sets of gears measured down near the console.

 

I'm with magixpuma on this one, I would at least like to see one available just so I can try it out.

Style over substance?

You can't argue that it certainly looks cooler than a leather (vinyl?) gear boot.

 

to the average joe though...they will think you have an automatic

diagonal shifts are how things work anyway...who shifts like Mr. Roboto?

 

How about a shift gate in a non-traditional H pattern, one that goes diagonally.
Like on the top of this Greddy gearknob :

 

Hopefully some proformance company or just cortc sees this and will agree to machine 1 for me and takers cortc?

 

Now THAT could be interesting ...

 

Maybe you should just get this? It’s more particle than a real gated shifter and more people will see it depending on where you put it.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.j...x=0&search.y=0

 

The only drawback I can see with this layout for the gate is the increased difficulty in "short shifting".

By this I mean changing gears and skipping gears on purpose, such as 1 to 3 or 2 to 4 for example, but I'm sure I could live with that.