The Cost;

At first the cost of €668.07 didn't seem that bad, considering the German over engineering development and precision.

Once you add €67.22 for black anodizing, the Invoice from CAE went to €735.29. Ok I wanted black.

Now the pain starts. PayPal fee €39.21, DHL "shipping" €99.00. Total came to €873.50.

Then starting to feel raped. PayPal used (.8189) as conversion so total was $1066.66 USD

Market conversion rate was .857 on 4/8. PayPal used .8189. ?? WTF ??? I thought PayPal was a good idea as I didn't know squat about buying from Germany, but pretty sure my credit card would have been much cheaper.

When package cleared Customs in Miami. DHL required "additional" payments, Regulatory $1.34, Duty $150.85 & Duty processing fee $17.50. For a total of $169.69 USD.


Our 15% terrif seems high, till you realize Germany charges duties & VAT of 29% on car parts imported from the US.

This brought to total delivered to my doorstep $1236.35. Yes you freeken read that correctly.

CAE was incredible shipping the same day minus time change, and DHL got it to my doorstep in 3 days, for an impressive total of 4 days.


Installation;

First, get over the illusion this is a quick drop in street type shifter.

You will have put car up on jack stands, loosen your PPF and bracket to lower trans. an extra inch to get the front 2 bolts out, factory bolts are stupid long. Make sure you have a quality offset wrench that fits tightly on them as they can be rounded off as they can be freeken tight.

Love the dayglow green sealant they supply, but the large pump tube should be replaced by a normal small squeeze tube to make application easier on front of turret. "Hope it has the oil resistance of my standard Permatex Ultra black" but the green makes application on a black surface easy, and it didn't find its way everywhere like Permatex does.

Prefer the consistency of Loctite 242 over the thin wicking thread locker they supply, but do like the container.

Instructions in English PDF form on their website, are well written and easy to follow. Adjustments are easy to understand and make with supplied Allen wrench. I used a piece of .020" safety wire as a feeler gauge.(I would have used finer threads on small adjustment stop screws). Pretty sure gap could be smaller, but .5mm is their recommendation and I tend to believe with all the development on this they know a thing or two.


How it works:

Still getting used to it, it is extremely firm and precise. Everything the normal stock or aftermarket Mazda 6 speed shifter is not.

Despite being shown in adds on street cars, this is defiantly a Track Car / Race Car item.

It takes both a firm hand and a deft touch, as the throw is very short, precise and has no play to goof around with.

My driveline with Walter 6 speed, heat treated REM finished gears & SuperMiata twin clutch has always been noisy, but this amplifies every rattle, chatter, whine and growl straight into the cockpit. Motul Competition 75w-140 is better for me than the Motorcraft unicorn tears I've always ran in the past.

The height and spacing from steering wheel feels perfect, and the **** is the right size for me.

All in all its a gorgeous, well engineered piece of kit that seems at home in a TT car. Only you can decide if the insane price is worth it for your income and hobbies.

 

@Ironhydroxide is this the shifter you have in your car?

 

IMPRESSIVE.

 

Love, love mine. I’ve had one in both of my Miata’s so far. It’s a shame between the weak dollar and tariffs how expensive they have gotten. I paid a little over $700 just 3 years ago.

 

Welcome to my (our) world. The little Aussie bleeder is low against most currencies, and I don't want to think about what my new Guardian steering wheel just cost me. Shipping, 5% import duty on shipped cost, then 10% GST on the cost + shipping + duty, then a ~$30 handling fee to close the deal. The $US1k nominal is about doubled in $AU delivered to my door.

And, I wouldn't make any assumptions about the credit card exchange rates, they do not have a good reputation for being kind to users.

The shifters get good reviews, but the aesthetics don't do it for me, not in my road car.

 

I would not recommend this for a street car.
Track is another story. When you are cornering or threshold braking on wide Hoosier slicks with no power steering you want to limit hands off wheel time and don't care about noise.

 

I've only used one in a BMW, but I agree, not a street car part. In addition to aesthetics, they need somewhat frequent lubing and cleaning to get the grit out and keep them shifting smoothly. Or maybe not in a street car that has windows, I dunno.

Awesome in a race car though.

--Ian