I realize that I and a relative newcomer to these forums so I want to preface this post by saying that this review was in no way solicited.

Coming from a car with a decent shifter, I knew that it was a must do mod for the new 996TT. In reading this forum, it seems that the OEM 997 short shift kit is widely regarded as the best shifter available. I had driven a 997TT with the factory short shifter and felt that it was pretty good and made up my mind to get one.

I have been on the lookout for a used one to come up in the classifieds, but the ones that have been listed have sold very quickly and have gone for nearly the price of a new shifter. At $450 shipped, I've always felt like the 997 SSK was quite a lot of money for what you get.

About a month ago, I came across a post here for a new shifter that was being developed by Numeric Racing. After seeing a few pictures online and a phone conversation with the Dan, I decided to pull the trigger. Make no mistake, this is a more expensive shifter - but knowing a little bit about machining, I feel like I have an appreciation for the complexity of producing this shifter. I feel like the work that went into designing and manufacturing this shifter is worth the cost.

On to the pictures:









The shifter arrived fully assembled except for the shift lever. It was also very will packaged.

Most of the pieces are machined aluminum, anodized black with exception of the two cable anchor blocks. I'm not sure why these aren't also anodized. The shift lever itself is, I believe, stainless steel as is the pin that it pivots on. The cone shaped piece shown in the first picture appears to be brass. All of the pivot points have ball bearings, six in all by my count.

The fit and finish of the shifter is excellent. The machine work is very good and the attention to detail is superb. I didn't get a picture of it, but the two cable anchor blocks have little teeth machined into the bottom to engage slots machined into the base plate to prevent the blocks from slipping. I was very impressed by the workmanship.

The install went pretty well using a write up found here on 6speed. It would have taken me a couple of hours except for one small issue. It turns out that my car already had an EVOMS swift shifter. The new shifter needs the factory shift cable linkage, which was missing because of the EVOMS shifter - so I ordered a replacement that finally arrived today. Once I had it in hand, the new shifter went in pretty easily. There was one small issue, though. The cable anchor blocks are designed to hold onto the cable ends much more tightly than the stock shifter. In order to get the cables to fit, nI had to file the blocks slightly. I didn't take off too much material, but it made all the difference. (before on the left)



Installed:



It really is a shame to hide it all under the center console but it does fit under there nicely.


A nice feature is that you can adjust between 3 different pivot points by just removing this screw and sliding the pin out the side.



As far as the shifter goes, it is awesome. I have it on the shortest setting and the throw has got to be about 50% of what it was. The action is very smooth, the ball bearings really make the difference. It really transforms the shifting experience, movements are precise with minimal shifter slop when it's in gear. While the old shifter was like working a stick in mud, this one is like flicking a switch. By far the biggest improvement comes from the shifts that also include a lateral movement. (2nd-to-3rd and 4th-to-5th) What used to feel like 3 distinct movement are now one, especially 4th to 5th.

Shifting effort is only slightly higher than before except for reverse. Moving the lever all the way to the left does take a noticeably more forceful movement. I'll take this one slight negative as a tradeoff for all the positives. I don't think it will bother me, but I thought that it was worth noting.

I only have about 50 miles on it so far, but suffice it to say I am very pleased. I will update this thread as I put more mileage on the shifter.

Any questions -fire away.

 

The thing looks like a work of art. How did you get the shifter cables to align in the same position as the stock shifter and cables. Will this fit cup cables?

 

The cable anchor blocks are adjustable, but it is really the cable that dictate where the blocks go. At least in my car, the cables don't really move. What I did was install the cables into the blocks and then bolt them to the base. As far as adjustment goes, I just took a picture of the left cable and tried to put it back together in a similar manor. I wasn't able to do that to the right cable, so I just tried a few different settings until I found something that I liked. I actually set the right cable as long as possible so the neutral position is canted to the rear slightly.

As far as cup cable goes, I really don't know. I suppose that if they use a similar mounting method as the stock cables do, I suppose it should work. You might want to contact Numeric and ask Dan.

 

Hi, Does the Numeric shifter really require the stock linkage, or will the EVOMS billet linkage work? Looking at the pics above, I can't tell why the EVOMS unit would not fit. Plus its a weak-point. Thanks.

 

I think that the billet linkage should work as it is a direct replacement or the stock piece. The evoms swift shift that i had uses a spherical bearing that is a different size than the stock ball. I did consider the billet linkage, but didn't want to spend the money for it right now.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. Excellent write up.

bob

 

Awesome write up. What are we talking in terms of price? 2x's the cost of a 997?

 

I pre-ordered mine at an introductory price, but I'm unsure if it is still available - you'll have to contact Dan at Numeric for that. What I paid was a bit less than 2x the price of a 997 SSK.

 

Looks like a bad *** shifter, I need an upgrade.

 

very thoughtful and complete review..thanks...I just received mine and I'm very anxious to get it installed...thanks for the helpful hints...your comments on the engineering and quality of the unit are spot on

 

Love the writeup. Appreciate it. My goal is to make state of the art products catering solely to Porsche enthusiats. One the the questions is if this shifter works with the cup cables. The answer is yes. I probably will be anodizing the cable blocks black. I just thought it looked custom leaving them silver to contrast it. Anyone that has any questions or concerns don't hesitate to get in contact with me.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that these blocks needed to be swapped left to right from how it is pictured here. Not a big deal, but I'd hate for somebody to have it nearly all put back together before realizing it.

 

I would make sure that everyone check the mount position first before you start screwing the console in. The mounts are different for Porsche models. My 2012 GTS for example doesn't use the mount position in either cable block. It uses the mount on the base plate. If your installing it in your track car without the console. You can take all of the console mounts completely off as you are not going to use them. I also have stanoffs for the track guys if you want to raise the entire shifter assembly off of the floor board. It will raise it an additional 38mm off of the floor board.

 

wow this looks like a quality piece. i'd love to try when someone local get this. i love when companies make stuff like this. its awesome !!

 

Rep to you for great write-up on what looks like a really nice product.