[drmikey]

Sorry guys. You may not be happy but I am. Faster shifts and less of a headache. I have the original gate for the new owner if I ever decide to sell.

 

[DaveL]

Sorry guys. You may not be happy but I am. Faster shifts and less of a headache. I have the original gate for the new owner if I ever decide to sell.

This should send the manual purists into a frenzy !

 

[drmikey]

Im waiting for the abuse lol

No offence, but in the UK, manual is the norm. Autos were never popular for years. All our good sports cars are manual. So we know what we are talking about when it comes to manual shift. The R8 gated shifter is a nice novelty, but its an unecessary inteference with a clean shift (if you are into driving more than looks or image, that is.). I have NSX, E46 M3, 981 Boxster as well as the R8. All Manual. Boxster probably has the best shift, then NSX, then M3 then R8

 

[R-Ocho]

Sorry guys. You may not be happy but I am. Faster shifts and less of a headache. I have the original gate for the new owner if I ever decide to sell.

So let me get this straight.. You just switched out the shift gate? and left it manual? I guess that ain't so bad, as it's easily reversable..

 

[DaveL]

Im waiting for the abuse lol

No offence, but in the UK, manual is the norm. Autos were never popular for years. All our good sports cars are manual. So we know what we are talking about when it comes to manual shift. The R8 gated shifter is a nice novelty, but its an unecessary inteference with a clean shift (if you are into driving more than looks or image, that is.). I have NSX, E46 M3, 981 Boxster as well as the R8. All Manual. Boxster probably has the best shift, then NSX, then M3 then R8

To finish it off, a nice leather gaiter around it? bye the way I'm UK born and bred too.

 

[drmikey]

Yes, just the stock shifter but without the gate. A boot would be nice but Ill see how I get on with this first

Id love to pull the shifter apart and make the shift a little shorter but thats a bit more involved and finding a used one is impossible.

 

[Nagengast]

Coming to this thread about modifying a gated shifter, my first thought was: how do you improve something so perfect.

That is one bizarre mod.

 

[jakesmith]

I don't understand.

 

[Uncle_Rob]

i would be really surprised if manual is the normal in the UK right now. In fact, would say not even close.

Your gear shifter looks okay, but a magnet for a whole load of rubbish getting in there?

 

[fastspek]

Im waiting for the abuse lol

No offence, but in the UK, manual is the norm. Autos were never popular for years. All our good sports cars are manual. So we know what we are talking about when it comes to manual shift. The R8 gated shifter is a nice novelty, but its an unecessary inteference with a clean shift (if you are into driving more than looks or image, that is.). I have NSX, E46 M3, 981 Boxster as well as the R8. All Manual. Boxster probably has the best shift, then NSX, then M3 then R8

I agree and understand what you mean. In the USA automatic driving is the norm but in Europe we are used to driving cars with a manual gearbox all our lives so we can compare. I had several cars in the past and the best shifting car was a japanese car. My R8 is a s-tronic and my audi TT is manual and I like both transmissions. In Europe most R8's sold don't have a maual transmissiion. S-tronic(DSG) is getting the norm here now in VAG and BMW cars. However I would never change the original manual gate of a R8 since it looks very special.

 

[tom]

Hello drmikey. Sorry you are at the receiving end of all the above comments, but reality is they are all correct. The manual transmission with gated shifter was the best of the R8s, whether V8 or V10. You have an extremely desirable commodity on hand. Please don't modify it. I agree with all the above, sell it and find something which is more to your liking. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a buyer.

 

[GT#298]

Woah, y'all! (Texan-speak)
He already said the original piece was left intact and could be restored to original condition. Not to mention it's his car to do with whatever he chooses.
Now, having said that. . .get a rope.

 

[iHoodini]

I have a 2007 V8 R8 Manual. I love the car, but the gated shifter novelty is wearing off. I find the shifter oversprung, notchy and the gated bit is just noisy

Has anyone ever modified their shifter, either to de"gate" it, or adjust the spring tension or remove the notches just before it selects a gear

Cheers

Mike

**** Dr.Mike - that's even offensive to read

 

[Amdaman]

I kind of get where you're coming from, especially if its your daily.. The R8 gated shifter is a joy to use but not for its feel (feels average at best).. I sometimes wish it had the mechanical feel, precision and throw of say an S2000 (perfection) .

 

[audiction]

i just realized this was a necrobump...such a weird but unique mod. definitely not for everyone but if it makes you happy then we're all happy for you. it'll be so weird not hearing the gated shift sound

 

[Edlover]

Interesting thread. You guys are a bit harsh on the OP. I too haven’t gelled with the shift action, and I think it has something to do with the linkages. I’ve owned a B7 RS4 (completely different shift action) and unfortunately an S2000 as well (unfortunate becuase the shift action is so great it ruins all others ). I just don’t have a positive shift action and it sometimes pops out of third.

Anyways. Saw Renshaws mod he did to remove the play from the levers and bought the parts and had Audi install them today. Sadly that’s not the issue, another metal part is causing the play. So my cheap fix has now become a really expensive fix. I need to order the expensive parts and hopefully that solves it.

So, OP, check if it’s not the connectors etc that’s causing the issue because I do concur with most others here, the gated manual is the best to have.

The attached pic is the metal part which has a bit of play. It seems like a bushing PF some sort must be in there. It’s either worn or gone. Audi says I need to order the whole part since they don’t just supply the bushing. I’m going to start a separate thread to see if there are any better ideas out there. I don’t feel like spending the cash right now.

 

[ntg44]

Original poster did this over a year ago. Pretty sure it's safe to say they are satisfied with their modification.

Personally I think it looks pretty cool. Not for me though. Only issue I have is in 4-5 sometimes 5th gets caught on the inner corner of the gate if I don't move the shifter enough to the right. Would annoy me if it was on the 2-3 shift but 4-5 is never a quick one so I just adapted.

 

[SPQR]

I can't disagree with the sentiment that the gated shifter looks very cool and matches the look of the car. However I agree with NTG above, I feel that if the fingers were slighty shorter then it would make for a more forgiving shift pattern. I'm curious if the OP tried this before just completely removing them. There are times in a fast shift that I get hung up on a finger, and it seems 4th to 5th is especially prone to that happening.

 

[Scott-AhlmanPerformance]

Mistaken entry...

 

[Nigep]

Sorry guys. You may not be happy but I am. Faster shifts and less of a headache. I have the original gate for the new owner if I ever decide to sell.

Searching for how to improve the gated shift and found this post.

Great info, I'm going to be testing something similar in mine as the shift is frustratingly slow on circuit.