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So I've driven a hundred miles or so since having my Coolerworx shifter installed and overall I'm extremely happy with it, especially given the cost/risk I took with it compared to other short-throw shifters on the market. Thought I'd give a quick review and will come back to this and update it after I have more seat time.
First off, I just want to say how amazing and top-notch the quality is of this thing. It is show-car, track-toy drool worthy. It's also a true short throw shifter that legitimately reduces the throw via the design and operation. I purchased my shifter through SOHO Motorsports (out of Charlotte, NC) and chose the Titan finish which I was hoping would be more gunmetal but ended up having a blue-slate finish to it. It turns out mine was the last shifter Coolerworx ever made the old Titan finish with because of that exact problem, so I just replaced the titan shift **** for a black one and called it a day. Surprisingly the replacement shift ***** are pretty cheap if you want to swap them out, but since Coolerworx is based in Lithuania it cost just as much to ship it stateside as the shift **** itself (30€ for the shift **** and 30€ for shipping, around $73 USD total).
The Coolerworx shifter replaces the entire OEM shifter assembly and requires drilling, so it's not as easy of an install compared to other short-throw shifters. It also sits taller than other shifters which I personally dig and can't get enough of, but some aren't fans of; to each their own. It makes changing gears during aggressive driving or downshifting during braking into corners so much easier since there is much less space in between the steering wheel and shifter. It is INSANELY notchy in a good way, like a gated shifter if you've ever driven a car with one, but definitely takes some getting used to and skill to drive properly because of how short and notchy it is. Shifts are noticeably shorter and much smoother once you are rowing through the gears, but again it is very notchy and takes a little effort to get in and out of 1st gear when you are at a stop. I doubt I'd ever attempt to teach anyone to drive stick in my car if that says anything, it definitely takes some experience to use. It feels extremely solid and rigid rowing through the gears, and reverse works flawlessly like it should- there are also adjustable lockout screws to adjust the reverse lockout; I haven't had to touch mine since the install thankfully, and can say I've also had zero issues getting into and out of reverse.
The shop that installed my shifter (National Speed) did have to remove my ash tray/cigarette outlet compartment for fitment and to have access to the lockout adjustment screws on the shifter, so if you are planning on keeping your car with all the goodies in it, this shifter probably isn't the best choice. 4 holes also have to be drilled into the transmission tunnel. For other hardcore and track-focused enthusiasts though, I definitely recommend giving this shifter a try- you won't regret it. Those curious about install costs, National Speed charged me for 3 or 4 hours of shop labor- I also had them install a Z1 poly transmission mount which was bundled into my labor cost so i can't give you an exact # of hours but it was around 3 or 4 hrs for the Coolerworx shifter install. I'll come back and edit this review with track-day and long-term thoughts/impressions after I get more seat time.
I can take a video of the shifter operation but there are a few out there on youtube already for Z cars. Feel free to ask questions, I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
It comes in 2 pieces - the shifter and the separate mounting plate. Assembled to see how it looks in person.
Installed.
Leather boot was able to be re-used. You can really see the blue-slate in the "Titan" finish so I swapped to a black shift ****.
Thanks for the detailed review on the G man, much appreciated. I’ll be going with this in the future for sure. Interesting they had to actually drill the transmission tunnel to mount the shifter plate, I don’t recall the Z guys needed to do that.
Thanks for the detailed review on the G man, much appreciated. I’ll be going with this in the future for sure. Interesting they had to actually drill the transmission tunnel to mount the shifter plate, I don’t recall the Z guys needed to do that.
Happy to help out the community and share my feedback. You'll be happy with your purchase!
I was wondering if they would have to drill also. Surprisingly(?) no physical install instructions were included but I did get a link to the 370z install instructions that mention drilling the tunnel, which I passed along to National Speed for the install, and they said it went smooth without a hiccup. The install instructions are publicly available here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...structions.pdf
Happy to help out the community and share my feedback. You'll be happy with your purchase!
I was wondering if they would have to drill also. Surprisingly(?) no physical install instructions were included but I did get a link to the 370z install instructions that mention drilling the tunnel, which I passed along to National Speed for the install, and they said it went smooth without a hiccup. The install instructions are publicly available here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/00...structions.pdf
Sweet, bookmarking that link as a reference for later. Those instructions actually do state drilling is required, hmm. Oh well not too big of a deal I guess.
In this video, he uses the existing mounting holes to secure the base plate the 8:45 mark:
That took a big leap of faith. Not sure I'd make that jump, or be OK with the compromises, but man-oh-man I would love to test-drive that shifter. Sounds like all kinds of fun.
Sweet, bookmarking that link as a reference for later. Those instructions actually do state drilling is required, hmm. Oh well not too big of a deal I guess.
In this video, he uses the existing mounting holes to secure the base plate the 8:45 mark:
That video has me tripping out, you're 100% right, I guess he didn't need to drill in his case. Maybe it's specific for that model year of the 370Z and/or sub-model. His shifter also looked like it had a small skeleton frame around the base plate which my base plate did not have IIRC. On SOHO's website, they have two options for the Coolerworx shifter- one for the the 370z, and the other for the 350z, G35 and G37 so my bet is it's a slightly different base plate for our cars.
The cover of his video sums it up perfectly, notchy but in a good way He did also mention the only con I’ve also found that I forgot to mention. There’s a slight rattle at a certain RPM, around 3k IIRC but I could care less ab the small rattle (because race car) and it sounds like it’s coming from the non-essential piece holding the leather boot up/over it. I’ll check on the rattle when I have time to mess with the leather boot and will post an update.
Edit- was just looking back at the shifter on the SOHO website and saw this which explains it - "*UPDATE* Coolerworx has now released an update pad for 370Z shifter and it is now a direct fit. " So for those lucky 370z owners, they no longer have to drill. Coolerworx must have just never updated their instructions or left them as-is to keep it universal for the Z&G family.
Coolerworx install problem shifter support bracket
While installing this short shifter I've come to a problem and came here to see if anybody had an answer. When removing the 4 bolts from the shifter support bracket, I couldn't get to one of them. As you can see in the photo the bolt is halfway out but this black thing on top is blocking it from fully coming out. Does anybody know what it is or how I can get around it? I have a 2012 G37s manual transmission.
Does the shifter fall back into neutral by itself? For example, if you push the shifter down from the 5th gear position, does it slide into the middle neutral position by itself, or do you have to move it back into the middle with some effort? Thank you
Does the shifter fall back into neutral by itself? For example, if you push the shifter down from the 5th gear position, does it slide into the middle neutral position by itself, or do you have to move it back into the middle with some effort? Thank you
I'd say moving out of a gear into neutral takes 50-75% of the effort it would take shifting into a gear. It's hard to say past describing it as extremely notchy/gated feeling with very short throws so in when you put it into a gear or move out of a gear; it sticks and there is little to no play in the shifter at all especially due to the design. So it takes some effort and doesn't slide into neutral quite like the OEM does, but does still guide into neutral when pushed and will sit in the middle/true neutral position correctly. it's still very easy to tell when you are in neutral, because of how notchy it is. You feel it lock into and out of the gears. I can see how it would be easy for some to mis-shift because of how short and close the shifts are.
Longterm update, have a few thousand miles with this shifter now and I still love every second of it in my car and have had NO issues past a rattle that isn't a worry. The metal does get a little toasty on the hand at times after hard driving, and I still never fixed that 3rd gear rattle at certain RPMs but know what it is and could care less at this point. Past that this thing is rock solid and makes the car so much more fun to drive. For any others who track their cars or plan to, I'd say this is almost a must-have. Having the shifter closer to the wheel is a huge plus.
I'd say moving out of a gear into neutral takes 50-75% of the effort it would take shifting into a gear. It's hard to say past describing it as extremely notchy/gated feeling with very short throws so in when you put it into a gear or move out of a gear; it sticks and there is little to no play in the shifter at all especially due to the design. So it takes some effort and doesn't slide into neutral quite like the OEM does, but does still guide into neutral when pushed and will sit in the middle/true neutral position correctly. it's still very easy to tell when you are in neutral, because of how notchy it is. You feel it lock into and out of the gears. I can see how it would be easy for some to mis-shift because of how short and close the shifts are.
Finally ran into my first issue with my shifter, and lost access to reverse yesterday. Still love it, and has been rock solid past this issue.
Had a big battery booster pack in my car to help out a friend, and had to slam on my brakes thanks to some idiot driver. The 30lb battery pack did not like the sudden stop and decided to slam into the back of my center console, which I’m thinking popped the reverse linkage off on the transmission side. Anyways, I can’t get the collar to move up or down at all, no chance of getting into reverse until I get it in the air at work to take a look Monday. This is also why I’m happy to have access to that reverse lockout screw. Hoping this will be a quick an easy fix, I’ll be sure to update this thread with pictures of the problem/fix when I have my car on a lift.
While installing this short shifter I've come to a problem and came here to see if anybody had an answer. When removing the 4 bolts from the shifter support bracket, I couldn't get to one of them. As you can see in the photo the bolt is halfway out but this black thing on top is blocking it from fully coming out. Does anybody know what it is or how I can get around it? I have a 2012 G37s manual transmission.
I’m sorry for completely missing this and replying a year later!! Completely missed it. Did you get it figured out? I’ll have to check if that box is there on my 13’ as well when it’s apart and in the air tomorrow.
Finally got my car in the shop this afternoon to look at it in peace, immediately saw what was wrong with reverse not engaging on the shifter collar. Didn’t have to get it in the air and had it “fixed” in 2 minutes, thankfully.
The reverse mechanism on the Coolerworx shifter uses a spring and bolt to engage reverse, controlled by the metal cord attached to the collar on the shifter. The spring and bolt sit extremely close to the center console trim around the shifter on the G37; specifically right under the edge of the ash tray compartment, there is a tiny lip that protrudes downward into the console/dash. When the battery pack in my car slammed into my center console, it popped the trim around the shifter just enough out of place to completely block any play in the bolt&spring from moving. So, I just popped out the trim around the shifter and reseated it. Made sure there’s enough clearance now which there is. But if you lightly push down on the trim in front of the shifter, the trim lip still makes contact and blocks it. So just keep this in your back pocket if you have a Coolerworx, and check this first if you lose access to reverse with a Coolerworx shifter. It does not affect driveability at all, nor stress any components if this happens. Just physically blocks you from engaging reverse.
Permanent easy fix? Make a small notch for the spring mechanism. Will probably take a few seconds to sand it out enough with a Dremel. Won’t even notice it on the lip, even if you were to put the the OEM ash tray back in. Picture below for clarity.
03-02-2021, 10:45 AM
He did also mention the only con I’ve also found that I forgot to mention. There’s a slight rattle at a certain RPM, around 3k IIRC but I could care less ab the small rattle (because race car) and it sounds like it’s coming from the non-essential piece holding the leather boot up/over it. I’ll check on the rattle when I have time to mess with the leather boot and will post an update.
