Hey everybody, Dave here from AmericanMuscle, and today I have the Hurst short throw shifter designed to fit the new GT and V6 manual Mustangs. The name Hurst should remind you of quality and this item is no exception. Hurst used billet aluminum and stainless steel parts to make sure this is not going to break down while you’re using your car. Some of the neat features that come with this Hurst short throw shifter, you have the option of the arm that comes with it and the Hurst shift ball, or the additional black replacement arm that allows you to use different thread pattern shift knobs. The other nice thing Hurst includes is a red LED light, you can wire this in if you like so that you know when you’re in reverse, it’ll illuminate, showing you reverse, and not first gear, seeing as they’re quite close together on these, this is a handy feature to have. First things first though, let’s get a stock run, with the stock parts on the car, and see what that feels like. Well, under normal conditions, honestly it feels like it’s a relatively far throw even compared to other stock shifters, it’s comfortable, that’s the word I would give it, comfortable. After a couple of miles of driving, here’s my honest opinion, it’s a fine shifter, for those who are driving daily through traffic and whatnot. But for me, and for a lot of enthusiasts out there, it lacks that oomph and that quick shift between gears, it takes so long. Alright, so we’re back here after our stock drive with our Hurst short throw shifter ready to go in the car. Before we install it I want to give you a couple of the key features I’ll be looking for when I drive this now. The Hurst short throw shifter does a few things, it reduces the amount of travel by 27% between gears, now that’s huge compared to stock, the other thing I’ll be looking for, second to third gear can sometimes be a little difficult with some of the Mustangs. With this part, it should clean it up so that second to third gear is a clean, crisp quick shift, just like the rest. So let’s go ahead and get this part installed, take it back on the street, and see what we think. So here we are in our 2011 manual 50 with our Hurst short throw shifter. Now, something I noticed right away like some of the others, it’s very low to the console, I like that, it gives it a very sleek look. Something else I’m figuring out really quick, it has a really short throw, I happen to like that, it suits my aggressive driving style, as I drive through the back streets here I don’t really feel any drivability issues, seems like I can find my gears without much issue. This part comes with a red LED light, you’re able to wire it up if you like into your reverse setting, so that when you do put it in reverse, the light pops on, indicating you’re in reverse, and not first gear. Here’s why this is important for this item: the Hurst shifter does not utilize the reverse lock out that the factory has installed, meaning you can easily be in reverse, thinking you’re in first. Well, road test complete, the Hurst short throw shifter was installed on our 2011 Mustang, and here’s what I have to say: it certainly reduces the amount of distance between shifts, and definitely makes your shifting faster, once you get used to it. The Hurst shifter utilizes its own reverse design without a reverse lockout, for example, taking off in a traffic or in a parking lot, just make sure you’re in first gear, third and reverse seem awful close sometimes. Once you get past how to drive with this shift, I think you’ll be happily impressed with the reduction in distance between gears. Once you figure that out, it’s a good product I certainly recommend it, just take your time.
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