Mishimoto

Hey guys,

We are going to be rolling out several new shift **** designs over the next few months. This thread will highlight the design process of each, giving you a neat look at our different options. As always, feel free to follow along on our blog or posted within this thread.

http://engineering.mishimoto.com/cat...o-shift-*****/

Shifting Nirvana. A Sneak Peek At Mishimoto’s New Shift **** Designs: Limited Edition Rockstar Weighted Shift ****

Not all our projects involve in-depth data, heat-transfer calculations, or metal fabrication. From time to time our engineering team collaborates with our talented creative team to develop awesome accessories for your ride. These upgrades might not add power or drop temperatures, but they can surely improve the driving experience and offer an improvement in styling.

In addition to the collaboration work, each design was created by a different member of our team. If you know any of these people, you might see where the designs reflect their personalities quite a bit.

Weighted Shift ****

Our first unique design is likely to find its way into the vehicle of someone seeking a bolder look. This design started life in the 3D world as a SolidWorks model.


Mishimoto Weighted Shift **** 3D rendering

Keep in mind, the design above represents numerous revisions and adjustments following our team’s evaluation. Once we compiled our thoughts and made some changes, we printed a prototype with our 3D printer.


Mishimoto Shift **** 3D prototype

If you’re thinking to yourself, “Hmm. That looks similar to a bike or motorcycle grip,” you are correct. The designer of this **** is an avid mountain biker, so his preference for this grip style is no surprise!


Mishimoto Weighted Shift **** 3D prototype

This piece is also the heaviest of our new set of shift *****, weighing in at 476 grams. If a heavy, weighted shift **** is your thing, this might be the one for you.

Once we tested the “feel factor” for this piece and wrapped up the design work for the different components and features, a few final prototypes were created.


Mishimoto Weighted Shift **** prototypes

The base provides the connection point with the shift lever.


Mishimoto Shift ****

The **** on the right includes one of our universal thread adapters, which will enable fitment for a variety of vehicle makes and models.

This shift **** is made from three separate components, which can be taken apart for further customization. Below is a cutaway showing the internal features.


Mishimoto Shift **** cutaway

Check out one of our prototypes disassembled.


Mishimoto Weighted Shift **** disassembled

The components on the left and right are constructed from CNC-machined aluminum. The center sleeve that serves as the grip is made from an engineered thermoplastic. You may also notice an interesting logo on the top, from our friends at Rockstar Performance Garage. To kick off this grip design, we will be offering a unique, limited batch of ***** featuring a Rockstar-inspired color scheme. Below is a shot of the assembled piece!


Mishimoto Weighted Shift **** assembled

As with all our products, we like to create a unique experience for our customers from start to finish. This means our packaging won’t be a simple brown box filled to the brim with packaging peanuts. Instead, we came up with something a little more appealing.


Mishimoto Shift **** packaging

This cylindrical package will adequately support the shift **** during shipment and also looks pretty slick!


Mishimoto Weighted Shift **** packaging

Coming Up!

This isn’t our only good idea! Check back next time for a look at something more subtle, yet still stylish.

Thanks for reading!
-John

HRMoneyPit

Looks cool and I love the weighted but I'm not sure how that would be to shift

Highway Riding

iTrader: (6)

Doesn't look too comfy to rest ur palm on with the straight top. I could be wrong tho

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I've seen a lot of ugly Japanese shift *****, but this one is the worst yet. I'd also be prepared for a legal defense if you didn't license that logo.

HRMoneyPit

Idk how people shift with this damn giant. I really like the OEM shift **** feel but I'd like to change it up. Nobody offers anything that won't burn my hand, comfortable and weighted. It's a shame

Mishimoto

Thanks for taking a look! It is fairly comfortable, depending upon your shifting style.

The top face is around 1.5" in diameter so it provides a reasonable footprint for palm resting.

We have partnered with Rockstar Performance Garage to design this shift **** and numerous other components. Thanks for the heads-up though!

Not to worry, this is one of three upcoming designs. This particular piece is the boldest of the three, the others being a bit more subtle. We will be posting about our second design later on today.

Thanks
-John

The Swede

I quite liked it in a way like I could really see that as a cool feature/gimmick in a drift car, perhaps an e-brake handle.

Being a mountainbiker myself I would definitly put that in my drift car, if I had one!
Would look right at home in a drifter or racer.


Looking forward to see your other designs.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Re: the copyright on the logo. I don't know anything about that garage, I was talking about the energy drink, whose logo you clearly stole:

Tochigi_236

Rockstar doesn't only make energy drinks, they're also involved in motorsports. Last I checked, Mishimoto had partnered with them (Rockstar Perfomance Garage/Rockstar Energy Drink) to produce oil catch cans. This product is likely a result of that partnership as well.

http://www.rockstarperformancegarage.com/
http://engineering.mishimoto.com/tag/energy-drink/
http://rockstarenergy.com/motorsports

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Thanks for the info - didn't know that.

zakmartin

Oh, Lord.

Mishimoto

Thanks Swede! Agreed on the e-brake handle use, that would be pretty neat.

Second design coverage coming up!

Thank you for knocking out that explanation Tochgi. We are indeed partnered up with Rockstar, resulting in numerous components with their Logo.

-John

Mishimoto

Check out our second design idea!

Shifting Nirvana. A Sneak Peek At Mishimoto’s New Shift **** Designs: Pistol Grip

We promised there would be more! Our first design presented Wednesday was pretty slick, and this next design is all about ergonomics and comfort. Not only did the design team work on the aesthetics, but we also spent some time ensuring that the feel of this **** would be ideal for slamming into gears while keeping your eyes pinned to the road.

Initial Design Rendering

As with our other weighted shift ****, this one also started in the 3D world. Check out a couple SolidWorks models showing the initial shape.


Mishimoto pistol grip shifter **** rendering


Mishimoto pistol grip shifter **** rendering

This design is not quite as bold as the last one, but it still certainly makes a statement.


Mishimoto pistol grip shifter **** rendering

3D-Printed Prototype Testing

Testing? What are we testing with a shift ****? We put together a few different grip styles with differences in the finger grooves. We wanted to see how each change affected the feel and which one was preferred for comfort. Check out our lineup of options!


Mishimoto 3D-printed pistol grip shift **** prototypes

We passed these prototypes around the office and listened to the opinions of our co-workers. We have enough folks here to take a good-sized sample, and soon a distinct winner was crowned.


Mishimoto 3D-printed pistol grip shift **** prototype

This one is a slight alteration of the third design you see in the lineup above. The shape of the grooves is identical, but they are placed on a corner rather than on a flat portion of the ****.


Mishimoto 3D-printed pistol grip shift **** prototype

Functional Prototype

Once the design was finalized, we constructed a couple of prototypes to take another look at what we created.


Mishimoto pistol grip shift **** functional prototype

This design is CNC-machined aluminum and weighs in at 204 grams. The additional weight will help with smooth shifting and gear engagement.


Mishimoto pistol grip shifter functional prototype

Suddenly, a hand model showed up as I was snapping some shots. If that hand looks familiar, perhaps you’ve seen some of his work in the Fall 1973 Bulova Watch catalog.


Mishimoto weighted shift **** functional prototype

This setup works great for either three or four fingers. The weighted shift **** provides some additional inertia, meaning the shift throw is a bit easier. We’ve had this prototype in the office for a few weeks, and all reports are positive.

The only minor adjustment to this final design is in logo placement. As you saw earlier in the rendering, we experimented with the script logo on the face of the ****. The functional prototype shown above features our “M” logo on the top. We weren’t quite pleased with either choice. Our final selection was the full Mishimoto script in a much smaller font, so it won’t detract from the creative design. This **** provides a nice sophisticated appearance with a more traditional shape.

Coming Up

We have one more weighted shift **** design to go! Check back in a few days for another update on our new shift **** collection.

Thanks for reading!
-John

zakmartin

For such a long time, the trend was always to go shorter, shorter, shorter. Megan short shift kits are almost a given in the 1-3G Eclipse community. Now I'm seeing things trend toward longer throws and grips like these are becoming more popular. I'm staying with my OEM shift **** for now since it's been comfortable for me, but I'm glad Mishimoto's offering these new alternatives especially with the ever-dwindling supply of MTs that manufacturers are making available and the resultant drought of new MT shift **** offerings (new styles seem to be coming out at a slower rate than they were 10 years ago.) Keep up the good work, John. I might eventually be persuaded to go to a different **** and it'll probably come down to Mishimoto and Momo.

Mw870

what kind of price range do you think the first one would be in? Also color combos? or to soon to say.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

But, is he the master of his own domain?

Mishimoto

Thanks for the kind words Zak! Passing your appreciation on to our design team.

Great questions. The first design will initially only be offered in the Rockstar scheme. Our first batch of pistol grip ***** will be offered in black. In the future, we can certainly consider additional color/finish options. Anything in particular you would like to see?

Pricing is still not yet finalized. Once we have those details they will be posted up!

Thanks for the interest.

Hahah, nice.

-John

Mishimoto

Check out our third new shift **** design!

Shifting Nirvana. A Sneak Peek At Mishimoto’s New Shift **** Designs: Teardrop Shift ****

We’ve brought you two prototype designs thus far, and now we have one more weighted shift **** ready to pull from our knapsack and present to the public. These three designs are displayed in order from wild to mild, with our third design representing a more traditional shape. Hopefully, one of our new designs is something you could see yourself grabbing ahold of while ripping through some gears.

3D Models

As with our other designs, this life also began as a 3D model. Our Solidworks wizards went to work and quickly transformed an idea from sketches to a rendering. Check it out!


Prototype weighted shift **** rendering


Prototype weighted shift **** rendering

As indicated by the name, the general shape is in the form of a teardrop, which provides a nice ergonomic feel.

Check out the Mishimoto logo laser etched on top!


Prototype weighted shift **** rendering

This **** incorporates a few unique features and different materials. Take a look at a rendered cutaway.


Prototype shift **** cutaway rendering

The inner portion of the **** (silver) is machined 303 stainless steel and includes a threaded base to accept our various shift **** adapters. Each adapter has a different internal thread size/pitch, meaning our ***** will fit most applications. In addition, this **** also features a set screw to function with non-threaded shift rods, such as those found on BMWs. The use of stainless steel gives this **** some heft, weighing in at 294 grams. This is the middleweight contender in our lineup, with the large bike grip handle weighing nearly 500 grams and our pistol grip **** coming in at 200 grams.

The outer black portion of the **** is manufactured from Delrin. This means you won’t melt the skin off your palm on hot summer days, which is quite common with all-metal *****. Hooray for painless shifting!

Functional Prototype

In a flash, we had our prototype design constructed and in our office for a comprehensive evaluation.


Prototype teardrop shift ****


Prototype teardrop shift ****

And a look at the top.


Prototype teardrop shift ****

This **** design ended up being an office favorite. The exterior material feels great in your hands, and the added weight should really help with shift feel. We won’t be making any major changes to this design.

**** Availability

These ***** are coming quick! We expect our first batch to arrive next week. You can get your paws on these very soon.

Thanks for taking a look!
-John

HRMoneyPit

Okay now that seems a million times better!

As loNguyen as its not made of metal I say it's a winner

Mw870

Was hoping to see the Rockstar in CF possibly, probably just my CF addiction kicking in though