I just received my NISMO GT Titanium shift **** today and I am shocked by how much it weights. The scale says it is 6.3 oz's. I have a feeling this thing is stainless steel with some kind of titanium coating. If some engineer out there could figure out what the aproximate weight should be if given the rough dimensions, i'd appreciate it.

 

titanium is heavier than aluminum, so dont expect the titanium to feel lighter.. they used that material for marketing purposes.. no reason for a shift **** to be made from that stuff.

 

Sounds totally reasonable to me.

I guessed at rough dimensions since you didn't give any:

A cylinder of 1.5" diameter and 3" height, neglecting any fancy Nismo shape, the hole for mounting, etc. (just a simple cylinder) yields the following:

Volume = 5.30 in^3

The density of Ti is .161 lb/in^3, giving .853 lb. or 13.65 oz.

The density of steel is about .284 lb/in^3, giving 1.51 lb. or 24.1 oz.

Obviously my dimension guesses were off and the cavity and shape of the **** remove a lot of material, but you get the picture.

Here's why the **** isn't so light:

The reason you can make certain structures lighter with Ti than with Steel is, in simplified terms, that you can use less Ti to do the same job. The ratio of strength to stiffness is such that Ti is more structurally efficient in some applications.

The shift **** uses the same amount of material regardless of what that material is, since the primary design constraint is ergonomic, not structural. Therefore, it doesn't seem feathery-light like marketing has led you to believe it would.

If you were really buying a shift **** to save weight , you'd get an aluminum or plastic one.

 

Thanks REEN, just the stuff I was looking for. Just seemed awfull heavy, I hve a TI scuba regulator and the first stage is roughly the same size the weights seem quite different.

I didn't purchase it for the weight savings, just for looks & hopefully a better feel. The color should match up well with the frost interior.

 

I was wondering this also. I have rigged up my 3 wood with the shift **** and as soon as the good weather comes I will take it to the driving range. If it sparks its titanium

 

IIRC Ti isn't magnetic so if you suspect something is steel with a Ti coating that would be an easy way to check.

 

...except that most stainless steels aren't magnetic either.

 

I could be wrong, but, I thought that they fill shift ***** with lead to make them heavy and therefore easier to shift into gear.

 

Never heard that one.

Who would have thought that we could get a technical shift **** discussion going???

 

greddy has a weighted shift ****

http://www.greddy.com/products/produ...Counter-Weight

 

lead? I donno if theyd use that, I could understand steel or iron.

even so, while weight, strength ect might not really matter... if its marketed as titanium it should be. sure they should plate metal with gold and it will look the exact same, but they charge enough, it should be the real deal as non functional as it may be.

 

But surely if they've just using a Ti coating they wouldn't go to the added expense of using stainless.

You're right, this is a bit of a weird topic

 

I just said stainless 'cause that's what the dude theorized in the first place.

Of course, you need to worry about material compatibility with the shift lever, to avoid galling or galvanic corrosion!

 

I like a little extra weight in my shift ****, has a better feel to it

 

OK, you got me

 

*%#@* now corrosion....

I'll be installing a ground wire attached to the shifter bolt and a zinc plate located near the back end of the car.

 

...make sure you tie it in to one of those grounding strips that drags on the ground behind the car!