The factory mounting plate that holds the shifter to the body of the car is made of flimsy plastic with a layer of sound-deadening foam between it and the vehicle’s center tunnel. The slider bushings are made of soft flexible rubber with tons of slop that gets worse with age. During “enthusiastic” 1-2 shifting, it’s easy to put enough side load on the shift lever to compress the bushings and cause the OEM plate to flex, allowing the shift linkage to get hung up in the reverse track in the transmission. This causes that “sticky” spot you feel between first and second that often causes missed shifts and lost races. Shifter housing wear can add to this as well.
Not only does the JXB Shifter Mounting Plate eliminate this issue, it gives a most wonderful solid feel to your shifter. The edges of the pattern are no longer soft, but make a solid thud, telling you you’ve arrived at the next gear.
Before you assume your missed shifts are due to user error, wearing synchros, or other transmission issues, go out to your car and do this experiment:
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With the car off, parking brake applied, and foot off the clutch, with little force applied, shift from 1st-2nd a number of times.
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Apply additional leftward force towards the reverse gear. Increase the force until the shifter starts getting caught in the middle going 1 —> 2. Try both fast and slow shifts.
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If this is the sensation you feel when you miss a shift, then the JXB Billet Shifter Mounting Plate is the solution. You don’t suck at shifting, your shifter does.
Compatible with any OEM or aftermarket shifter that retains the factory base. That includes the JHM, ECS, and Eurocode units.
Compatible with all 6MT B8/B8.5s, including A4/A5/S4/S5.
Installation is a breeze and is done entirely from the driver seat with most shifters.
