[Tigers] Tiger Short Shifter and Alternatives

[Dave Munroe]

Mark:

That is about the best expression of why we drive these old beasts that I 
have read.
Well done and I will be quoting you. (With credits of course!)

I suspect you would express the same emotions about your motorcycle 
experience,
times two, or more.

Thanks,

Dave




  "Mark Rense" wrote:

"....... driving a 50 year old sports car is not the real world....

 Driving a vintage car is about sensations. It's about rewards that cannot 
be
 obtained in the new car showroom. We tolerate much inconvenience to drive 
our
 toys because we enjoy being immersed in the sensual aura of sound, smells 
and
 tactile feedback associate with these old crocks. We elevate the personal
 reward offered by these machines above the risks and downtime required to
 drive and maintain the car, so looking at "the best" way to modify a 
component
 becomes a personal  preference rather than a goal to achieve the ultimate
 performance.

 So, is a short shifter better or worse than a long shifter? What do you 
want
 as part of your driving experience? In my case the Hurst is great for the 
car
 that sees a track day now and then, I can row through the gears faster with
 less concentration than with the standard shift assembly. I save precious
 tenths of a second on every lap. On the other hand, the car with the stock
 shifter is more comfortable, more relaxed, and feels more connected to the
 soul of the beast which is what I prefer for my traveling car. Different 
cars,
 different driving experiences, my soul, my brain.

  From looking at the recent crop of high performance cars it appears the 
manual
 transmission is doomed, you cannot get one on many German and Italian 
exotics
 anymore, the dual-clutch systems are faster around the track and achieve
 quicker bragging-rights-driven quarter mile times. So the choice has been 
made
 in The Real World. As for our Tigers, choose your gear lever length, rev it 
up
 and squeal the tires as you bang through the gears, it seldom gets better 
than
 that..."

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