JHM Short Shifter

[Al Waleed]

Thinking in adding the JHM short shifter in my modifications list

Advantages and Disadvantages ?


Feedback please for those who have it

[AussieDan]

Subscribing...

[rs4 tony]

Just the thread I been looking for

[RAudi Driver]

It's a love it or hate it thing. If yo don't get it adjusted just right then you're going to hate it. It's not an easy task to get adjusted perfectly but when you do, it's a nice addition to the car. On a scale of 1 to 10 for getting it adjusted just perfect, I'm going to give it a 10. It's super hard to get it just perfect.

If you live in So Cal, I can do your install as I've done the install numerous times. I'm going to charge for my time but at lease you know it will be perfect. I was in the process of doing a DIY to show exactly how to get it perfect but that went out the window when my camera battery dies in the middle of my install. Maybe I'll do one once I get my BBS wheels on the GT3.

On a side note, my wife drove it without knowing that I has put one in and said that my shifting felt so much better. She used to hate the shifter on the RS.

[zmon]

RAudi... i would love to know some of your tips to get it perfect (i would not be doing this install, but anything to tell my mechanic would be great). this is probably the only downside i have heard to this and one will be on my list of mods in the fall... I drove an RS with one and like your wife i loved it!!!

[jareds941]

Feels like a tractor. Not a fan.

[S4V8]

It sucks. Stick with OEM.

[rs4 tony]

Lmfao at the last 2 comments ^^

[pierl]

I have the jhm short shifter trio and it is one of the best mod I did on my car. Those who said it it sucks is because they haven't adjusted it properly or haven't drove one with the proper setup.

You do get more feedback from the drivetrain and a certain amount of clunk but the shifting experience is night and day.

[Gareth_oau]

I love mine, I gave it to an Audi mechanic and installation/adjustment was 1 hour of labour without issues.

for those who say it feels like a tractor - my wife thinks you're a big girl's blouse!! LOL

[RAudi Driver]

Feels like a tractor. Not a fan.

Haha, jared, you always say that. I drove Dan's car with all the goodies attached to it (the trio) and well, it does feel tractorish. However, mine feels just like the stock unit but with shorter throws and a more solid feel.

[BenSti]

Haha, jared, you always say that. I drove Dan's car with all the goodies attached to it (the trio) and well, it does feel tractorish. However, mine feels just like the stock unit but with shorter throws and a more solid feel.

Leave the bushing out and you keep it smooth with very little slop.

[S4V8]

Lmfao at the last 2 comments ^^

Some may think I am kidding, but I am not. To each their own, however the JHM keg humpers won't admit it has it's flaws - personal preference I guess.

The next trick is, if you do order it just hope that it arrives in a timely manner. JHM has become notorious for brutal customer service and an over-promise, under-deliver type attitude.

Good Luck!

[rs4 tony]

The next trick is, if you do order it cross hope it arrives in a timely manner. JHM has become notorious for brutal customer service and an over-promise, under-deliver type attitude.

Good Luck!

Oh I kno. I'm still waiting for a credit for rear rotors from April......supposedly the accountant was on vacation for a week. Then they lost my order number. Then the accountant had it. Then he never processed the return form in. A whole mess. For something so simple.

[RAudi Driver]

It's form, not forum! RIF

[BenSti]

Oh I kno. I'm still waiting for a credit for rear rotors from April......supposedly the accountant was on vacation for a week. Then they lost my order number. Then the accountant had it. Then he never processed the return forum in. A whole mess. For something so simple.

Funny how it can be so hard. Whenever I deal with 034 it is perfect how a transaction should be. Even if I the person I am dealing with is out for a day, the rest of the employees are able to finish everything with no trouble. I am assuming they use the same accounting software, so I don't see how you would lose an order number, just enter a name, or date, or something and search through records...

[rs4 tony]

Yea I know....

[S4Bennett]

Keep the soft reverse spring. I don't like having to push down very hard to grab reverse. It's somewhat dependent on how big you are too. I'm only 5'8" and 150lb's; a 200+ lb'er might be perfectly okay with the medium spring.

Use the 40% throw reduction. I tried 25% for a year and after trying the 40% reduction, liked it enough to keep it.

[S4V8]

Oh I kno. I'm still waiting for a credit for rear rotors from April......supposedly the accountant was on vacation for a week. Then they lost my order number. Then the accountant had it. Then he never processed the return form in. A whole mess. For something so simple.

Very interesting.....I was given the same BS from Dan himself after he promised to refund me for their tune. Took months, I threatened with a letter from my lawyer and low and behold.....I received my refund in less than 24hrs.

I will never purchase a thing from JHM. Hands down the worst customer experience ever.

[rs4 tony]

Very interesting.....I was given the same BS from Dan himself after he promised to refund me for their tune. Took months, I threatened with a letter from my lawyer and low and behold.....I received my refund in less than 24hrs.

I will never purchase a thing from JHM. Hands down the worst customer experience ever.

Oo wow. That's pretty low. Lesson learned I guess..

[maxbhp]

Ok, where to begin...............

I've had stock, modified stock, JHM, Hypershift, and now modified Hypershift. Here is my honest and unbiased opinion:

I've had short shifter's in every manual car I've ever had and love a nice, short throw. I'll tolerate a little bit of notchiness in return for a shorter throw...but there's a limit on a daily-driven street car.

I drove up to JHM and had my JHM shifter installed by Jason himself. It is engineered very well (maybe even over-engineered) and a quality piece but it wasn't for me. I had it for almost a year and the throws are nice and short but it was very notchy. Over time my 3-4 shift would become a 2-step process and I was forced to open it up an adjust it every couple months. I became an expert like Ed, but it was a hassle I didn't want to continue to deal with.

The metal piece JHM uses to replace the stock plastic housing is a great quality piece but a metal on metal piece will never be as smooth as the stock piece that gives a bit. People forget that the JHM guys came from a drag racing background - specifically drag racing Mustangs. We all know that every little tenth counts when it come to drag times....slamming shifts as hard and fast as you can add up to time that can be significant when bragging about dragging (you like how I rhymed there). Hence the JHM kit makes sense for those guys and people that consistently drag race their car and are looking to gain a tenth. It would also be a pain early in the morning when the fluid wasn't warm getting the car into gear, a minor gripe that is amplified by the metal on metal base.
I don't drag race my car so I don't need a shifter that I can hammer on really hard which you can definitely do with the JHM piece. I don't know how good that might be for your tranny in the long run but for some people the trade off is worth it.

The Hypershift piece is definitely not as well engineered or complete as the JHM piece but it gets the job done for me perfectly. It only replaces the stock shaft and you retain the stock plastic ball piece which means their is more slop or movement than the JHM piece, but no more than stock. It also is much less notchy than the JHM piece with equal reduction on the throws. But most importantly, I haven't had to adjust it once since I installed it over 7k miles ago. PM me for more info

[maxbhp]

Very interesting.....I was given the same BS from Dan himself after he promised to refund me for their tune. Took months, I threatened with a letter from my lawyer and low and behold.....I received my refund in less than 24hrs.

I will never purchase a thing from JHM. Hands down the worst customer experience ever.

Oh yea, and you get to deal with JHM's awesome customer service (can't say that with a straight face).
Try them having almost $2k of yours for over 6 months, constantly being BS'ed to and ignored until the letter from my lawyer arrived.......then I couldn't get them to leave me the f alone........

JHM has great customer service until they have your money. A couple college kids running a tuning company out of their garage have better customer service and credibility than those guys.

And the best part is now their will be a whole post on audirevolution about how maxbhp and qw minions are coming over to AZ to bash JHM, LOL............no, I'm just stating my honest opinion based on real facts; and JHM reaps and earns what they sow. Good products, shitty service - both ingredients are important to run a good, legitimate business but JHM fails big in one department.
Really, they'll post about my post because they are crazy. I'll even link it here once the minions get going. Let's see if the attacks make sense or are the usual baseless personal rants which normal people wouldn't have the time to come up with.

[SLKStang]

I guess I'm one of the "Love It" people. I have always been a fan of short throw shifters. When I had my STI, the shifter was like a truck shifter and it made things difficult for me. Swapping out made the car for me.

As for the JHM, install was a bit of a PITA, especially with the small spacers, but it is adjusted and giving me no issues whatsoever. I am seriously not a 10 on the technical abilities, so maybe I got lucky, but it was a great upgrade. Definitely changed the enjoyment factor of the car. The instructions on JHMs site as well as on here made it work for me. I did not do the trio, just the shifter.

[Gareth_oau]

interesting to read your story max. i've had the JHM (not the trio) in mine now for about 14 months and not had a single issue, with installation or operation.

I like the notchiness, but would classify it as 'subtle' and certainly havent had any cold start issues, but perhaps I live in a warmer climate - the coldest start I've had is around 37F/3C