MGW Short Throw Shifter Review.

[the5.ohh]

Purchased an MGW short throw shifter, and their standard handle. First off, right out of the box the quality is outstanding. Comparing it to stock build wise, its like going from a pos beater to a Bentley. They package everything separately and accordingly. Include a silicone gasket, or the rtv silicone (tube of stuff), all new shifter bolts with locking washers, a sheet of pre cut sound deadening, the shift stop set screws, locking nuts and washers, allen key for the shift stops and to tighten the handle to the shifter. Installation was pretty straight forward, did it this morning in around an hour or so. My stock shifters neutral position was off to the left, very loose and sloppy all around. MGW's neutral is centered, feels sturdy. The throws are drastically shortened, but not to the point where its annoying to drive. I've only been driving stick since June, so not that long.. Anyways. 1-4 is easy to shift into, 5th is a bit tricky since it actually takes effort to shift now, stock shifter needed no effort. This is my daily driver, and its perfect for me. The build quality is out of this world, and putting it next to the stock shifter makes me think WTF was Ford thinking? The car overall is easier to drive, it feels a lot smoother. And banging gears is now a lot more easy to do, I still need practice. But if I'm a novice and can do it partially, those of you with more experience will have no issues. I purchased it straight from MGW, glad I did. I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with a foxbody, new edge, SN95 etc. I love it, really happy with the purchase. I might make a write up on the install for youse, not sure yet
out of the box I put the base for the handle on just to see how it looks


stock pos shifter, steeda tri ax handle


Pos out- Make sure you place paper towels inside the shifter hole when you scrape the old gasket or sealant off the trans!


MGW in.


All buttoned up.

 

[the5.ohh]

I didn't take a pic of the paper towels I put in when I scraped off the sealant, don't worry none of that shit went inside the trans.

 

[5-oh-MUSTANG]

Whats so good about MGW? isnt it just like all the other short shifters?

 

[the5.ohh]

Whats so good about MGW? isnt it just like all the other short shifters?

Their quality is way better than any other short throw around. Ask anyone with an MGW. Ever wonder why nobody sells MGW short throws used? You see pro 5.0s, hursts, steedas for sale all the time.

 

[Mustanger]

Good report...MGW is far superior in every respect IMO. We have one on the Mach 1 and a Steeda TriAx on my 94...the MGW is tighter shorter than the Steeda. But I won't change the Steeda unless it breaks & it won't! We have about 110,000 miles on the Steeda unit & it is still like new no problems whatsoever and I have never blown the 2-3 shift with it! A flick of my fingers & it is in Neutral every time...I love it. About 50,000 miles on the MGW also never an issue, it got easier to use after a month or so felt stiff right out of the box.

Hey did you have to peel some flooring up top there to get the shifter in? kinda looks like it in the pic. I cut a bit for the top left bolt on the 94 to get the Steeda in.Must be common to do?

 

[the5.ohh]

Good report...MGW is far superior in every respect IMO. We have one on the Mach 1 and a Steeda TriAx on my 94...the MGW is tighter shorter than the Steeda. But I won't change the Steeda unless it breaks & it won't! We have about 110,000 miles on the Steeda unit & it is still like new no problems whatsoever and I have never blown the 2-3 shift with it! A flick of my fingers & it is in Neutral every time...I love it. About 50,000 miles on the MGW also never an issue, it got easier to use after a month or so felt stiff right out of the box.

Hey did you have to peel some flooring up top there to get the shifter in? kinda looks like it in the pic. I cut a bit for the top left bolt on the 94 to get the Steeda in.Must be common to do?

Thats great you have both lol, i'd never run a stock shifter again. My car was an automatic, did a 5 speed swap and needed to cut some of the metal by the shifter hole so the manual would fit in there. I did no cutting or modifying to anything when I put the mgw in yesterday

 

[Goldmember]

Their quality is way better than any other short throw around. Ask anyone with an MGW. Ever wonder why nobody sells MGW short throws used? You see pro 5.0s, hursts, steedas for sale all the time.

This.

The rare occasion someone is dumping an MGW is because they're dumping the car, or hurting for $.

I had a Pro5.0 in my '04 and did not like it whatsoever. Took it out when I was considering selling the car...6 months ago. I never bothered putting it back in. 20 years ago the Pro5.0 was the be-all and end-all, but it has been surpassed in that time. The reason I didn't like the MGW was because I didn't have enough seat time to get used to the tight gates, but it was sniper-rifle precise when on the road. Got fourth and reverse mixed up a lot in parking lots but meh, again just a lack of seat time. (This was in my dad's old '04, which he bought in '04. He sold the shifter because he traded in the car (sciatica to the point it caused him pain) on a...Joe you'd love this... 1-of-438 Medium Charcoal Green '98 Mark VIII)

 

[Ninety8stang]

Good review man. But I would have to disagree with everyone hating on a pro5.0. I've had multiple different short shifters in my car (B&M ripper, B&M pro ripper, steeda triax, pro5.0 etc...) in which ive logged hours of seat/race time with. I've driven with both MGW and pro.5.0s short throws but I would have to say that MGW is obviously the #1 choice in quality shifters and precision with shifts but out of the top 5 shifters for a 5/6 speed the pro5.0 comes in 2nd. I've always found 3rd to be a pretty difficult gear to find in quick shift situations and the only 2 that I really ever felt completely confident in finding that gear have been MGW and a pro5.0. Nothing out there compares to the two.

 

[Goldmember]

I would agree to the favorable Pro 5.0 review on a T5/T45. Enjoyed it on my '97...

on a 3650 it's garbage. Missed third more often than not when hustling, pretty embarrassing, got used to leaving the clutch in a little longer than necessary because I knew some "adjustment" would be needed. No better than stock shifter on accuracy on a 3650.

 

[the5.ohh]

This.

The rare occasion someone is dumping an MGW is because they're dumping the car, or hurting for $.

I had a Pro5.0 in my '04 and did not like it whatsoever. Took it out when I was considering selling the car...6 months ago. I never bothered putting it back in. 20 years ago the Pro5.0 was the be-all and end-all, but it has been surpassed in that time. The reason I didn't like the MGW was because I didn't have enough seat time to get used to the tight gates, but it was sniper-rifle precise when on the road. Got fourth and reverse mixed up a lot in parking lots but meh, again just a lack of seat time. (This was in my dad's old '04, which he bought in '04. He sold the shifter because he traded in the car (sciatica to the point it caused him pain) on a...Joe you'd love this... 1-of-438 Medium Charcoal Green '98 Mark VIII)

Yeah it's taking some getting used to thats for sure, going from the stock shifter to the mgw was a night and day difference. Reverse and 5th are a little tricky to find, but its my daily 4 days a week so I'll get it eventually lol. That blows but thats awesome at the same time lol, they're so comfortable and a blast to drive!

Good review man. But I would have to disagree with everyone hating on a pro5.0. I've had multiple different short shifters in my car (B&M ripper, B&M pro ripper, steeda triax, pro5.0 etc...) in which ive logged hours of seat/race time with. I've driven with both MGW and pro.5.0s short throws but I would have to say that MGW is obviously the #1 choice in quality shifters and precision with shifts but out of the top 5 shifters for a 5/6 speed the pro5.0 comes in 2nd. I've always found 3rd to be a pretty difficult gear to find in quick shift situations and the only 2 that I really ever felt completely confident in finding that gear have been MGW and a pro5.0. Nothing out there compares to the two.

I've never tried a pro 5.0, hell only stick car I drove was mine when I swapped it back in June. Other than that I never had any experience with a stick car before, now I can drive any stick car because once you drive one and have it down pat, its pretty simple. I have heard people with foxbodys prefer pro 5.0s, but I can't judge it since I never drove a car with one.

 

[DeepList]

Their quality is way better than any other short throw around.

How would you know from your personal experience that the quality of MGW is superior if this is the only vehicle you've ever driven with a manual transmission AND this is the only short throw shifter you've ever used? I'm just wondering...

Ever wonder why nobody sells MGW short throws used? You see pro 5.0s, hursts, steedas for sale all the time.

Actually, when I was looking around for shifters on various mustang forums and classified areas, I primarily saw MGW, B&M and Pro 5.0s more than anything else.

 

[the5.ohh]

How would you know from your personal experience that the quality of MGW is superior if this is the only vehicle you've ever driven with a manual transmission AND this is the only short throw shifter you've ever used? I'm just wondering...



Actually, when I was looking around for shifters on various mustang forums and classified areas, I primarily saw MGW, B&M and Pro 5.0s more than anything else.

I know people personally who have mgw's, hursts, pro 5.0s, steeda tri ax, and the budget sr or am ones. Every single one of them said mgw or bust, ive seen the shifters in person and the mgw just looks better quality wise. Everyone I asked about a short throw said mgw is the way to go.

 

[RichV]

I've driven a 99 GT with the MGW and didn't care for it. Too notchy in my opinion. But, I drove Kyle's new edge GT with a stock shifter and it was still notchy. So maybe it's the tranny.

I've allways run Hurst shifters and don't have anything negative to say. After years of beating on it in street and race cars they shift like they have the 1st day.

I will say the MGW has a lot more adjustability which is nice. If you have like t-rex arms or gorilla arms.

 

[DeepList]

I know people personally who have mgw's, hursts, pro 5.0s, steeda tri ax, and the budget sr or am ones. Every single one of them said mgw or bust, ive seen the shifters in person and the mgw just looks better quality wise. Everyone I asked about a short throw said mgw is the way to go.

Ah, okay. I wasn't sure if your opinions here were based on personal experience with the different types, or just what everybody else told you. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[the5.ohh]

Ah, okay. I wasn't sure if your opinions here were based on personal experience with the different types, or just what everybody else told you. Thanks for clarifying.

Yeah solely based on what I was told. I couldn't say well A is crap and B is top notch if I never used them, would be a buncha crap lol.

 

[Sinned83]

I've had the tri ax, Mgw and hurst (was in the mach when purchased) if I had to purchase one Id go with Mgw just as a preferance cuz I like the feel. But that being said hurst and tri ax aren't crap and tge hurst will remain in the mach

 

[tchmotorsports]

Hell yeah.Definetly high on my list of next mods.Thanks for the review.

 

[98BlackGT]

Nice write up, I have a mgw sitting in my trunk hoping to install soon


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[rz5.0]

Those are all great.. most people just go with the hype.. I had b&m ripper and pro ripper.. a pro 5.0 t56.. driven with a steeda and mgw.. i think people should drive a few before making a choice based just on reviews.. I would take any of them.. depends what I can get better deal on. .

 

[MustangChris]

Thanks for the review, brotha! I'll probably hunt down a new shifter when I get rollin' again and its always nice to hear some reliable reviews on them.