Torque Solutions Shift Kit 04+ STi

Eagleye

Tinkerer
Torque Solutions Short Shift Kit Specs:
Shifter made of 4130 Chromoly steel and is TIG welded in a precision jig
Nickel plated
37% throw reduction
1.25" height reduction

Ordering & 1st Impressions:
Ordered through Jordan [MENTION=2334]Defined Performance[/MENTION] as usual. Best price of anywhere I looked. The shift kit came in a plain white box, nothing exciting here. Initial impressions were that it looks solid with good welds and quality hardware.

Installation:
"Installs in under 30 mins"...yeah...no. Maybe if you have done a short shift kit before. But when you need to jack up the car, remove trim pieces, remove the old shifter and swap over components to the new shifter, then reassemble everything...we are talking more like a couple hours. That was not an issue with this kit, just the way it is.

Post Install Looks and Feel:
I really like the lowered height and slightly shorter throw this shifter has. Nothing about the feel of it is blowing me away. It definitely has a "notchier" feel but the slight decrease in throw is not all that noticeable. Honestly if I had to do it again I would make this a later mod as it just doesn't do much for me currently. That said, I expect to find the lowered height to be something I continue to enjoy and would miss if I went back to stock height.

Issues and Recommendations for others:
This installation requires you to hammer out a roll pin that holds in the reverse lockout. I suggest buying a spare roll pin from Subaru right from the start to replace the stock one you knock out. They only cost $0.50 each and will eliminate the possibility of the reverse lockout rattling after you reinstall it on the new shifter.

Before pulling out the stock shifter you need to remove a c clip. This is a bit of a pain as its location requires you to use c clip pliers with straight tips to get down to it. I ended up using a combination of hacked c clip pliers (I used 2 small nails as straight tips in place of my 90* tips) and 2 pick tools that I had. You can get cheap c clip pliers from Harbor Freight for around $5, I don't suggest spending more elsewhere if you are like me as I will rarely need them.

SubieSpeed has a decent video showing this whole install process for the Cobb stage 1 kit that I recommend watching as you go along. Their recommendation to zip tie the reverse lockout cable up after install is a good one and one I agree with as my cable was in fact sitting on the driveshaft after install.

 
Last edited:

Alin

Diehard Car Enthusiast!
Give us another update after you've driven the car for 7 days!
 

Eagleye

Tinkerer
4/16/19 UPDATE:

I'm going to answer a few questions that typically come up after someone does a mod:

After a week, what do you think?
- Feeling a lot like I did immediately following the short shifter install. It has a notchier feel but has not in any way "transformed" the feel of shifting. I would honestly say a little heavier shift knob mad ea bigger difference to my shifting experience. **Disclaimer** I do have the shifter bushings to to install still, so once they are in I will post another update, but the shifter alone does little in my book in terms of shifter feel/experience. However, I do still enjoy the lower height.

Was it worth doing?
- For the lowered height I will say yes. Otherwise no.

Would you do it again, choose something else, etc?
- Hard to say until I get the shifter bushings installed. As of right now I would try the Cobb or Kartboy before doing another Torque Solutions shifter. This may change after the bushings, stay tuned.
 
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