are they worth it? easy to fit?

Neil.

 

...got mine fitted at TSL, so can't answer your second question. Took them about half an hour I think.

They are worth it though IMO, they just make the whole driving experience feel that little bit more sporty. Mine took a little bit of getting used to --> shorter lever = more force required to change gear, but once you're into the swing of things you'll love it.

 

With a hacksaw you can shorten your own lever and re-thread the rod to take the ****. You could also replace the bush with a harder rubber. To do it properly you could replace ALL the linkage bushes with hard nylon but this is quite involved for a first time attempt and you need access to a lathe. There are several different bush sizes M/Y-M/Y and I am not aware of anybody doing pre-packaged kits.
Rally Design do quick shifts for about £40 or less. Pay much more and it is a total rip off.

No doubt this will upset suppliers enjoying huge profits and cosey arrangements for this item but they can be knocked out, en-mass complete, from a machine shop for under £20 a go.

 

As Harvey says, there's far too much bullsh*t and profitmongering in this sector. There is no point whatsoever paying more than the £37 plus VAT Rally Design charge for the lever itself.

FWIW I've had the linkage on my car completely re-bushed and that made more difference to the feel than the quickshift lever itself. There's far more slop/play in the standard setup than is desirable, and if you want a truly "sporty" feel, the elimination of this is more important than simply increasing the leverage ratio of the stick.

Edited to add that the Prodrive quickshift is one of the more complete products on the market in that it includes a harder front mounting bush, which makes a considerable difference to the feel of the shift. Given that it's a complete linkage rather than just a replacement stick, it'd be a good option for an older car whose current linkage had got worn and sloppy, provided you can get one at a good discount off the recommended price.

 

If you have a quickshift aren't you putting strain on the 'box as your changing faster?

Might be complete carp but thats what I always thought.

 

Complete carp. The term "quickshift" is a misnomer when applied to these aftermarket gearstick/linkage arrangements, they don't make the shift any quicker in temporal terms.

They should really be called "shortshifts", as all they do is alter the angular translation necessary to make a shift, in return for increasing the physical effort necessary.

In other words, instead of your stick making a longitudinal translation of, say 20 degrees to shift from first to second, with a force of 10lb being necessary to overcome the detents in the gearbox, the "quickshift" could enable a reduction to 15 degrees of overall stick movement, in return for the force necessary increasing to 12.5lb. This is all as a result in the change in leverage ratio of the stick - the force acting on the shift arm itself stays exactly the same.

 

from a completely non-technical point of view - I have the Prodrive one in my WRX and.......

snickety snick - change gear quick

the throw is considerably shorter than the std. - a tad noisy possible would be the only downside. The feel is more assured too.