Alright,

I'm not sure that I should post this here or maybe I should post it in the "after market product review" boards but I just wanted to know some info on speed/mega shifters for automatics. I don't know much about them and I'm really just curious how they work and what the big deal is with them. I know it has something to do with getting of the line fast, at least thats my assumption, but i've always be curious and would like to know about more about them... so any info would be great.. Thanks!

-Gabe

 

Shifters are a personnel choice. I had a Megashifter and didn't like it. I now use a ProRatchet shifter. Others like a gate type shifter.

Just because one person likes a particular type of shifter doesn't mean you'll like it.

 

Well it's good to know someone's perspective on different products, but i'm more curious to know what they do, how they function. I don't really understand that part about speed shifters.

 

A factory shifter allows you to move the selector from gear to gear with little to no control over the movement. You can go from park to first gear in one smooth movement and back again.

A gate shifter allows you to shift to different gears but requires you to move the shifter sideways through a gate before making the next gear change. The shifter still has the full movement like a factory shifter. As an example, Pulling the shifter all the way back puts the transmission into first gear. When you push it forward, it will only go as far as second gear. To put it into third gear, the shift lever is moved to one side then you can push it forward into third but the next gate prevents you from pushing it into neutral (3 speed tranny)

All ratchet shifters work the same way but some work slightly different. My Pro Ratchet has the shift lever in the same position from park to first gear. From park, I pull back on the shifter to move it down the gears. GM shifters need 2 pulls to go from park to reverse. I pull back once more to neutral, twice more and I'm in first gear (powerglide). Every time the shift lever is ratcheted, it needs to be released to ratchet again. You pull or push it once and it will only shift one gear at a time and won't allow you to shift another gear until you release the shifter and ratchet it again.

With the powerglide I only need to do one shift going down the track. I launch in first gear. When the shift light comes on, I slam the shifter forward into second gear and let go of the shifter. I can't accidentally push it past high gear into neutral.

All these different types of shifters do is allows better control of the gear selection. An aftermarket shifter won't change how the transmission itself will shift. If you have a shift kit or a manual valve body, a better shifter will allow you to better control the shift points. For street driving, putting it in D and driving off is still the easiest thing to do. Manually shifting an automatic on the street becomes annoying after a while.