Steeda Tri-Ax review
 

I installed a tri-ax in my car this past week and have been driving on it for the past week, and I am happy to say I am blown away!

When I saw the pictures and held it in my hand I was very skeptical (as were others in the shop) when we saw no east-west springs as in previous tri-ax's. However after install all of use were amazed at the control in this shifter. We were worried that the shifter would not make a big difference, we were VERY VERY wrong.

100% of the slop is ELIMINATED. The shifter is not notchy, it is easy to engage each gear and finding the gate is not an issue. However you never have that mushy in between the factory shifter gave you which left you wondering: is this first or third? while sitting at a light.

My favorite part is the 2-3 shift. I push forward with an open palm and the shifter authoritatively finds 3rd for me 100% of the time. You will NOT miss 3rd with this shifter.

the throw is noticeably shorter but it still has enough movement that you are still shifting with your arm and not your wrist (I think this is a plus as too short a throw = mistakes can be made).

Install was a breeze and took about 25 minutes.

Finally the reverse spring is 10X harder then factory and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. It was far too easy to engage reverse with the factory shifter. If its too firm for you they include and optional spring with a lesser rate in the box.

Overall: Its so good I could never drive my car with the factory shifter again.



Also, Overboost drove my car after the install and ordered his tri-ax the next day and JscottGT was also blown away by the shifter after driving my car post install (I will let them chim in with their own words).

Thanks for the review. Any changes in NVH?

towards the middle-top of first gear (if you accel is REALLY slow, windows up no radio) you can hear the synchros faintly. in any higher gear the road noise is louder then this.

The cool part about the new style shifter (2011+ 5.0) is the shifter box is mounted to the body and not the transmission so there is NO vibration in the shift what-so-ever

Great write up. I really like mine.

Great write up and Thank you for the kind words. I know my engineer is smiling from ear to ear right now, LOL.

We tried to go the extra mile with this one by trying to eliminate all NVH. There is more delrin in this shifter then any previous ones. Lets face it, these cars are not the foxbodys of yesterday.

Thanks again and Glad you enjoy it!!

In action...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uEgBr-9RaM&NR=1

Nice review :nice:

Price?

Retail is 215 tsteeda has them on sale on their site for 193 right now.

After that review and under $200 shipped I'm in-I'll take a little notchiness for less vagueness:nice:

I will chime in a little of what I think of this shifter... Up to this point, my only experience with Steeda shifters was with the one I installed in my SN95 ten years ago (and still use). One of the great things of that older design is that it has the built-in L/R springs to always force the shifter mechanism to the "center" position (3/4 gate). Not seeing this implemented in the new design had me a little worried about the claims of open-palm shifting from 2-3. After the install, I was really impressed. It appears that Steeda didn't have to include that spring, because there is already one inside the transmission. It is just that with the revised pivot ratio of the Tri-Ax, it amplifies that spring force and helps to center it better in the gates. That same centering action is seen on the 5-4 downshift, which is a very useful feature for track driving. Between the extra power, and the fact that 5th is now the 1:1 gear, on track, 5th gear is used on the straights. So that 5-4-3 downshifts are necessary on approach to slower corners. This will add a lot of confidence you are in the correct gear while tracking your car.
My only (slight) complaint is that in normal driving, you have to give the shifter a little push to the right when making the 5-6 upshift. It tends to want to go to 4th if you are not careful. I only mention this because if you are in a situation of running the car hard to the top of 5th, and are looking for 6th to continue on, you may get 4th and zing the engine. This is a very unlikely scenario because even with the 3.73 gears, the top of 5th is north of 150 mph. But for those that swap out to 4:10 or 4:30 gears, it is a possibility.
Overall, for the price, this is a great shifter... and IMHO a necessity for anyone that drives their car in anger on a race track.

Scott, thank you for the feedback, and glad you enjoy the shifter.

lol his last name is Scott, his name is Jason :)

I do agree about the 5-6 shift...

Its funny until a few days ago he had driven my car more with the shifter then I had (had a car show over the weekend and I had to drive one of our NASA American Iron Cars there and he drove mine all over town)

I had a brief experience in Shaun's car, but based on that small time, it was enough to convince me that the shortcomings in the stock shifter can be eliminated with the Tri-Ax.

I will say, I like the ability to adjust the reverse lockout is a great feature. One of my bigger gripes about the stock shifter is the relatively weak spring to hold the knob up, and this needs some attention.

Second, the crisp, clean shifts are exactly what I was looking for as an improvement. Stock isn't bad, but this makes it much more liveable and confidence inspiring.

More review to come soon once installed. Aiming for that by the end of next week.

Nice, well my first name is Scott, LOL.

Yea, tough when you have to drive the shop cars huh? One thing I hate, JK

Thanks again

I know right? Its a tough job but some has to take one for the team, :grin::nice:

Sounds like as much fun as cruising in a Mustang convoy and getting pics/vids taken going through tunnels...:jester:

I don't see why the 5-6 shift should be a problem? Wouldn't it be easy just to maintain a steady force to the right? I mean, reverse isn't on that side any more, there's nothing further to the right to slide into.

Idunno, maybe it's just me...

its not a huge deal, thats why we arent saying its a problem it just something to note.

the factory shifter you just pull striaght back from 5th and it goes to 6th, the Steeda one kinda wants to go back to center and you just have to not not drive it like the factory shifter

I couldn't possibly know what you are talking about here :devil:
I'm sure the sounds of 4 Mustangs at full tilt going thru the underpass scared some of the people that we passed. Did you notice that by the 2nd tunnel, people were moving out of the way. :grin:

None of which had a factory exhaust either...

Anyways...can't wait for my shifter to get here!