Hybrid Racing Shifter - Blocks Odd Gears At Longest Throw Setting

[zeppelin2]

I have the full Hybrid Racing shifter for my Type R and when it's set to the longest throw (setting 1), shifting into the odd gears (1/3/5) has the shift lever make contact with the base. In other words, the shifter makes metal-on-metal contact every time it goes into odd gears. It results in a thud that can both be felt and heard at the end of the shift and is very unpleasant. It's wearing down the paint as can be seen here:

I sent my shifter in to Hybrid Racing and they tested it out and confirmed the shifter is making contact with the base every time it shifts into gears 1/3/5. However, they're dismissing it as "normal" and that it's "functioning correctly" as the gears are fully engaging. I'm amazed at how they don't consider this a design flaw.

It doesn't have this problem when shifting into even gears (2/4/6) at the longest throw setting, and it's not a problem in any gear at the shortest throw (setting 2). It's as if they didn't design enough extra space after the gear is fully engaged to allow for some extra play.

Can anyone with this shifter comment? Do you have yours set to the longest throw and does the shifter block the shifting in odd gears?

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[zeppelin2]

Just an update, Hybrid Racing screwed me over hard. They just sent me back my defective shifter after confirming that it was a problem. Thankfully I was able to return it at the store I bought it from.

Very unimpressed with the lack of customer support I received from Hybrid Racing.

 

[AlphaDigital]

wow, I was considering buying this piece at some point too.

@HybridRacing can you guys elaborate on whats going on?

 

[HybridRacing]

Alpha,

Here is the exact response that we provided to Zepp before he stopped responding.

The product currently functions correctly; the physical stop was deemed acceptable as it does not limit the product's function and aids in eliminating shock within the rest of the system. You can continue using the product. Your warranty is still in place should you encounter any problems. The engineering team has added your comments to its review process. If they make design changes based on your feedback, we will send those to you free of charge. If your primary concern was not function or reliability but the sound, I can discuss with my engineers some solutions that you can utilize to help eliminate that. Thank you again for bringing this to our attention, and we appreciate your support and feedback.

The title is misleading. The gears are not blocked. He is correct that the offset can hit the physical limit if you continue to push on the shifter once it's in gear. In no way does this limit or block the shifter from functioning or hinder aggressive shifts. His feedback was submitted to the engineering team for review. The shifter is running in 1000's of cars, and even though he may be the only one who uses the longest throw, the OEM throw, and has run into this problem, we are still giving his comments the attention of our entire engineering team. His feedback was the first of its kind, and it is moving thru the standard workflow of our engineering team. We worked to accommodate him while that happened and will still do so if he wants us to send him a new one free of charge.

We stand by our product and will always work with our customers to address any issues or concerns.

Alpha, feel free to use the code BFWILL to get an extra discount on the shifter during our Black Friday sale that is running next week.

I hope you both have a great day, and Zepp, my cell is 225-788-8177. Feel free to text if you want to work thru the issue with me directly.

-Will

 

[zeppelin2]

We worked to accommodate him while that happened and will still do so if he wants us to send him a new one free of charge.

We stand by our product and will always work with our customers to address any issues or concerns.

Please tell me you're kidding.

You literally just posted the last response I received from support saying that despite confirming the problem, nothing will be done to fix it. My only option was to wait for the engineering team to update it one day down the road (highly unlikely since I'm the only one with this problem) and, in the mean time, deal with it.

Let me be very clear that at no point was I offered a replacement despite that being exactly what I asked for. So while it's great that I'm now all of a sudden being offered a free shifter after having mentioned that I already returned it to the store I bought it from (which was not direct from Hybrid Racing), the action of sending my broken one back to me speaks for itself.

And it begs the question, why sell an adjustable shifter when one of the two settings doesn't even work properly? Brushing it off that I'm the only person that uses the longer throw setting is not cool.

 

[ebatr24]

I didn't have any issues with the Hybrid Racing shifter on the longest throw. I've run both the HR and the Acuity on longest throw because I run a countersunk shift knob that shortened the throw even more. Between the Hybrid and Acuity it was the "smoother" shifter. I only got rid of mine because it felt a little too mushy with a heavy shift knob. They've always been pretty great at addressing concerns, sucks you had trouble though.

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