Acuity 10th Gen Civic Stage 1 Shift Kit on the Type R - install tips, reviews, etc.

[baldheadracing]

"Shifter feel is precisely what we've come to expect from Honda: absolute precision." - Car and Driver

"Shift action is as slick as we've come to expect ..." - Motor Trend

"The shift quality of the manual 'box was one of the best bits about the outgoing car, and the engineers proudly state that its 40mm shift stroke is just 5mm more than that of the S2000." - EVO

"Moreover, the Type R absolutely aces the contact points that really matter: ... the small alloy ball of the gearlever ..." - EVO

"Honda nailed the short, stubby lever and satisfying mechanical shift action yonks ago." - Top Gear

"Honda's alloy-topped short-throw shifter makes every change a joy, with an oily precision that far surpasses every other contender." - Car (UK)

"The titanium gearknob is a terrific piece of automotive art, and the throws of the gearbox are wonderfully short. But the engagement of gears in their gates could be snappier still." - torque (SG)

So, the magazine reviews were overwhelmingly positive for the shifter in the FK8 Type R - and the video and website reviews were just as effusive.

Myself ... I wasn't impressed. I mean, the shifts were fine and everything. I only occasionally caught stuck in neutral between shifts, but that could easily be me getting used to the car.

However, this was the first cable-shifter car that I've owned. All of my previous manual cars were rod (mechanical) shifters. Porsches, Audi's, BMW's, M-B's, Ford's (Hurst shifter!) - all mechanical. I'm not saying rod shifters are better than cable shifters - that is more a function of the particular application. There are good and bad shifters, and the technology used is only part of the equation. However, as a sweeping generalization, the feel is different. A good rod shifter is like cycling a bolt-action rifle. I wanted to get closer to that feel.

This forum is a great resource; there was already a lively discussion about shifter improvements from two companies: Sirimoto and Acuity. http://www.civicx.com/threads/sirimoto-krispy-vs-acuity.14133/ With all the press reports showering praise on the Type R shifter, I wasn't sure how much difference these aftermarket items would make - sure, they could improve the regular CivicX shifters, and maybe the Si's, but the Type R's? I was skeptical. Acuity wasn't even sure that their shifter bushings would work on the Type R.

So I contacted Acuity. I said, I'll buy the Stage I shift kit, be a guinea pig, and see if the bushings work. Russ offered me $20 off, and gave me a couple windshield banners when I promised to get some pics of my car with the banners.

As of now I can say that the Stage 1 shift kit does fit the Type R. I did the install this weekend. I'll update this thread once I've had a chance to use the kit more. Whether the kit makes a big enough difference for me to justify the price, and the non-trivial installation - see the fourth post in this thread.

Full disclaimer: I am making notes and taking pics for Acuity's Type R install guide. I may also be fortunate enough to try out some of Acuity's future products.

Sponsored

 

[baldheadracing]

First up, the shifter knob. Shifter knobs are a personal preference. There is no "right" or "wrong."

To be philosophical for a moment, my objective with gear changing is that I want shifting to happen unconsciously – without thinking about it; for the shift to just ‘happen.’

For me, this only happens away from public roads. On public roads, there are just too many gearing possibilities for any given situation. On the track, for any given situation, there is only one right gear, and only one right time to up-shift or down-shift.

On public roads, I’m fine with almost any shift knob. Perhaps this comes from learning manual in a 1966 Ford Falcon with a three-on-the-tree – or perhaps from the 1970 M-B 200D that, due to 250,000 miles of wear, and parts availability, had 1-2 on the tree, and 3-4 on the floor.

On public roads, I was, and am, fine with the stock Type R shifter knob. It is a ball, so it works perfectly for many people. Many people are "Top" shifters - their hand goes over the knob so the knob is carried in the middle of the palm – the palm is horizontal. Others are "Side" shifters - they wrap their hand around the knob so their palm is vertical. Others are in-between, or do both. Myself, I do both – I will “push” the shifter with the palm horizontal, and “pull” with the palm vertical. (I had to video myself for this review to figure that out.) A ball shifter knob just didn’t feel right to me.

Honda Access offers a solution for drivers like me – a shifter knob designed to handle both “Top” and “Side” shifting. Their “Real Carbon” leather-wrapped shift knob sits taller than the Type R metal ball – note the metal extension over the black base bit. (The Type R ball rests directly on the black base bit.)



Unfortunately, the Honda Access shifter knob is currently unavailable in North America, and is rumoured to be quite expensive. Pretty nice, eh? However, it has one other disadvantage for me: the knob is too tall for my side-shifting.

ETA: US MSRP of the Honda Access know was $199 in the fall of 2017. I was ordering some JDM parts for my Type R so I got the shift knob from Japan at the same time. I cut new threads (see below) so I could have the Access knob at the height I want. Now I use the Access knob for daily driving but I change to the Acuity ESCO knob for serious driving.

In short, I wanted a shift knob that could handle “Top” and “Side” shifting, and one that I could locate lower on the shift lever.

The Acuity knob – which is called “ESCO” for reasons unknown – is a knob designed primarily to be used as a side shifter. However, if I could locate it lower, then I could use it for “Top” shifting as well – so that is what I did.

Spoiler: Pics of OE knob vs. Acuity shift knob at various heights

To get an idea of height, here's the stock shifter with the boot removed. Note how the mid-point of the knob is more-or-less at the ridge in the insulation of the shaft of the screwdriver:



Now let's put the Acuity ESCO knob on:



See how much taller the Acuity knob is, just like the Honda Access knob? This height is ideal for a "Side" shifter who likes the stock height.

However, that's not me. Acuity also provides their own lock nut, which one could use instead of the black bit - although this will result in the shifter boot being loose (which I'll cover later). This lowers the height a bit:



But wait, there's more!

How about if we dispense with lock nuts altogether, and screw the shifter knob all the way down?

Now we're talking!

Perfect (for me) - However, there are some issues:
1. The pattern on the top of the knob isn't nicely lined up;
2. With no lock nut, the shifter can come unscrewed; and
3. The shifter boot flops around.

First of all, the pattern. Think about this for a second. Why is there a pattern? Do you not know where your gears are? Do you actually look at the pattern and say, yup, I forgot where reverse is, good thing the pattern is on the shifter knob? I didn't bother fixing the pattern, but if one wants to have it line up, then play around with bits of Aluminium foil on the top of the shifter rod and it'll only take a couple tries to get the pattern lined up. (I've done that on other cars.)

Second, no lock nut. I wrapped the shifter rod threads with some Teflon tape (a.k.a. PTFE tape, a.k.a. plumber's tape - see step 8 in the spoiler below for a pic). You can also use a little bit of nail polish on the rod threads, or a very - VERY - weak thread locker. (Do not use Red or Blue threadlocker.)

Finally, the shifter boot.

My first solution involved using electrical tape, but did involve disassembly of the console. Here it is:

Spoiler: Fixing the loose shifter boot with electrical tape

1. Grab Acuity's install guide for their shifter base bushings here:

2. Follow step 1 and steps 3 through 6 of of the guide. (Ignore step 2. Do not ignore step 1.)

3. Screw down the Acuity knob. Wrap electrical tape around the shift lever where the arrow points.


4. I used three - one foot lengths of electrical tape, capped by a six-inch length. You'll be left with something like this (look at shift rod in the background - sorry about the focus).


5. The amount of tape should be just enough that the silver cap on the shifter boot can be forced over it. (Boot pulled out of the way for this pic.)


6. Re-install connectors for the parking brake, brake hold, and mode button, which is the reverse of step 6 in Acuity guide. Note the guide has tips for re-installation for every step, which are very helpful. Be sure to read those. Rest the assembly in place, and line up the shift boot stitching - but don't clamp down or snap the assembly in place just yet, but spin on a shift knob just enough that you can shift.


7. Re-connect the battery. (Step 1 in Acuity guide.) Go for a short drive to get all systems working. Make sure the parking brake switch works, the brake hold button works, and the mode button changes modes. The connectors to these switches can be fiddly and if a connector isn't seated just so, then you'll get all kinds of warning messages - sometimes. If this happens, turn off the car, wiggle the connectors to make sure that the connectors are fully seated, then startup again and see if the warnings return. Guess what happened to me ... and now, back to the install:

8. Remove shifter knob, make sure the shifter boot stitching is lined up, and push the shifter boot down onto the electrical tape "plug" until the top of the boot is just around the bottom of the threads.

To keep the shifter knob from coming loose, I wrapped some plumber's tape (a.k.a. teflon tape) around the shifter. You don't need much:



9. Thread on shifter knob.
I

10. Reverse step 5 and step 4 of Acuity guide. Done!



11. Go driving.

The electrical tape solution really bugged me, so I came up with a second solution: cutting new threads on the shift lever.

This allows use of the black Type R base collar and doesn't require console dissassembly, so it is a much nicer solution. However, you should have some experience working with taps and dies as it is quite easy to use a die incorrectly and be stuck having to buy a new shifter. I was worried about wrecking the shift lever, but then I found out that the whole shift assembly is available as a new part for well under $50 so I figured that I could experiment.

Spoiler: Changing the height by cutting new threads

The black Type R base collar works great, but it doesn't thread far enough down the shifter rod, because the shifter rod only has so many threads cut in it.

Solution: cut more threads. The threads don't have to handle a lot of torque, they just need to be there. I used a rethreading die from Lang tools, but it might be easier for Americans to get just the one rethreading die needed from Snap-On https://store.snapon.com/Rethreadin...tric-Rethreading-Die-Blue-Point--P651937.aspx (Lang only sells sets - I have this set: http://www.langtools.com/sku-2584-15-pc-metric-thread-restorer-set/ but all you need is the M10x1.5 from http://www.langtools.com/sku-2594-5-pc-metric-thread-restorer-die-set/ ) Use a lubricant (I used motor oil) and go slowly.

You can run the die down a couple inches past the original threads until the diameter of the shifter rod increases. It won't look like threads are there - it'll feel like roughness, but there is something there - when you thread the base onto the rod, you will find that you can wind it down so far that you can now thread your shifter knob on until it bottoms out. Then you can align the pattern if you want, and lock the knob using the base collar. Just keep in mind that the new threads are fragile, so use only just enough torque to lock the shift knob in place.

Here's what the rod looks like after the threads are cut. Note that you don't have to dissassemble the console to do this mod - the pic has the console removed as I was installing the Acuity centering spring.

Finally, a short rant on material choice. People seem to not like the stock knob because it is metal and will burn your palm when it is hot. Well ... don't let it get hot. Put a glove on it. Put a hankerchief over it. Get a cozee for it. I put a microfiber cloth over mine until I put the Acuity knob on. (The Acuity ESCO knob is made of "Acetal" a.k.a. Polyoxymethylene, a.k.a. Delrin.)

 

[baldheadracing]

The second part of the shift kit are the shift linkage bushings. These two bushings go on top of the transmission and replace the stock pieces. This is what they look like after installation:

Aside: Check out the counterweight - you won't see that on other CivicX.

Now, when one looks under the hood, one won't see what's in the pic - and that is what has to be considered when contemplating these bushings. While the actual removal of the original equipment bushings and installation of the new Acuity bushings takes a couple of minutes, getting access to those bushings takes about an hour.

I say "about" because it depends on you. If I were to install the bushings on another Type R today, then it would take me about 35 minutes. The first time that I did it isn't really comparable as there were no instructions to follow, but the second time took me about 90 minutes.

Acuity will be issuing a guide, and, to be honest, if you have a Type R, then I would advise waiting for that guide before attempting installation unless you are quite mechanically-inclined. (For the quite mechanically-inclined: Remove battery box, airbox, and intake crossover pipe. Free up wiring harness at anchor to transmission.) Again, I'd advise waiting for the illustrated step-by-step instructions.

So what do these bushings do exactly? Is the time spent on the installation worth it?

Acuity gives a very fair description in the installation guide for the Civic Si. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B456gOYKbqR2XzlWWHRCY1p4c0U Here's what they say:

These bushings are designed to help remove the compliance and elasticity that the OEM rubber bushings inherently add to the shift linkage. The change in shift feel will be most notable when high force is applied to the shift lever, particularly at the end of gear engagement, when the shift cables can no longer be pushed/pulled any further. The same should be noticeable at the extreme gates (i.e. the 1/2 gate at far left and the R gate at the far right). This is the result of stiffer materials reducing compliance. Generally, after installation, it will seem harder to “push past” the gate or gear you’re moving the shifter toward. Additionally, as the gear fully engages, it will almost feel as though the shifter is “falling” into gear. This is the result of the integral spherical bearing removing the elasticity inherent in the OEM rubber gear cable bushing, thereby allowing the ball detents in the transmission to more effectively “pull” the shift fork into its final position.

The Acuity shift linkage bushings "help remove the compliance..." However, the stock bushings do not have much compliance in them, and the Acuity bushings retain a little bit of compliance for ease of installation, so, just based on pushing/pulling on the (installed) pieces, one wouldn't think that there is a huge improvement to be had. I would say that the Acuity shift linkage bushings do change the "shift feel" - no more and no less. The "push past" and "falling" sentences above echo exactly what I experienced. (I installed these bushings first, and drove around with only them installed.)

Based on those experiences, I can't really recommend installing just/only these bushings, as I found that, although there was a difference, overall, the shifts still felt "rubbery" afterwards. On the other hand, when I subsequently installed Acuity's shifter base bushings, I felt that the the bushings worked in concert with each other to improve the feel of shifts.

 

[baldheadracing]

The third part of the shift kit are the shifter base bushings. First, let's see what these are supposed to do. From the Civic Si install guide at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B456gOYKbqR2d1J4em1raWM3VHM

These bushings are designed to help remove some of the compliance inherent in the stock shifter. Every time you shift, some of the motion of your shift is actually for moving the shifter cables, but much of it is actually due to compliant rubber parts like the shifter base bushings and shifter cable bushings. By removing some of these rubber components, you can eliminate much of the “spongey” feeling you get when the gear finally engages. There’s also a small amount of throw reduction that will be noticed since there is less compliance overall.

The shifter base bushings are much less expensive than the shift linkage bushings, yet I would hypothesize that the base bushings have the most impact on feel. However, I did not uninstall the shift linkage bushings to test this hypothesis. Thus, I can only talk about the combined effect of the shifter base bushings and the shift linkage bushings.

With both the shifter base bushings and shift linkage bushings, the change in shifter feel was immediately noticeable, and for the better. Recall that my goal for installing the bushings was to get closer to the feel of a rod shifter. Job done, that is exactly what the bushings accomplished for me. Perfect!

However.

There is always a 'however,' and in this case it is the installation. Let me be the first to say that the installation is easy. As easy as changing brake pads in a fixed caliper like the Type R's Brembos. The catch is, if you've never done it, then it ain't neccessarily easy. The first time that you check for free piston movement in your calipers, you may well tear a "dust" seal because you've never half-removed and re-installed dust seals before. The next time - no problem. The same concept applies here. Removing interior trim pieces is easy - but if you've never done it, then it ain't easy. If you've never used "non-marring pry tools," then you may well encounter a learning curve. I did.

First of all, you must have "non-marring pry tools." I would say that attempting the install without them is going to frustrate you, probably permanently mark up some of your interior trim, and may well result in broken plastic and attachment points. Acuity sells a set of tools for $10. You can buy sets for a dollar (or more) on AliExpress or eBay or Amazon or your local auto store. You have to know that "non-marring pry tools" do not mark your precious interior trim because the plastics they are made of are soft enough that they sacrifice themselves rather than mark up your trim. If you are going for the inexpensive sets, then I'd get at least a couple sets.

Next, Acuity has excellent instructions, but the instructions are static pictures on paper. If you've never removed trim, then you will want to watch video. Trust me on this. Happily, CivicX sponsor PRO Car Studio has an install video for the Sirimoto short shifter kit, which they supply with Sirimoto's shifter base bushings. You don't have to remove the shifter to install just the shifter base bushings, so skip that part of the video, but I would strongly recommend watching their video multiple times. (I downloaded it.) http://www.civicx.com/threads/sirimoto-short-throw-shifter.8581/ Note the video isn't on a Type R, so the shifter knob, and its connection to the shifter boot, are different. (On the Type R, I used brute force to separate the shifter boot from the shifter knob. Maybe there is an easier way. I don't know.) It is best to both watch the video and follow the Acuity instructions. Sometimes the Acuity instructions are clearer and explain things that are confusing in the video; and vice versa.

One last tip is to very, very, careful installing the new shifter base bushings. One of the bushings slipped out of my fingers while I was manoevering it into place and the bushing fell away from the tunnel under the carpet. When I tried to dig it out, it slipped further under the carpet. Fortunately for me, it was on the passenger side. I was able to stick my arm in the hole for the car's Frame ID and reach under the carpet just far enough to get to the dropped piece.

All that to say that the dollar cost of the shifter base bushings is not the real cost. The real cost is your time and effort to install the bushings. Is it worth it?

That is really hard for me to say, but I will try and answer that in the next post.

 

[baldheadracing]

So now the hard question - whether the kit makes a big enough difference for me to justify the price, and the non-trivial installation - but first, thanks for reading the wall of text so far!

When written, the Acuity Stage 1 Shift kit was priced at $169. Individually:
- the ESCO shift knob was $75;
- the Shifter Cable Bushings were $70; and
- the Shifter Base Bushings were $29.
So the kit represents a $5 savings.

Before going through each of the items, I want to point out that these upgrades work on all CivicX manual shifters - but all CivicX manual shifters (and transmissions) are not the same. If one has an LX or Sport 6MT, then the Acuity items represent a much greater upgrade than if one had an Si. Similarly, there is more of an upgrade from the Si than there is from the Type R. The perceived improvement that the Acuity package offers to the LX/Sport 6MT driver is going to be much greater than the differences that the Type R driver feels. Upgrading from the Type R offers the smallest perceived difference, and thus, the lowest perceived value.

First, the knob. There are all kinds of knobs out there, in all different shapes and weights and prices. It really is a matter of personal preference. On the street, I have found that the stock Type R knob is just fine, and the Acuity shifter is not intuitive. However, off-road, I experienced the reverse - the stock knob was bugging me; I had a couple missed shifts, but with the with ESCO knob, I don't think about where my hand is on the shift knob, or even feel where it is - the shifts just 'happen.' Note, however, that I do not have the Acuity ESCO knob mounted at the height that it was designed for. Again, it really is a mattter of personal preference. Your mileage may vary.

Next, the shifter cable bushings. For the Type R, to be blunt, I would not install them just on their own. With just these bushings installed, yes, there was a difference, but in my opinion not enough of a difference to justify the cost in terms of both dollars and time. In combination with the shifter base bushings - another story.

Thirdly, the shifter base bushings. Unfortunately, I didn't install these just on their own, so I am unable to say for certain what they would do by themselves. However, I would hazard a guess that the effect would be pretty good. The stock base bushings do have noticeable movement, even the Type R ones - which are, I believe, the same as the Si bushings. Dollar cost is minimal, but the installation time and effort is not. If you are happy with the stock Type R shifter, then I'd say just stay with it. On the other hand, if you like to see what's going on underneath all that plastic, or you'd like to get rid of some of the - admittedly little - 'sponginess' or 'rubbery' nature of the stock shifter, then the base bushings would be a good first step.

Finally, the combination of both shifter cable bushings and shifter base bushings - the Stage 1 shift kit, in other words. Leaving the knob aside, the two sets of bushings cost $100. They'll take half-a-day to install. However, after that, there is no additional cost. If one keeps the car for five years, that's $20 a year. That gets me a feel much closer to a rod shifter. I'll gladly pay $20 a year for that.

 

[baldheadracing]

A quick update: I updated the second post above to include a second way of lowering the height of the shift knob.

I've also installed the Acuity centering spring. If you're going to install the shifter base bushings then I'd recommend installing the centering spring at the same time. Details of the spring are here: http://www.civicx.com/threads/introducing-acuitys-new-performance-shifter-centering-spring.16701

There is also another replacement for part of the stock shifter coming from @ACUITY soon. I have been fortunate enough to play with a prototype part. I can't really comment on the impact of any one piece anymore as I have all of the Stage 1 kit installed plus the centering spring (and the throttle pedal spacer). However, the overall impact of all the parts together has exceeded my expectations - shifting now is pretty freakin' amazing .

ETA: the prototype part mentioned above - the shifter rocker - is now available: https://acuityinstruments.com/products/acuity-shifter-rocker-upgrade-for-the-10th-gen-civic

 

[jaydubz79]

Great write up.

 

[MrPink]

sweet dude... i have the base bushings, centering spring, and rocker (on it's way) ... will be installing shortly.

How's the pedal spacer? i'm 6'3 and i don't need the pedal to be closer by any means... and the rev match system we have defeats the purpose of making the pedals close together for heel toe ; >

 

[typemismatch]

Have you considered upgrading the detent springs as well?

https://www.speedfactoryracing.net/speedfactory-heavy-duty-detent-spring-kit

 

[baldheadracing]

How's the pedal spacer? i'm 6'3 and i don't need the pedal to be closer by any means... and the rev match system we have defeats the purpose of making the pedals close together for heel toe ; >

Unfortunately, rev match isn't enabled for the 2-1 downshift. The pedal spacer works well - moving the pedal just enough for a lot of people. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to remove mine as it isn't an allowed modification for the class that I'm in.

Have you considered upgrading the detent springs as well?

https://www.speedfactoryracing.net/speedfactory-heavy-duty-detent-spring-kit

Nope. I know Acuity has springs for some transmissions but they only seem to offer them as part of their full shifters.

 

[fk8mike]

if you want to lowered the oem or aftermarket shift knob there it is...

1.remove the knob and boot
2.cover the area(there will be metal flake made)
3.take a m10x1.5 female thread maker and add approx 15mm of thread on the rod,now the shift boot/knob locker can go lower on the rod
4.replace all the hardware and enjoy

 

[MrPink]

off topic.... hahahahahahahahahahaa omg... now i know who you are!! geez! hehe

 

[jasonjm]

if you want to lowered the oem or aftermarket shift knob there it is...

1.remove the knob and boot
2.cover the area(there will be metal flake made)
3.take a m10x1.5 female thread maker and add approx 15mm of thread on the rod,now the shift boot/knob locker can go lower on the rod
4.replace all the hardware and enjoy

What die did you use? The set I have the m10 1.5 die didn’t even want to start to screw on.

 

[baldheadracing]

What die did you use? The set I have the m10 1.5 die didn’t even want to start to screw on.

I used a re-threading die, a.k.a., thread-restoring die. Links and pics in post #2 above.

 

[phan10ms]

I used a re-threading die, a.k.a., thread-restoring die. Links and pics in post #2 above.

Isn't that used to restore existing threads instead of cutting new ones?

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