[94_AcCoRd_EX]

He also writes later in the topic:
The stick isn't shorter than the OE unit. It’s actually the same height. This unit is a short throw shifter. It reduces the throws by as much as possible while remaining smooth. It actually makes for better shifting than the OE unit by creating a more positive shift. It’s hard to explain without out actually showing you, but this shifter "wants" to go into gear more than the OE unit does.

I considered reducing the length of the shift rod itself, but I found that this would actually hinder shifting performance. My shifter increases the angle of the shifter cable. This reduces the distance between gears. If the length of the shift rod itself was also reduced , the unit would become too notchy. This is because your hand would be too close to the pivot point of the unit. You can try this on your car by grabbing your OE shifter, under the shift knob, by the base of the shift boot. Try shifting like this and you will get an idea of what I'm talking about. This effect is even greater when you have a shorter distance between gears.

I believe that the people who designed the C's unit also realized this and that’s why they kept the C's unit at the OE height. Another advantage of leaving the unit at the OE height is that it places the shift knob in perfect alignment with the center console armrest. So your wrist, forearm, and elbow can remain in a straight line during shifting.

A friend of mine has a shifter on his civic, which reduces both the distance between gears and the shift arm height. The unit barely sticks out of the center console, all you can see is the shift knob sticking out of the shift boot. The unit is so notchy that he constantly scratches second gear when drag racing. Sure it looks cool, but the performance is actually worse than the OE unit. I would prefer the stock shift lever over that one any day.

Believe me guys; if there were an advantage to reducing the length of the unit itself, other than an aesthetic one, I would have already done it. Maybe I can take an inch or so off the unit without it getting too notchy, but that will just throw off the alignment with the center console. I have always believed that performance comes first, and that’s how I am going to be designing my products. It’s just not worth it to me to take away from the performance of the unit to make it look cooler to some people. My unit really does perform beautifully and I recommend it to anyone looking for that extra bit of driving pleasure.