Steeda's 5.0 "Smart" Shifter- is it as good as they claim?

[Dusty]

Is Steeda’s Tri-Ax Shifter Really as Good as They Claim?
Bottom line here is if you can’t shift fast you don’t go fast!
Text and Photos

By

Jon ‘Dusty’ Kennett

I’ll be the first to admit I am a relative new comer to racing as far as competing is concerned. I made my first passes down the drag strip just a little over a year ago in the Comp Cams Special, a 5.0 Mustang project I have been helping out on. When we first got this car to work on I repeatedly heard the boss (DV) mutter something about the fact we will never get good baseline runs at the track until the stock shifter goes.

It’s hard to do this Steeda shifter justice in words. Indeed you might say that it is to a racer, what a Stradivarius is to a violinist.

To be honest I did not find the stock shifter to be any problem on the few occasions I had to move the car from one shop to another at normal traffic speeds. Then I got to drive it on Mooresville’s (NC) 1/8 mile track. I have to tell you I pride myself in my ability to shift gears pretty good. I hardly ever drive autos so I get lots of practice. But on my first pass down Mooresville’s 1/8 the stock shifter gremlin appeared from apparently nowhere and bit hard. I left the line with maybe a little more wheel spin that I should have but felt at least some redemption with a textbook 1-2 shift.

The key to the Steeda shifters lightening across-the-gate shifts is the strong spring loading to the third-forth gear slot. When shifting from second to third the shifter just about automatically finds the gate for third gear.

As the tach approached 5800 (this was, as yet, a near stock 5.0) I made ready for the 2-3 shift. Using something along the lines of an ‘impact’ technique the shifter left the second gear slot in the gate with something that would have turned a respectable reading on a chronograph measuring bullet muzzle velocity. But that 3rd gear engagement was not part of the sequence that should have taken place. Instead the shifter ended up in some ‘no-mans-land’ where it seemed blocked from any gear. If I didn’t know better I would have claimed this was the reverse of a black hole. No matter which way I pushed or pulled the shifter the motion was repelled. The result was that the car was over a second off the pace.

By the time Mooresville’s Thursday Test and Tune came about the stock shifter had been replaced with a well known brand shifter. This was well used but in perfect working order. This shifter turned out to be a big improvement on the stock shifter but that 2-3 shift was still, for want of a better word – distinctly numb. To be sure the shift made it through into the 3rd gear gate but I had to pause for what seemed just the merest of moments to make the shift clean. So, although this shifter was a huge improvement it was still short of perfect.

Here’s our Steeda Tri-Ax shifter installed in our racer. If it’s purely performance you are after forget about those fancy shifter knobs. A plain round one as you see here is about as fast and comfortable as you can get.

As fate would have it I am surrounded by Mustang freaks. So I figured that since they are here I may as well take advantage of their experience. Four out of four of the Mustang ‘experts’ consulted made it clear that the Steeda Tri-Ax shifter was the one to use. So that’s what I found myself installing into the Comp Cams Special.

So how did this shifter work out? Well let’s cut right to the chase here. Simply put you will never be able to shift fast enough to outpace the Steeda Tri-ax shifter’s capability. The effect of the patented spring loading to the third gear gate is such that it warrants the term ‘perfect’. That might seem like an overstatement but I for one cannot see how this shifter could possibly be improved on – it really is that slick. On the GFN scale of 0-5 stars I would give this product a solid 5 star rating without hesitation but is it the best? For sure GFN has not tested every shifter there is on the market for this application. However, it would be hard to imagine a better shifter but there may be some shifters as good. When we find one we’ll let you know.

[BlackCat13]

All I have heard is good things about the Steeda.
If it bears mentioning, the factory shifter was horrible.

Somewhere around 1994 I purchased the Pro 5.0 shifter for my '90 "204" T-5 transmission at the recommendation of many Mustang racers. I find it outstanding on the 2-3 shift also.
I have never shifted a Steeda but remain impressed by the good reviews of its users.
I also note that the Mobil 1 synthetic ATF was amazing in my back to back test compared to fresh plain ATF.