As a long-time manual transmission driver, one of the most important things in my opinion when it comes to bonding with a vehicle is the feel of the car’s shifter. Considering that the shifter is going to be one of the most frequently used controls in the car, having a shifter that feels good in hand and also in operation is paramount to becoming one with the vehicle. Put simply, if the shifter feels like shit then it spoils the whole experience. Typically, there are two parts to shifter feel – one is the actual feel of the mechanism itself and the other is the shift knob used to manipulate that mechanism. Of course, as with most things, there are numerous mods you can do to the mechanism that will improve its feel of operation, but today I want to deal with only the shift knob since it’s one of the easiest, cheapest mods you can make and one of the first things I change more often than not on a new car.
As you can see from the photos, the shift knob I currently am using in my BRZ is not the stock knob, but an aftermarket knob from Beatrush, which is a Japanese tuning parts company known for shift knobs, plus a host of other products as well. The parent company is LAILE and together they produce a wide variety of well made products for a large number of vehicles. My first experience with them was a rear cabin brace bar in my old ’07 Honda Fit. It was a top notch piece that was fairly priced and beautifully made, so my impression of their products has always been high, despite the fact that they may not be quite as well known as some other brands like HKS, Cusco, etc.
So why did I change out the stock knob? It wasn’t due to poor quality, not at all. The stock knob is a well made piece that feels quite nice in the hand. For me, there were two reasons – one, I prefer a slightly larger knob, and two, I want to dress up my interior somewhat to make it more unique. Pretty simple. Another thing I should mention is that on my two prior cars, both WRXs, I used a Cobb Tuning knob that felt great and was originally planned to swap to the BRZ since I already had it. The problem was that the reverse lockout ring on the BRZ was to big for the Cobb knob, so it wouldn’t fit properly and I was SOL. Furthermore, the Cobb knob was almost identical in shape to the Beatrush knob and I liked that shape and size the best, so that had a lot to do with it too.
One other point I should mention is that I have an affinity for JDM parts, and in particular, uncommon off-the-beaten-path products. Part of that is because I lived in Japan for a number of years, so I like the aesthetic of JDM parts and tuned rides, but also because the parts tend to stand out from the crowd a bit due to their uniqueness and so become conversation pieces when other owners check out my car. Ultimately, they’re fun to seek out and find, so I tend to go down the rabbit hole pretty hard once I set my mind to it. In any case, the Beatrush knob is exactly the kind of thing I like, so when it came time to hunt for a new knob and I saw the Beatrush, I knew it was perfect for me.
The knob itself comes in a few varieties. First, Beatrush makes knobs in materials from plastics to titanium. They also have a wide selection of shapes, sizes, and colors as well, so there’s likely something for everyone. I picked my shape because it was similar to what I wanted to replace, and I picked red because it matches the stitching in the upholstery of the car. The size comes in two choices, one similar to the OEM knob and the other exactly the same as my Cobb knob, so you already know which one I picked. The quality of the knob is fantastic and there were no issues whatsoever with it. It has a highly polished, smooth surface that feels great in the hand and the color was deep, saturated, and very even over the whole knob. If there’s one thing I could complain about I suppose it’s that the aluminum can get very hot when the car’s been out in full sunlight, but it’s never been so bad that it caused any problems and it cools off rather quickly once the A/C kicks in or you have the windows open. I’ve had aluminum knobs in the past on my other cars, so I knew what to expect when I ordered it.
Ordering is one topic I should also touch on, as because this is a JDM product getting your hands on one isn’t entirely straightforward. Beatrush does have a U.S. presence, Beatrush USA, and you can go there to order a variety of their products, but not everything – this knob being a good example of something they don’t stock just yet. You can also go to a number of U.S. parts import companies that will obtain the item for you, but they can get expensive once you add in their fees and price markups, so they’re not always the best option either. The option I used, and the one I recommend, is to order the part yourself either from the company directly if they offer international shipping, or using a third-party buying service like Buyee who will order the part on your behalf, have it shipped to them in Japan, then they ship it to you and you get your item. In my knob’s case, that’s exactly what I did and while it takes a little bit of time and effort, it worked really well and allows you to get your hands on all kinds of stuff that you wouldn’t normally be able to or that would cost a fortune if you used a U.S. based importer.
Another consideration is the exchange rate, which usually is pretty favorable for U.S. citizens most of the time. At the time I’m writing this it’s about ¥130 JPY to $1 USD, so anything you buy at that rate means you’re essentially getting a 30% discount right off the top. Couple that with not having to pay inflated prices from importers or even regular U.S. prices from the companies’ U.S. shops, and you can save a bunch, even though you still have to cover service fees and international shipping. Using my knob as an example, with fees and shipping included, it worked out to about $71 total out-the-door, compared to the $110-125 most aluminum shift knobs on Beatrush’s U.S. website go for. That’s a pretty big difference, so worth the time put in. If there’s any downside, it’s that you have to wait a bit longer to get your item because it has to be shipped first to the buying service and then to you. Even so, it only took about two weeks for my knob to arrive from when I ordered it, so it isn’t too bad and again, you can save a good chunk of change plus you can get items that are unique to the JDM market and generally rare over here.
And that’s pretty much that. A bit of a long post, but hopefully you found some useful information in it and are now willing to think about trying to direct order JDM parts yourself. Maybe in the not so distant future, I’ll put together a DIY for ordering JDM parts and break it down in detail. Regarding the knob, I definitely recommend it quite highly. It feels good in the hand, is exceptionally well made, and kinda rare and unique in the western tuning world. There are plenty of high quality knobs to choose from in the market in general, so you can’t go wrong with those either, but if you’re like me then parts with that little extra somethin’-somethin’ are more fun and personally what keeps me interested in mods and tuning.
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