A:  Coming from a background of Racing Mustangs for 15 years I was used to being able to "power shift" these cars and just shift really fast in general.  You might ask:  What is "power shifting"? It is being able to shift fast enough so you can keep your foot on the gas pedal while shifting.  (NOTE: this is very abusive to your car, but can aid in better 1/4 mile times by several tenths if done properly and if you can shift fast enough) When I purchased my S4 I was disgusted with the amount of "slop" in the shifter even with a brand-x short throw shifter.  I soon switched back to the stock shifter since in my opinion the short shifter made it feel worse.   So I set out to make a better shifter that had a true "performance feel" to it.

A: First off our "Solid" short throw shifter is not like any other.  We started from scratch and did not reuse any of the plastic ball assembly.  There are a couple Brand-x shifters that have a steel ball but they still reuse the outer plastic cage and the surrounding rubber.  This allows excess play and less feel.  Our shifter pivots on a steel ball wrapped in a steel cage with a bronze bearing and mounted in an aluminum base.  This completely replaces the mushy factory design.  We also made it with a larger "solid" steel shaft to aid in rigidity and feel.  Furthermore we replaced the lower piece of the shifter that connects to the linkage with a fully welded steel piece.  Why steel? Many other shifters with that we have seen with steel shafts have an aluminum lower piece.  We have found under racing conditions and just years of use the aluminum wears out and gets gouged.  Basically the steel grinds the aluminum down.  That is why our shifter has a steel lower piece.  One of the last upgrades was the replacement of the rubber bushings for the 2 metal sliders.  Here we used Delrin, this is commonly used for upgrading suspension components and aids in giving our shifter that "solid" feel.

A:  No.  First off, the added weight is required to make the shifter more rigid and durable.  The added weight actually aids in shifting since it helps you get more energy behind your shifts.  While driving a car with our shifter you can't tell that is weighs more.  The shifter just has a real performance feel.

A:  No.  The shifter itself, if installed properly won't decrease the life your transmission.  There are several things that will decrease the life of your transmission however.  The installation is very important being that this is a precision piece with exacting tolerances.  The ability of the driver can shorten the life, example: missed shifts.  Also your driving habits can shorten the life of your transmission. For instance, if you shift very fast on a regular basis, race your car a lot, etc.  This should be expected under these conditions.  Another major factor for diminished life of your transmission, would be lack of maintenance.