Though a short shifter might seem like a pretty simple concept to your average tuner, many people don't realize how much actually goes into the design and testing of TWM Performance parts. I thought I'd take this opportunity to point out some of the more important steps that we take to ensure that the TWM shifter in your car is always going to give you the best shifting money can buy.
Know your enemy
Sure, there are other companies that make short shifters too, we look at this as an opportunity for improvement. Before we even begin the design process our engineers meticulously test and analyze every existing competitor's part for the application being looked at. Every competitor part is installed and performance tested, disassembled, weak points are assessed and a plan for improvement is formulated. We don't just claim that our shifters are the best, we do everything in our power to ensure they are.
In instances where there is no competition and we are the first to offer a shifter for a new vehicle when it hits the market (a situation that is very common for us since we pride ourselves in moving quickly to support new cars) we use the knowledge and experience we've gained in the design of our other shifters to ensure that every potential variable has been examined and taken into account.
3D rendering: You thought playstation was cool
A crucial step in our design process is the creation of a detailed 3D rendering of every shifter we make. Using state of the art design software we can create a virtual shifter which allows us to simulate and gather enormous amounts of data about how the shifter will perform in a real life situation.
Stress points are identified on the shifter and compensated for in the design process through material selection and structural re-enforcement at key points. All this testing is what gives us the confidence in our parts to offer a lifetime warranty.
Test, test, and then test again…got it? Good, now test it again
After we're done with the virtual prototype we CNC machine a physical one to the exact specifications that the production model will have. Many other companies rely on plastic prototypes made from 3d printers for testing, these plastic models are imprecise and don't share the characteristics of the material from which the final product is made. In an effort to completely remove any unknown variables a CNC machined prototype will function and react to forces exerted on it exactly like the production part will. Every detail is perfected in the physical prototype stage, even if it means machining a dozen iterations of the part. A part that is not perfect in every way will never go into production. Even once the prototype is deemed as being production ready, testing is continued in multiple vehicles, just to make sure nothing is overlooked.
So now you know…once you make a quick, flawless run through the gears with one of our shifters it will all make sense. Perfection like that doesn't happen by accident.
Got to get going…there are plenty more shifter applications out there to add to our lineup.
K. Thibault
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K. Thibault