I know the shifter in the '01-'05 civics is suppose to have a "notchy" feel to them in order to make it more "sporty" supposedly, however I don't like this feeling and I was wondering what exactly was making the shifter feel this way and if there is anything that can be done about it? I like the "soft" feel of the '96-'00 shifter compared to the '01-'05 feel of the shifter so I'm wondering if the feel of the shifter is in the transmission or if it's a part that can be removed.

 

Umm... the shifter shouldn't feel "notchy". If it does, it's more then likely the ball/cup joint inside the shifter box is dry and catching. Get a can of white lithium grease, and lubricate the joint like so:





(You'll need to remove the center console to get to it, but there is a tutorial on that in the FAQ's.)

 

I believe this is what I'm talking about:
http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/ar...=2003112037128

 

I've never driven a manual 7th gen civic but I've driven a base rsx lots of times. Assuming the rsx has the same cable shifter box design, I'd say the 7th gen shifter box doesn't feel sporty at all. The mushiness is on par with a logitech playwheel shifter.

 

Well, to be fair, Honda has claimed a lot of features to boost market presence (that typically don't show through on the buyer's end).

As for the shifting mechanism, I'll be honest and state that it never really felt mechanical with the stock rubber bushings both in the shifter cables and at the base of the shifter box. It always had a dulled feeling to it, like previous generation Civics. Upgrading my bushings to aluminum and brass, and installing a short throw shifter with a stainless steel ball/cup joint greatly increased the feel for me (My car is built for the sake of driver feel on the track, as opposed to a comfortable street car ).

I did, however, notice a clunky feeling before I lubricated the ball/cup joint. The ball at the end of the shifter is a 2-part ball. Given the fact that it's a polymer ball sitting in a polymer cup without any lubrication to speak of, it got dry and started to catch. This caused the ball to separate slightly during shifts, making it feel "notchier" for me. I'd still recommend lubricating the joints and seeing if that doesn't help. Also, if you look at the ends of your shift cables to see if the rubber bushings are worn, that could be causing binding issues as well.

 

Is it possible that this is actually designed like this on purpose? And you just happened to lubricate it so that it doesn't do it any more? Where does it say in the service manual to lubricate this part? It's possible that by lubricating it, we're defeating a design element which for me would be good..

 

Mine is a bit slip-and-stick. Each shift has a distinct "one-two" feel to it rather than a "hot knife through butter" shift like the CR-V is. (also using Revo SS)

Lubing those parts isn't going to have much (if any) effect on the way it shifts, as the mechanical design of it is not changed. I felt no difference after applying lithium grease.

 

So the issue I'm complaining about where the shifter is in neutral and I'm rocking the shifter side to side to make sure I'm in neutral but I noticed it has a notchy feel to it, that's cause of the 1-2 design or because the shifter needs to be greased up? I don't think I cared about shifting from gear to gear but when I'm in neutral, I didn't like the feel of the shifter.

 

That's actually down to the design of the shifter box. The way it differentiates between gears 1/2, 3/4, 5/R is down to the lateral gear selector portion of the ball/cup joint. There is a small fork that extends from the ball/cup to engage different series of gears via a smaller polymer selector and the secondary shift cable. How the fork interacts, really isn't a changeable design (unless you're interested in spending a fair amount of money on custom work).

 

I wish the cables were adjustable. I bought a set of EP3 shifter cables for my EU1 Civic, only to find that doesn't allow me to select first, third or fifth gear.