Description
Hybrid Racing Short Shifter - 2011-2016 Honda CR-Z (ZF1)
The CR-Z showed up with high hopes of recapturing what made the old CR-X so much fun, and on the handling side it delivered: a sporty, dynamic little chassis that's genuinely enjoyable to drive. Where it left owners wanting was the shifter. The factory unit is vague and long-throw, and in a car built around an engaging driving experience, a sloppy shifter is the thing you notice every time you reach for a gear. It's one of the CR-Z's biggest weak points, and it's the part owners and tuners kept asking us to fix.
The CR-Z has always been a tough car to build. Limited production numbers and a thin aftermarket mean the parts just aren't out there the way they are for a Civic or an Integra, so a lot of CR-Z owners end up making do. We get a lot of requests for this car, and the shifter was the obvious place to start. After more than a year of design and development, this is our answer: a short shifter that finally gives the ZF1 the crisp, direct shift the rest of the car earns.
Why the Shifter Matters So Much Here
A loose or notchy shifter changes the way you drive and how the whole car feels. You start short-shifting to avoid a bad gear change, you second-guess the shift under load, and the car feels less connected than it actually is. The best shifters do the opposite: tight, direct throws that take little effort and let you place every gear with confidence. On a car like the CR-Z, where the driving feel is the whole point, fixing the shifter changes the character of the car more than the spec sheet would suggest.
Tune the Shifter Stiffness Yourself
Most shifters give you whatever feel the factory decided on and leave it there. Ours doesn't. Instead of the factory dual extension springs, our design uses an internal wave spring that sets how much resistance you feel through each shift, and you can change it. Every shifter ships with our favorite stiff spring already installed, which gives you a firm, mechanical feel with solid centering between gates. We also include a softer spring in the box, so if you'd rather a lighter, more relaxed shift for daily driving, you swap it in. It's a simple change, and it means you set the feel to your taste instead of living with ours.
The wave spring also does a better job of keeping the shifter centered than the old extension-spring setup, so the lever returns to the neutral gate consistently and the shift gives you clean, predictable action every time instead of drifting around.
Built to Hybrid Racing Standards
This shifter is held to the same build standard as the rest of our shifter line. The parts are finished with our three-step anodizing process, assembled and checked by hand, and built to hold up to real use rather than look good in photos and loosen up a month later. It's a direct replacement for the factory shifter, so it goes in where the original came out without reinventing your center console.
Two Color Options
The shifter comes in two finishes, both using our three-step anodizing process:
- Dust Black — our traditional finish, for a clean, stealthy look in the interior.
- Dust Red — a vibrant red that stands out as a focal point in the cabin.
Fitment
- 2011-2016 Honda CR-Z (ZF1)
FITMENT
Fits:
- 2010-2016 Honda CR-Z 6-Speed