Your manual reverse lock out is exactly what it sounds like it is...it keeps the car from going in reverse without the shifter itself or the slider being pulled up to get it into reverse gear...this is just basically a safety so you cant put the car in reverse while you are shifting in normal gears.

I found this online about short shifters......

The desired effect of a short shifter is to reduce the distance your hand needs to move to engage the next gear, thus reducing the amount of time spent shifting, reducing wasted time between shifts, and resulting in improved performance. A common misconception in the tuning world is that a short shifter is just a chopped off version of the stock shifter. In fact, chopping your shifter has no effect on the angle that your shifter shaft travels through between gears and therefore does not reduce the shifter's angular throw.

A true short shifter decreases throw by reducing the angle that the shifter shaft travels through during its stroke between gears. By reducing the angle that the shaft travels through between gears, the distance that your hand needs to move between gears is also reduced. In many cases, the shifter shaft is also re-designed to be shorter than stock thus creating a sportier look and feel, as well as aiding in reducing the linear throw length when coupled with the reduced angular throw.

The geometry of a short shifter differs from the stock shifter in order to reduce the distance that the upper section where your shift knob threads on needs to move to achieve the same degree of movement in the lower section where the shift rod or shifter cables attach. This ensures that although your hand is moving a shorter distance, the transmission is still fully engaged in every gear. The main pivot point, or fulcrum of the shifter lever is re-positioned on the shaft in such a way that the lower section which connects to the shift rod or shifter cables is longer than stock, resulting in the desired effect. A TWM short shifter is carefully designed to create the optimal throw length, angular shift throw, and shift knob height resulting in the ultimate short shifter.

The end result is a shorter, more precise shift, which requires a shorter hand movement to engage the next gear, and looks and feels sportier than the unsightly long shifter shaft most cars come stock with.


And here is a pic for you..

 

Wow that was a nice lesson. So does having a heavier knob i.e. a B&M knob on say a steeda work pretty nicely. Been driving my stick for a while with the B&M knob wondering how much different the Steeda will make that.

 

So if I am at a stop light in first gear with the clutch and brake on I would normally roll backwards if I was on a hill. You're saying that I got reverse lockout that if I was doing the same thing I would not slide backwards...?

And thank you so much for the lesson on the short shifting. It was explained very well. +Rep for you!

 

So if I am at a stop light in first gear with the clutch and brake on I would normally roll backwards if I was on a hill. You're saying that I got reverse lockout that if I was doing the same thing I would not slide backwards...?

No, this is not a hill-holding feature.

It's essentially a gate that makes sure you don't go into reverse by mistake when downshifting from 2nd to 1st. Or 5th to 4th on some cars.

VWs and some other German cars have a much nicer way of doing this. You have to push down (toward the shift boot) on the shifter to get it to slide over to reverse.

 

on a focus it the little thing you pull up on the get the car in reverse. and that was a very good explanation that should be stickied.. also a weighted know can be a good thing for drivers that dont necessary weight a lot. or dont have the arm strength to ram it into the next gear.. instead of getting the steeda or bm ne if you ahve a drill and some fishing sinkers you can drill out eh bottom of the stock knob very carefully and superglue the weights in. i will be trying this out nex weekend to see how it fares.

 

Or you could not [][][][][] it up and buy a weighted knob in about 5 minutes online[duh]

 

yeah. its a piece of plastic that wont let you just normally slide the shifter into reverse. you pull up on a piece under your knob to let you actually "engage" reverse. i think u have this dont you?

 

Are you talking about an ATX shifter?

 

no on a zetec there is a ring under the knob you ahve to pull up.
and no globoi i pulled mine off, but the new short throw will ahve it again

 

Oh weird, I never knew that was what the lockout was. Almost as clever as the VW solution, then. What I get for only having an SVTF (and the terrible ram to the left for reverse system) I guess.

 

^^^ that was gonna be mine!!!! Cause if you are now its a whole new ball game and your thinking about changing some serious trans parts if you are asking about that. That feature would usually come with something that has a trans brake. It looks reverse and 1st gear together stopping them from spinning but allowing you to continue to rev the rpm's to the desired range for launching. When you release the transbrake it releases the reverse lock-out feature and lets the car travel forward in first gear from whatever the launch RPM was. A valve body kit from FR is available for this as well as Lentech.

 

i havea five speed billy.

 

mmmmmmm...... sorry got me all hot and bothered thinking about trans brakes....

 

i ahve one. its an e-brake,lol.