When I upgraded my stock steering wheel to the John Cooper Works (JCW) steering wheel, the difference was truly night-and-day. There was more padding beneath the much-improved leather, helping it feel more luxurious, and yet much sportier. Not only that, there were many less seams in the leather, which might sound like a trivial difference, but it was significant, once you used the wheel. My rationale for such an expenditure was that, “why skimp on the one part of the car that I interact with most”?
Well, I’ve decided to follow suit on the second-most interacted with part of the car: the shift knob. Again turning to John Cooper Works, Their shift knob is a departure from the standard spheroid shape. It is pistol-grip style, reminiscent of the shifters found in 60’s and ’70’s muscle cars, only with luxurious, yet sporting pedigree.
Like the steering wheel, it comes in two flavors: leather or alacantara (synthetic suede). I matched my wheel, (which is all leather), by choosing the leather knob. Both options are adorned with a carbon fiber back that has been coated with a thick clearcoat. Because I have absolutely no carbon fiber anywhere else in or on the car, I was initially a little reluctant to get this knob. More on that later...
HOW DOES IT FEEL?
Like the steering wheel, it was an immediately noticeable upgrade to the stock shift knob. The change from a spheroid shift knob to a pistol grip style knob was a little “different”, but in a good way. It is also quite a bit larger than I had expected. Again, this isn’t a bad thing, it’s just different. The leather is amazingly soft and supple, and I love the four individual finger slots on the front edge of this knob. The high gloss carbon fiber back is really quite striking and, (knowing full well that this sounds creepy), a pleasure to touch. Sorry, I’m trying to be truthful here. I have no regrets about there being this little touch of carbon fiber in an otherwise carbon fiber-less MINI. The entire knob is so amazing and high quality, in both workmanship and tactile sensation, that it really makes shifting more enjoyable.
DO I RECOMMEND IT?
Definitely!
WHERE TO GET IT
It is sold at any MINI dealership’s parts counter, and aftermarket MINI parts stores like Outmotoring.com
HOW MUCH?
Most places will charge you about $130.00 plus shipping for this. That seems exhorbitant, but remember, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
With that being said, you can save some scratch if you’re a member of NAM (North American Motoring).
Just call up Classic MINI, Cleveland, OH., and tell the parts manager what you want to order, then tell them your screen name from NAM and you’ll get a significant discount!
I got mine there for $116, WITH SHIPPING.
AND IT’S WORTH EVERY PENNY.
