I got out for a good 4 hour evening drive on a road I hadn't driven in probably 2 years. It's one of those roads where you get to a lookout and all you see is trees and mountains, not a single other sign of civilization in sight. It was also a good chance to clear my mind and enjoy some slightly cooler weather before the Georgia summer really hits.
This was also the last drive before I knew I'd take the car home and stick it on jack stands to make some changes.
-Finally install MCS coilovers
-Swap the CAE for Autosolutions shifter
-Uninstall the DO88 trans cooler
The Autosolutions shifter is done now and I must say that is not a fun install at all. In terms of feel, it's good and there is absolutely zero play but it still doesn't compare to the action of the CAE. I did it though to what in my opinion was clean up the interior a bit for a more OE+ look. If the car had bucket seats the CAE might have looked a bit more at home but to me it was the glaring racecar part in an otherwise very clean mostly stock looking interior so as a whole package it didn't work. Future phases of this car I have in my head likely include another one or maybe the RTD which seems to give you 99% of the same experience but doesn't require you to hack up the console, etc to make it look complete. I'm still also all over the place about shift knobs. The OE setup looks very clean although it feels a bit boring to me but a lot of aftermarket options look "cheap". I do plan to pick up an alcantara shift boot and e-brake boot to match the steering wheel color.
Before:
After:
I think at the end of the day my happy place is somewhere between the two but I haven't seen any setup that I was 100% in love with.
I'm looking forward to getting all these projects wrapped up and the car back on the road to feel the changes.