Under Construction

Knobmeister Handmade Shift Knob

The shift knob that I expect will replace the Voodoo knob as the most popular choice among Miata enthusiast.

Despite the raves, I never seriously considered a Voodoo knob since it is made of metal. In Tallahassee, Florida, metal parts will burn your hand. Also, the knob is reputed to be uncomfortably cold in winter until the gear box heats up and it gets uncomfortably hot.

I got a Momo tall leather shift knob instead. Great looks. But then Joe Portas, AKA the Knobmeister, took the best features of the Voodoo knob and eliminated the worst. After all the raves about how the Voodoo knob shifts, I knew I had to have this one.

The Knobmeister spins his knobs from wood. To get exactly the right weight riding on top of the gear shaft, he adds a lead insert into the knob. To get the short throw, he inserts a recessed metal threading piece.

Using a lead weight, the size of the knob itself is no longer dictated by weight: the Knobmeister produces one knob which is exactly the size of the voodoo knob and one that is just slightly larger. I got the slightly larger knob.

Using wood as a material also gives you the possibility of being very creative. If you like the colors or stripes of any strain of wood found anywhere in the world, I understand the knobmeister will make the knob of any wood you want. However, after thinking it over, I was afraid that the knob would stand out from my otherwise mostly black interior. But I do have leather shift and brake boot covers and a leather center-console arm-rest with red stitching. So I asked for a black enamel knob with a red inscription that shows the license plate of my car, "1BOZO".

Installation

I screwed it in and it stopped turning at exactly the right position, so no "Locktite" was needed to get it right.

Evaluation

The story going around is that a Voodoo knob will add 10 hp to your Miata. I never believed any of that until I tried the Knobmeister knob. It really makes you shift more rapidly. In fact, I made a beeline for the highway, since I had an uncontrollable urge to thoroughly ignore local speed limits. Not the thing to do now that the Tallahassee police are suddenly on a determined campaign to rein in speeding in our city.

Below are some temporary images, made with a polaroid. They are lousy quality, but they do give the general idea. Eventually, I will replace them with images shot with a real camera.

Here is a look at how the knob looks in my interior. Unlike the Momo, the Knobmeister sits right on top of my shift boot.

No, my ashtrey does not have a green line on it. And the white highlights you see inside the red blurs on the shift knob is simply the flash light reflection. The red blurs are the script Miata logo with a delicate shift pattern below it. They are surrounded by a circle of red stars with my license plate (1 BOZO) at the bottom. If you want to see how it really looks, I understand the Knobmeister will put a picture of the knob on his web page. You can find the address below.

Price

$30 knob, $10 lead filling, $5 inscription. You need it all, and you can afford it. Best deal on Miata aftermarket parts that I know of.
Knobmeister
Return