Shift knobs | What do we like?

Doing a little writing about shift knobs, so I figured I'd ask the rest of the class: What do you all like? I know that we all have our faves. 

Thanks. 

I love a good wood knob. In all seriousness. Warm in winter, cool in summer, ages to a good patina. Not many around any more. 

Pistol Grip!

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I love a good wood knob. In all seriousness. Warm in winter, cool in summer, ages to a good patina. Not many around any more. 

Now that you mention it, somewhere--not sure where but somewhere--I might have an old Amco knob or two stashed away. Have you seen Momo's modern round knob? It does look right. 

David S. Wallens said:

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I love a good wood knob. In all seriousness. Warm in winter, cool in summer, ages to a good patina. Not many around any more. 

Now that you mention it, somewhere--not sure where but somewhere--I might have an old Amco knob or two stashed away. Have you seen Momo's modern round knob? It does look right. 

I haven't actually shopped shift knobs in a while. I did spend some time trying find someone to make a matching pair of knobs in birdseye maple for my wife's FJ, but no luck. I should work on that again. 

I like the delrin one I put in my NC from Flyin' Miata. Simple, cheap, comfy, nice weight to it. 

I don't care for a lot of flashy stuff or metal that get hots. 

https://www.flyinmiata.com/default/delrin-shift-knob.html

I originally wanted to replace the banged up stock one with another stock one, until I saw that was going to cost me north of $250.

In a 4 speed car with no side to side centering nd a vertical stick nothing beats the basic pear shape from an MGTD.  Wood or plastic is OK. I also like the "beer tap" OEM piece on my X1/9, but it only works with the centering spring, it would be terrible on an old 4 speed. Never a round ball, you are supposed to push it with your fingers, not grip it like a baseball.

Honestly my favorite was the Stock 6-spd knob on my first gen Forte SX

BMW ZHP knob ranks among my favorites. Just the right size, has a little weight to it, and just seems to fit my hand.

I usually don't like knobs with a bunch of different materials and seams on the tactile bit, or the solid metal ones that turn into balls of lava on a hot sunny day. For example, this shift knob I remember strongly disliking in a Cobalt SS:

Function First has a nice one for Porsches. Delrin Ball on top with a nice aluminum shaft. 
Older BMW shift knobs are quite nice as well. I don't have a lot of experience here but I do have a habit of swapping them out on every car I've owned. 

I have a Nardi shift knob out of an M Edition Miata in my '90 Miata. Everyone trash talks this shift knob for some reason but I like it. 

The Momo Anatomico knob as found on the GLHS is one of my favorites for a long time (still is, I have one around here someplace).

For my 924, I put a Ferrari 328 knob on it, not only because the shift pattern is correct, but it actually feels pretty good.

On the 951S, I put a weighted knob on it and I liked the added weight with the shorter ratio shift linkage.

On the FoRS, its still the stock (kinda similar to the Momo, except a bit slick at times) and that feels pretty good so far (they sent me a welcome kit which has a knob mounted on a wooden stand to be used as a paper weight or to be displayed, kinda cool).

Much depends on seating position and angle to knob...

Mustang, where you kind of reach down for it, I like the ball style. I have a billit aluminum knob and am thinking about swapping for weighted (like the feel) plastic because I have damn near branded myself after leaving the car parked in the sun before.

Miata - I had a nardi knob in mine and it was perfect for the side reach position.

(This type, not my car, stock image from google)

The Bugeye Sprite has a wood inverted pear shaped one, might make a weighted wood ball for it soon.

On a race car round and some grip to it (not too smooth) like leather / vinyl.

Street car same but not necessarily round.

Mass has an effect on shift feel.

My cars get 2" aluminum spheres. Except for the one that has a 2" titanium sphere. Sure, they get a little cold or hot, but it's worth it.

My favorite is the no-nonsense plain white ball with a Hurst pistol grip a close second.

My all time favorite knob. Its aluminum,  and the holes underneath make it almost hollow. Feels so right in my hand. Ive only ever found two, and both were used nascar places. 

I bought a 1986 MR2 once from the original owner.  It had a worn wooden shift knob with the MR2 'chicken' logo on it.  He said he bought it as a dealer accessory when it was delivered new.  

At the time I didn't appreciate it -- it seemed out of place in a 'modern' cockpit. In retrospect, it was a very neat item.  I'll dig through my archives and see if I have a picture.

Otherwise, I'll take stock in a street car or something with grip and a little bit of heft in a race car.

I bought the Si aluminum ball and the Acura leather boot and changed it out on my '11 Accord.  

Hot in the summer and freezing in the winter but I loved it.  Then the Type R came with it and I waved that information under my wife's nose......see, lookie?

I have come close to buying one of these a couple of times, I need to find dimensions for the shift knob in my 9-3, but they look super cool.  The guy makes them from old skateboards.

https://builtbybasil.com/

In an old VW rabbit it HAS to be a Kamei golf ball

In general a plain 1.5" round black plastic ball is my go to

Good to see that weighted Razo on the list. I bought one at a dollar store type place 15 years ago and loved it and have been trying to remember what it was called for the last few months

Anything American pretty much wants the white ball like APEOwner posted for purely silly aesthetic reasons.

Otherwise, I'm a fan of leather(-esque) wrapped, any sane shape. Ergonomic but not fugly. Some of those ergo knobs look like they fell out of the same family tree as Crocs and ergonomic keyboards.

Mass matters, but I'm still uncertain about whether adding it is always good. And I mean much more "I'm uncertain" than "I have doubts."

Whatever wooden knob that is in my Miata is nice, but I really like the glitter ball I put in my Beetle.

I went with the purple one.  Might see about another one in a different color for the Miata, just for fun.

I had a Razo knob in my EG and loved it, so of course I have another waiting for my next EG. I believe that funky silver knob came in my Innocenti Mini and was replaced with a stock one. I found that Amco knob, too. No idea why I have an Opel shift knob. 

I keep shift knobs longer than I keep cars.

I bought this Team Voodoo Magnum shift knob from Thompson Automotive in 2006 for my Miata. Now it lives in the FD:

This factory wood knob came out of my '85 900SPG, then it lived in my '90 900S. Now it is in the '85 900S sedan:

Neither of them are particularly valuable or special, but they've made multiple cars feel like home to me.