First and foremost, I am not affiliated with any of these companies and I was not paid to write or photograph these knobs. Yes, I have a bit of a "thing" for shift knobs. I'm not sure why, but there's a ton sitting on my bookshelf. My personal favorite is the WC Lathe Werks Ti sphere, hands down. My least favorite is the ARC knob. I purchased the ARC used solely for this comparison. I'll discuss that knob in depth below. The purpose of this review is to illustrate the primary differences between the four most popular titanium knobs that are available for our subies. I have done my best to accurately re-create the depth of color present on each shift knob. I weighed each knob on my kitchen scale, which has proven itself to be fairly accurate. The diameter of each knob was measured with a micrometer. Here are the knobs that I set out to review. OEM 2008+ GR STi 6MT Knob (for Reference) ARC Titanium Sphere, STi Fitment aSPEC Titanium Sphere, STi Fitment OEM Ti Sphere, "Torched" by Chris @ WC Lathe Werks, STi Fitment WC Lathe Werks "Torched" Ti Sphere, STi Fitment --- 1. OEM 2008+ GR STi 6MT Knob (Reference Knob) Weight: 197 grams / Diameter: 1.994" Subaru vastly improved the fit and finish of this knob from 2007 to 2008. Primary differences include an improved gear shift pattern and increased weight. The leather quality is so-so on these knobs, but hey, it's OEM. 2. ARC Titanium Shift Knob, Sphere, STi Specific Fitment Weight: 168 grams / Diameter: 1.731" I bought this guy blind. I had never seen one of these in person prior to purchasing it. Nevertheless, I am at a bit of a loss as to why this knob ascended so high in popularity for us. I find the finish on this knob to be deeper in color than the aSPEC but less than the WC Lathe Werks. The knob itself is the smallest and lightest as well. It is approximately 2 tenths of an inch smaller than the OEM leather knob. I found this difference, albeit small, to be extremely uncomfortable. Overall, I found that my shifting experience lessened while using this knob compared to the OEM leather knob. The packaging for this knob is extremely similar to the aSPEC (cut piece of foam for the knob to sit in while on the shelf). 3. aSPEC Titanium Shift Knob, Sphere, STi Specific Fitment Weight: 238 grams / Diameter: 1.809" I also purchased this knob used as they are/were difficult to find. The knob features an etched "aSPEC" logo. aSPEC includes a set screw pre-threaded inside the knob as well as a basic hex key. This allows you to position the etching anyway you choose during installation. This is a fairly typical alignment method when it comes to knobs that feature engraving or etching. I found the weight of this knob pleasant and its size fit my palm well. Finally, the finish of this knob is lighter than the rest. Yes, I could send this knob up to Chris @ WC Lathe Werks to have it re-finished. I have not because I do not wish to lose the aSPEC logo as it is a key feature of this knob. * Also, at this point I also realized that I should have taken height measurements of the knobs -- the aSPEC is similar in height to our OEM. I still throw this knob in the car every so often. 4. OEM Titanium Shift Knob, Sphere, STi Specific Fitment + WC Lathe Werks Brass Insert Weight: 222 grams / Diameter: 1.750" Well this is your typical titanium sphere outfitted in most cars at the dealerships. I think this is an "option", available over $150 or something nutty. I had the bright idea of torching this knob several years ago. The concept worked, and I liked it. I sent the knob up to Chris @ WC Lathe Werks a few years ago to have him re-torch it and add one of his brass inserts to increase the weight. I absolutely love this knob. The fit and finish, overall, is perfect (it is OEM, afterall). Chris did a beautiful job adding color. This was my go-to, year-round, shift knob until Chris finally released his own titanium sphere. I'm glad he finally listened to me -- it only took two years, Chris! Almost anyone who sits in my car denies that this knob could even remotely be OEM. It's just that nice. The size is a bit small for most and I am no different. It is larger than the ARC and substantially more comfortable to use as a result. It is just a hair lighter than the aSPEC and sits like an elephant in comparison to the ARC. 5. WC Lathe Werks Titanium Shift Knob, Sphere, STi Specific Fitment Weight: 264grams / Diameter: 1.989" I love this knob. I mean, I really love this knob. If this knob was a fishing lure you'd catch Jaws and a giant squid...at the same time. It is just that awesome. This is the knob to purchase if you're in the market for a titanium sphere. This titanium sphere is hand-made in the USA by Chris @ WC Lathe Werks. The knob begins its life as a titanium rod and is then hand-turned on a lathe. The knob is cleaned and finished with an absolutely beautiful and even color distribution. This photo is an accurate reproduction of the colors he creates as the surface of the knob oxidizes. The colors on this knob are as deep, if not deeper, than the OEM knob that he torched for me (see above). Finally, I had him add two lines at the bottom of the knob. I usually ask for this on his knobs as my finger tips seem to enjoy feeling some sort of texture difference when shifting. Yes, I'm strange. The knob is the heaviest of the bunch, weighing in at 264 grams. It is also about as wide as the OEM knob at 1.987 in. This weight and size are perfect for my hand; I find shifting to be pleasant and enjoyable. This knob made me place the rest back on the shelf. I use this year round. Well, that's about it. Please let me know if you feel that I have made a glaring error somewhere in my review. Also, if you need any other specific measurements, just let me know. Cheers,
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_8 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E401 Safari/6533.18.5) That's tomorrows game plan.