Stage 10 Electronic Shifter available now

There have been a few threads that mentioned the APR/OGS/Toms shifter and how Stage 10 was working with APR on making a LHD version for the US. Since it's now available, I created this new thread so that Stage 10 specific information doesnt get buried in the other threads.

You can order direct from Stage 10 here:

Welcome to Stage 10 Online!

He currently offers two versions (carbon fiber and silver), each version in either green or blue illumination.

$229.99 for Silver
$249.99 for Carbon Fiber style

Stage 10 is owned/operated by Toshi Hayama. Some may recognize the name. If not, you can read about his involvement in the automotive industry here. He also had a cameo role in Fast n' Furious 2: Tokyo Drift even though he doesnt list it on his resume

I stopped by his office this evening and checked out the shifters. I ended up going with the carbon fiber with blue illumination. The green would match the existing illumination much better, obviously, but the blue illuminated shifter looks good in the day time (or so I've been told). I went with the carbon fiber because it kind of matches my steering wheel better (black wood grain, although now I want the CF one). The silver may match the light gray interior (on the 2010-2011?) better, but it didnt seem to fit in as well with my dark gray interior.

I didnt get a chance to install it tonight, but I will be installing it tomorrow so I'll post more pics then. Toshi told me someone from PC ordered one yesterday and should've received it today. So I kind of expected to see pics here already today, but hopefully he'll chime in with his own pictures and first impressions.



My installation pictures and first impressions are in post #9 of this thread:
Stage 10 Electronic Shifter available now | PriusChat

 

When I woke up this morning, I kept thinking to myself this should be a super easy install. So easy I should be able to do it before I head off to work. So I went out to my car in the morning and tried to remove the plastic trim piece around the shifter. I figured that was going to be the hardest part (although if it wasnt my car, I'm sure I would've thought removing this piece would be super super easy). Once I was able to pop that piece off, it was a real easy install.

As bisco pointed out, the install instructions are pretty simple to follow and the pictures were great. You can see the instructions here. Anyhow, the whole install took like 5 minutes. Here are some of the pictures:

1. As pointed out in the instructions, start from the left side. There's actually just two clips/fastening points you need to focus on. I've circled them in red in this picture. So just pull up from that area. I removed the shift knob first so the trim piece wouldn't get caught on the knob if I yanked too hard (which I did.. but it does need a bit of force to unlatch the clips).



2. In the instructions, it says you can just lay the plastic trim piece down, hanging over the passenger side edge of the bridge. I just disconnected the two harnesses (one for the Park/EV buttons and one for the hazard button it seems). That allowed me to just remove the piece altogether and put it off to the side



3. With the plastic piece removed, you can see the 3 nuts you need to remove. You'll need a 12mm socket with an extension. The two bottom nuts are very slightly obstructed by the lower bridge plastic piece. But its not a huge deal. Once you get the 12mm nuts loose, you can just use your hand to remove them.



4. Here's the "shifter cavity" with everything unplugged and removed. There's a tiny hole at the bottom (underside of the bridge). It should be perfect for a DIY under-bridge storage LED (I'm sure its been done already somewhere here).



5. Here's the stock shifter. When I removed it, I was surprised it was so big.



6. Putting it in was simple. IIRC, in the instructions, it mentions you should put the shifter in the plastic first before snapping it back in place. But the harness is long enough where that shouldnt matter. You can snap the plastic trim back in and then plug in the harness and align the shifter. Here it is all put back together.



7. Here it is with the car On and the shifter lit up from the top. You can't really see the button illumination under day light. The logo lights up pretty well though. I guess that's what he meant when he said the blue illumination looks good in the day time.



8. Here's my steering wheel with the Stage 10 ESS shifter, better match than the silver would be for me. If the black carbon steering wheel wasnt so much more expensive, I'd replace mine.



9. One final shot. I was at a stop light under a freeway overpass so I was able to get a picture of the blue illuminated buttons. It'll look good at night. I do think the green would match better, but the blue matches the illuminated door sills? the blue pays tribute to the stock shifter that was blue? I do not know.. I like it.



Oh, one other thing.. if you're like me and you keep your stock parts around for when you go to sell your car, you won't want to lose the stock shifter's mounting nuts. So I just put the nuts back on the lugs where they came from. I didnt think of this until I put everything back together. So to avoid pulling the trim piece twice, just remember to put the nuts back in their place before you pop the trim piece back on.

When I was finished, I was going to put the stock shifter away in the garage. But to be safe, I think I'll keep it in the car for a day or so, just in case .

So I drove to work this morning. I tried all the buttons and they work as they should, like the stock shifter. Putting it in neutral is the same as the stock shifter and requires a second or two of holding the button before it'll go into neutral.

But nothing unexpected happened. Overall, I think it looks great and makes the center bridge really flow. And as bisco pointed out, if you're a HV/EV/Eco/Power button jockey, its much easier now since I can leave my hand there, ready to switch modes, something you can't really do with the stock shifter in place.

 

Good question.. I'll take pictures tonight.