I am looking for a good quality performance floor shifter. The car will have a 727, and possibly a RMVB. More of a street strip car. Ideally, I would like to see something in the $200 range. I'm interested in reliability and quality without breaking the bank.

What are you all using and what do you recommend?

Thank you!

I really like the Hurst 1/4 stick.

I had one in my street/strip car. With a reverse pattern manual valvebody.

It was excellent for the strip, and easy to use on the street.

I use a B&M Pro Ratchet in my Duster, which is a street/strip car.
It has a forward pattern manual valve body, in the 727. Works great.

I have the PPP shifter in my Challenger. I was sold when He said he has been manufacturing them since 1989 & has never had one returned or defective ever.

Bang for the buck, the B&M Megashifter will do you nicely. I ran one for 20+ years and still sold it for enough to get a used Turbo Action shifter.

That said, the front entry cable arrangement sucks if you have headers.

I am using fenderwell headers so I am OK on clearance or should be. Another question, what about the Winters Shifter? It is real common in the crawler world and I am planning on running one on my crawler.

I was thinking that this one might be ok?

https://www.polyperformance.com/art-carr-winters-shifter

What are your thoughts?

Ive been thinking about this one.
Quality looks good, not many reviews yet.

https://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/620001/10002/-1

That is a nice looking shifter right there.

So after doing some more looking, it appears that the Winters and TA-Cheetah SCS are very similar. I just started researching this so I am not positive.

This is for a 12-second (I hope) budget street and strip car.

I have the Cheetah in my Valiant. I am going to replace it over the winter. It is way too easy to shift from 1st to 3rd. They work really well with an air shifter though.

Cheetah hands down is the best shifter out there but you will pay for it., Buy slantzilla's and save some money

Another one for the Mega shifter ran two of them and happy with both.

Best one I've used anyway, which isn't saying much.

For me, after driving a car with a Cheeta, I discovered I much prefer the gated action to the ratchet action of the Megashifter. Personal preference.

Having installed, used and repaired both, the Cheeta is a higher quality and more flexible unit. Turbo Action is great to deal with and had everything I needed in stock.

A wise man once noted that you can pay too much for quality. I stumbled on a great used one.

I don't think you could go wrong either way from a functional perspective. I'd say try and find some at car shows, tell the person what you're up to and ask to actuate the shifter and find what you like best. Look for a gated shifter, a ratchet shifter and whatever the Hurst Quarter Stick design is called and try them all out.

Ideally, you'd burn the 1/4 several times with each, but impractical. I don't know what your experience is but if you're comfortable running the quarter manually shifting a slush box, sitting in the car and playing with the shifter should tell you what you need to know.

Any of the shifters mentioned above will work but none of them are going to be even close to $200. If that is the most you will pay then better start watching for used. The decision between a gated or ratchet shifter seems to be personal preference. They sell both for that reason.

^^^^What he said. Most manufacturers though has some quality, lower cost units, but may not have things such as a positive reverse lockout, lighted indicator, may not work with an RM VP, stuff like that.

The initial answers to your question didn't consider your price point for a new unit, more in the vein of suggesting units that have the features performance enthusiasts require.

How much you will have to spend depends on your personal requirements.

I prefer the Cheetah, but then again I've had one for 30 years and it's become natural.
A buddy has a ratchet-style with a release lever, but it seems like too much fooling around for me; I don't want to think about gear selection, I just want to get there. Every once in awhile he has to fuss with it.
That said, on a RMVB application on a car that leaves hard, I've learned not to rest my hand on the Cheetah's lever in 1st or I can bump it into 2nd at the hit.
I bought a used Cheetah on Ebay a few years back for just under $200 for a street/strip project. Needed a new quadrant decal and some cleaning. TA has everything for them in stock, including Rev/Fwd gates.