Originally posted by Dallas4u

...couldn't you just keep the stock shifter, lengthen the throw for the sifter in the custom console, and wire the gear display into the console? If the console was a bit taller than stock it might make the stock shifter look like a "short" shifter... maybe a bit more sporty...
...having TWO FITTED CUP HOLDERS would REALLY make this a go!...
...Maybe just something along the lines of the Axiom center console would be easier and work better...
Lengthening the throw on the shifter is kinda what I was talking about with the extensions I was considering, but I love the idea of the sporty "shorty" shifter look. I think we'd still have to lengthen the shifter a bit, just to raise it above the new curvature of the console, but maybe not as much as to get that short-shifter appearance. Good call, Dallas! I forgot to mention cup holders, but I was thinking of that too. We definitely need cup holders! But I'd probably create a retracting or folding cover to make them "disappear" when not in use. It would smooth out the design and help maintain the "cockpit" look. I mean lets face it, practical as they are when, there's nothing visually appealing about cup holders. And WOW!!! Is that really what the Axiom int. looks like? I've yet to see the inside of one until now, and I'm impressed! Now why couldn't they do that for us? Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to pick up the slack, huh? The only thing I dislike about it, is the nearly 90 degree right-angle where the vertical portion of the dash meets the center console portion. That's the same thing that bugs me most about the vx console, and they didn't really improve it very much on the Axiom. I mean, it does have a little more curvature than the vx's in the very corner, but it's still not enough. I mean the way I see it, the vx center console/dash insert is large enough already that it creates a definite separation between passenger and driver, so why not take it just a little further? Nothing too extreme, but just a slight angle added to the vertical center-dash portion, and a more rounded "swooping" transitional area where it meets the center console. I'm not talking about building a wall between passenger and driver, just continuing the sporty feel. I suppose an aftermaket mock-up of the Axiom center console for the vx would be possible, and perhaps a bit easier, especially if you aren't interested in something as extreme as my idea. But it might look a bit out of place, if placed over the existing dash insert. The reason I say this, is because the current dash is made so that the driver's dash appears to flow into the center-dash controls. If we were to create a piece that isolated the center-dash controls like in the Axiom, the drivers side would look a bit incomplete, as it would seem to flow into... the side of a divider. You'd look at it and go... Huh? And it would look like something slapped over the stock dash. Well, technically, it would be! But you don't want a modification like that to look like a modification. You want it to look like it was supposed to be that way. So we'd create a divider of some sort, to isolate the center instruments. The next step is to redesign the driver's dash so it can work independently of the center-dash control section, but by the time you go to all that trouble and all that modification, you might as well have designed a totally custom console and dash, much like the one I'm considering. That's just my feelings on that. But if one were truly interested in changing the vx dash into the Axiom dash, I'd recommend checking into it. It would appear from the picture, that the upper half of the dash, both driver and passenger side, along with the center dash insert are the only things that are different from the vx dash. The driver's instrument cluster and the bottom half of the dash appear to be the same as that of the vx. If this is as it appears then, in theory, it should be possible (with some possible minor modification) to switch the center and upper dash portions out. You'd have to buy the upper and center Axiom dash portions from the dealer first, of course. The only real problems I can see one running into is with center-dash section. Not only is the instrumentation entirely different, but it is arranged oddly, as well. And the vents would require new placement. Hmmm, I wonder... Is that center portion of the Axiom dash perfectly perpendicular to the rest of the dash, or is it pitched slightly towards the driver? It's hard to tell from the picture. The corresponding center portion of the vx dash IS angled toward the driver though, so this too, could cause a problem. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from trying this modification, just throwing out some things to take into consideration before attempted this. If anyone does try this, keep us posted! I'd love to see how it turns out! As far as my dash/center console ideas go, lets not get too excited about this one yet folks, it's all just brainstorming for now. Besides, a modification of this magnitude would not only take many months to perfect, but mass-producing them is a whole other challenge, by itself. And I can tell you now, this would be VERY costly to prototype, produce, AND TO SELL to the consumer. And I'd probably have to make these out of fiberglass, as well. Well, on second thought, it might be possible to make them out of plastic (if it were thick enough and internally reinforced), which would be significantly cheaper. I'd still have to make an original out of fiberglass though, and use it to create the molds for the plastic ones. But FIRST, I'm doing mirror covers! I get distracted easily when a new idea comes along (I'm sure you can tell), and I have a tendency to drop the project in progress, and start the new one. I can't do this here, so for now, I'm all about mirror covers...
...but I'm still interested in your ideas and input if you guys have any! As always, thank you everyone, for your support.