It's all words.

A general principle is that the longer the rod is below the floor,
the more effort is required to shift, but the distance to move the lever will be shorter above the floor....

An early VW short shifter trick was to use the verticle rod from a transporter and cut the top part of the rod off to the same length as the regular VW rod. The bottom was longer than the standard bug, so the shift was a shorter distance for your hand to move to get it into gear.

I have installed short shifter kits for Hondas, and the rod is longer below the floor....slightly more effort, but less distance to move your hand to get it into gear.-Bob