The gear lever for a 1098 box is actualy different to a lever for a 948 box.
I found this out when I replaced my old 948 box with a 1098 box. I just resued the old shiny lever instead of using the one off the new box which was a bit more scruffy.
While changing gear I always noticed how much you had to move the lever and how it just didnt feel right. It also didnt go in to reverse properly, it had to be whacked in quite hard.
I unscrewed the cover holding the lever in and compared both the levers and the 1098 lever has a longer pin on the bottom of the ball, and with the 948 lever it wasnt locating properly in the 1098 box.
So, moral of the story is......use the lever which comes with your box, not the one which looks the nicest
