TCI Cable issues

I'm using a TCI Outlaw shifter and a 727 MRVB the shifter comes with a 5' cable.. unfortunately it routes next to the starter and is about .5" from the headers.. to make a long story short it melted and now I"m thinking of using a 6' cable to route in front of the starter so it will clear al the hot stuff! Why hasn't a large company like TCI fix this by just using a 6' cable? I know I'm not the only one to think of this right? Well actually my chassis guy did..lol... Do I use a 2" stroke or 3" stroke on the cable?