I'm considering many different mods once the new year rolls around, one is putting an engine damper in. I'm on a budget, so this popped up at the low cost, but is it worth it?

I've seen the TSW one and the vipcustomparts.com one, and wanted to hear people opinions on both.

(I did a search to try to find an answer, but most other threads only addressed one or the other, and responses were mixed. sorry if this question has been asked before)

 

I've had both. VIP on the car now and more than happy

 

I know what the manufacturers say the benefits are, but do you end up getting better bhp? Or better handling? Better braking?

Thanks.

 

none. less off throttle bucking/surging. what year is your car?

 

I have the LOTF damper on my MCS and the bucking has been reduced. From my experience driving an MC it does more to reduce the bucking!

I say go for it!

 

'03 Cooper CVT.

I'm mainly looking for more power and better handling. Don't much care about ride quality =P

 

I have the TSW, very well made, rebadged BTW, and very easily installed. A big .

 

Like PGT said, this mod will add no power. But you have a Cooper, why didn't you buy a MCS?

 

I had three TSW's pass through my hands. Had to mod the brackets to clear the hardware, too much NVH....wife made me take it off her car.

 

Hey now! Lets not go giving anyone a hard time about decisions already made. Is the Dampner "suspended" like a motorcycle's steering dampner or is it a solid piece? If its a solid piece, why not just use a solid piece of Steel, cut to fit OR, use a turnbuckle in some way to make the solid connection between the engine and body? Or Chassis?.....or mount...or whatever.

 

Graduation gift : (

I would have if it were up to me (or would have paid the difference)

 

the cooper is faster on an autox anyway... And can corner and exit corners faster on a track. Throttle response is way better. Its lighter. oh sorry guys, why did you buy an s?

sorry, im in a pot stirring mood this morning....

anyway, on to the topic. I have a custom made motor mount, not an add on, but same differnece. It is an amazing piece of equipment to have, would highly recomend a damper, or at least the powerplex engine bushings, they are really nice as well. Shifting is way better, especially at high rpms. Handeling, i dont really think so, but still a very worth while mod anyway. Our cars buck alot due to engine movement, its really nice to get rid of it. Yes, i have a cooper, if you didnt figure that out already.

Beecher

 

The damper will not add any performance to the car. All it does is reduce the engine movement within the engine bay. This will have the most impact on a manual tranny car, not sure it will do much of anything on a CVT.

You are going to be a bit limited on performance mods for a CVT Cooper. Basically you will be looking at an exhaust, intake. The best first steps would be to do some serious well thought out suspension mods.

 

hahah. i thought some of you might like that.

i also agree that there might not be much of a benefit on a cvt car. didnt realize you had one, sorry. it is amazing on a stick tho

 

I looked at the VIP site and couldn't find a damper. Am I missing something. All I found is a solid stabilizer.

Am I missing something?

Rich

 

I have heard that these devices certainly do help the engine stay in place better, and even help reduce the jerkiness when you mash down the go pedal.

BUT, I've also heard they noticeably increase NVH, (noise, vibration and harshness). That is an unwanted, but expected, side effect.

For those of you who have had the Texas Speedworks, Lord of the Flies and VIP customs versions, which of these provides the least amount of NVH?

I would like the benefits of a dampener, but not the increase in NVH, (I want to have my cake, and eat it, too).

Thanks!

 

While I have not had any NVH issues, the nice thing about the TSW Damper is where it is mounted in 10 mins or less you can remove it for daily drives and put it back on for play time. Once the hardware is mounted the damper can be removed at will within mins.

 

no question...the VIP. I've had all three. the TSW brackets needed quite a bit of filing to get them to fit on both my '05 Cabrio and '06 Coupe. Seems I got some early versions that didn't take into account the thickness of the powdercoating, though I'm not sure that fixed the clearance issues over the engine mount itself (had to remove A LOT)

 

On the other hand I have the LoTF damper and only notice a bit more NVH at idle, not noticable while driving.

 

In my opinion, a damper will make no difference whatsoever on this car. Not really money well spent. If you had an 03 MCS, I would say yes, get it. But not for a CVT Cooper.

Put a decent intake on it - i.e. the K&N cone - if you haven't already. Will give you a little extra throttle response and it'll sound better too.

 

Thanks for your answer. It looks like the VIP dampener seems like the way to go, at least in my opinion.

 

'03 and '04 cars are simple installs. the '05 and up gets a bit more involved...you have to drop the RF suspension and drill out the tower to bolt the VIP bracket up.

 

The VIP site reads:
What about the 2002 and 2003 model year?

 

We did have to revise the brackets for the Cabrio - that was done some time ago, and we went ahead and made the revision standard for all of the late-'04 and on bracket sets.

 

I drive an '05 MC Cabrio CVT and have the Lord of the Flies damper. It made a significant difference, most noticeable in sport drive. It's in the top three on my mod list and the least expensive, too.