I’m been doing some research on poly engine mount bushings. The motor mounts in my 03’ R53 are getting pretty sloppy, and I can feel the motor rocking around a lot when I take off from a stop, shift gears, and get on/off the throttle. It’s very annoying, and I’m ready to fix the problem. It seems like the more posts I read on poly engine mounts, the more confused I get. I know that you are going to get more vibration if you install harder poly bushings compared to the stock rubber ones…that’s a given. People just seem like they are all over the place when it comes to which ones to install, what not to install, if they are worth it….if you should go back to stock bushings…on and on.

It seems like there are lots of different opinions on these issues.

1. If you are going to install the poly upper and lower motor mount bushings….also install the poly transmission bushings. (lots of people agree/disagree with this)

2. If you install the poly bushing inserts, only install one of the pair, leave the other one stock. (lots of people agree/disagree with this)

3. If you install the poly bushings inserts, make sure you also install the small end bushings for the mounts. (lots of people agree/disagree with this)

4. Don’t install poly bushings at all, you are better off replacing the worn stock bushings with new stock bushings.

5. The vibration increase you get with poly bushings is way too much to bare…….others say it’s no big deal at all.


I was just wondering if I could get some new opinions from those of you who have installed the poly engine mount bushing inserts, and have had them in for a while. Are you glad you did? Did you wish you went with stock? Did you install all the bushings or just some?

Just looking for as much info I can get before I take the time to do the work.

 

My thought is why add more NVH. There is zero performance gain with those. Just my .02....

 

So you are saying just replace worn stock rubber bushings, with new stock rubber bushings? The only benefit I can see would be a tighter more firm feel when shifting...less engine rocking.

I'm sure there are tons of guys on here with the poly bushings....waiting to hear what they have to say.

 

If you don't mind the added NVH, go for it. I have the TSW upper, BSH lower and the Powerflex gearbox inserts (as well as Powerflex CA bushings if that really matters). It's not that bad, I only need to fix a rattle in my dash, other than that it's fine. I prefer the stiffness over the sloppiness

One side note tho: It's not a daily driver all year long, it's stored during winter. I had experience with poly mounts and -30c with my previous car and it was pretty bad

 

i have all the bushings and mounts....

any rattles or noises you have now will be intensified.. it doesnt bug me... but there are days that it can get annoying for me (i have a window rattle that I haven't tackled lol)

my honda is much worse though sooo its really not that bad.... feel wise it feels solid in the car now.. .it doesn't feel "sloppy" but you do ge tmore NVH.... it depends what your tolerances are... as I get a bit older minor vibrations and noises get my attention now lol

 

I put in the LCA poly bushings, front swaybar bushings, the gearbox poly inserts and the lower poly insert. NVH were barely noticeable during the summer months and the car felt a lot stiffer. However I daily drive my car and up here when we hit the -30 degrees Celsius the vibrations are very noticeable but greatly reduce once the car has warmed up.

All in all I would highly recommend these if your bushings are starting to wear out.

As for the upper engine mount bushing If you have money to spend go with the Vibratechnic. Personally once my mount is gone ill be purchasing the WMW poly mount but that's just me.

 

I have the TSW upper mount and a BSH lower and I think its an awesome combo, I also have the gearbox inserts sitting in my room, they'll go in as soon as the weather clears up..

Mine is a daily and it's out all year long. Id say I redline it everyday simply because its that much fun driving it. The mounts along with the Alta adjustable shifter were the best upgrades I've ever done to the car so far, if you're all about driving than this is a no brainer.
Only down side is the rattle, I can't keep any change sitting anywhere in the car.. It'll drive me insane.

 

I have the PowerFlex inserts in the Gearbox Mount, and the Lower Right motor mount. I did both big and little end there.


I absolutely love them. I have to agree that vibration will be intensified a little, and that weather or not you like that depends on your personal opinion to the issue. Too bad you can't know first hand till you try it LOL (I was there myself a while ago)


Above someone commented about no performance gain. Well, I'm mostly stock (no pulley) other than a CAI I have. After installing the mounts, when merging on the freeway rather aggressively one day; I got to the top of 2nd gear, and when I grabbed third I actually chirped the tires a little in third gear. That surprised me a little, but the only change was that the energy that used to be absorbed by the engine flexing a little went straight to the tires.


I currently have an OEM Upper Right Motor Mount, and I probably wont replace it until it fails. I've heard that this one causes more vibration than the others. Who knows, it may last longer since the gearbox and lower right have the powerflex inserts.

 

I found good results with only installing one of the pair of large inserts into
the top mount and one of the pair into the bottom mount. I skipped the small bushings.
I didn't bother with the transmission mount.
This helped significantly without introducing much NVH. When I put both large inserts
in the top and bottom mounts I got a little extra vibration at idle when the a/c is on.

 

Well, I finally fired up my car after installing the new poly engine mount bushings, and transmission bushing. Yes, you can definitely feel the extra vibration with you fire up the motor….but I kind of like it. It reminds me of my 71’ ProStreet Camarao that I used to have with solid motor mounts…..well, not exactly.


The good thing is that as soon as you get the rpm’s up around 2000 or over, the vibration pretty much all goes away. I don’t hear any extra rattles inside the car, so that’s good. I haven’t had a chance to get out and drive the car yet….but hopefully the new bushings have really stiffened up the motor and made going through the gears much more positive. Before with the worn stock bushings, it felt like the motor was twisting and moving every time you would shift and let out on the clutch.

 

Hey y'all,

Anybody have an idea of what the labor is to get these parts installed? I've got an r53 and recently the car has picked up a short chirp when it gains traction out of a coast, and I think it's a torque or engine mount issue (the car is pushing much more power than stock, fyi). I just got a clutch replaced, and I know it's not the drive shaft or usual jammed flywheel, because the issue happens when the clutch is fully released and the car is coasting in a gear during recompression of the accelerator.

I hope this isn't a strange question.

Thanks!

 

Just get a set of Vibra-technics and do it yourself, it's not that bad. Greeneperformance.com has them.

 

I've taken mine off the transmission and lower mount, still have the polyflex on the upper engine mount. The vibration drove me nuts, now while driving, the car feel's better, more fun to drive...I'm over, the whole "sitting in a buzz box" thing ...

The change when you put them "on" is immediate, the engine response feel's "tighter" and gear changes are smoother, but i'm wondering if it's good for the car over-all.. I think if your gonna go on a track day then, yeah!! put them on but, if you just wanna run your car as a daily driver.. well, you get my point..

Another gripe i have, the grease polyflex send's with the front sway bar bushings, completely disappears in Fresno heat!! I'm like "why is my car creaking?" I looked, my bushing's that were "brand new on" 4k ago are completely dry and torn up!! Yeah!! i used the polyflex grease liberally!! Gone!!
Ended up putting a pair of stock's back on.. With Energy suspension grease, Problem solved..

Point being, if you've installed front Sway Bar Bushing's from polyflex "and" used their grease, go check em..

 

You can do it yourself in an afternoon..

 

I forgot to come back and give an update. I ended up installing the Powerflex bushings in the engine mounts, and transmission mount. It completely got rid of the loose "engine rocking during shifts" feeling it had before. VERY solid feel to it. The shifts feel much more crisp and solid.

The Powerflex bushings did add a little more vibration through the cockpit at idle and around 2000rpms...but above that it totally goes away.

If I had to do it again....I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

That's why I love stiffer mounts. I can't stand the loose feeling of the engine/trans when shifting and accelerating in my cars. I'd do it in my '00 Corolla too if I planned to keep it longer. It just feels more connected to the road.

 

I agree. Have been running the PF trans mount for over 100K miles. NVH was very noticeable when first installed, almost took them out, but after 600 miles or so, NVH was reduced by almost 60 percent. Another 500 miles and it was all but gone.

Never did the engine mount since I had a TSW Damper and filled the voids of the lower engine mount with windshield Polyurethane.

 

I forgot to add, I put new stocks back on the car when i took the polyflex off..

 

I have the trans mount, one of the large upper engine inserts, and one of the
large lower engine inserts in place - didn't do the small engine mount inserts.
I think it's a good compromise between limiting extra NVH and limiting engine movement.

 

I have had 2 r53, 1 with PF inserts one with stock. My wife hated the PF bushings due to the increased nvh and a lot more rattles. Mine are daily drivers so the winters did get especially rough. There is a definite difference in shifts and acceleration which I appreciate. So I would be all for some sort of compromise if there was one.

 

Yeah, it's definite got a little more NVH at certain rpm's (low rpms), but overall I think it makes the car feel more "sporty", and it definitely gives you more feel as to what's going on. I really like it....it makes the whole car feel more solid.