Hey guys,

So this last weekend I finally got around to installing my Energy Suspension motor mount (or abbreviated ESMM) inserts. I thought I would post up a review of them and maybe a little installation tips. I'm sorry if this ends up being pretty long but I am hoping it provides enough information that people no longer need to ask questions about this topic or this thread can be stickied somewhere.

Let me start by listing the chassis mods I have on my car. Basically all of the effects I am describing are going to be slightly different then what you would feel if your car is modded differently. I have Koni Yellow struts with Lesjofors (B-G suspension) progressive rate, 1.4" drop springs. I have the Progress rear sway bar/tie bar combo, CorSportUSA endlinks, a Ksport camber kit, CorSportUSA rear strut tower bar, and a Tanabe Sustec front strut tower bar.


So the first question everyone has been asking me is whether or not it made a difference. There is no way to lie about this. YES it does. It makes a really big difference. The next question they ask me is whether it was worth it. I don't really have an answer for that question because it is totally based on opinion.

To install the mounts I had my car on a lift with and used a transmission jack (just pushing on the transmission case) to help position the tranny and engine as needed and it STILL took my about 6 hours to do with a full automotive repair shop and any tool you could imagine.

I had to unbolt the entire subframe / crossmember assembly from the car, disconnect my front sway bar, and unbolt the cat from my header (otherwise the subframe doesn't easily drop down enough) to get the clearance and engine movement needed to get the mounts out. There could have possibly been an easier way, but with the subframe in place the front and rear mounts wouldn't come out of their little spots enough to be able to fit the inserts. I'm sorry I don't have pictures but I was on a short time schedule and it was a major pain in the butt. If you get under your car and look at everything you will know really quick what needs to come out. I can't imagine how anyone could achieve this with a car on jackstands unless they have some mad skills, ha ha. Make sure you grease the inserts before putting them in the mounts just to help eliminate any possible squeaking you might get. This would also be a good time to install an aftermarket sway bar, replace sway bar frame bushings, and/or replace your cat to header gaskets as you will have it all apart anyway! So the more things you can combine into this job the less of a waste of time it might seem. And because you are unbolting a major structural piece of the chassis, you will probably need an alignment after this. My front camber was off a little bit on one side after I did this.

I also noticed when I had the front mount completely removed that one of the chucks of rubber was broken so basically my front mount needed to be replaced and my car has 86,000 miles.

And NOW the review of the ESMM performance.

The first thing I noticed is that the idle was a little more rough. Almost feels like you are idling in a car with a broken motor mount, just without the noise. When you have the A/C on while idling it exaggerates this vibration quite a bit. Also at start up the engine makes a lot of noise and jerks the car a bit but I don't really care about that. While cruising at highway speeds or anything above 2000 RPMs there isn't any extra vibration or noise (that I can tell). If anything it seems a little smoother at highway speeds, maybe because the engine isn't vibrating and the mounts sort of act like a frequency dampener.

The next thing I noticed is that when you take off from a start the whole car vibrates almost like you are not giving it enough gas. It just shakes like the engine is going to stall although it isn't. I am guessing that is just because it is trying to absorb the torque needed to get the vehicle moving. Kind of a pain in the *** while driving in stop and go traffic but I am sure within time I will figure out the right clutch/gas ratio to get it moving smoothly. Just don't burn up your clutch in the first two weeks cause you think you need to let the clutch out at 2000 RPMs.

So far both of the effects of the ESMM have been negative but let me assure you the positives could possibly outweigh these a lot depending on what you are willing to put up with and the purpose of the vehicle.

I have noticed that since there isn't as much forward and backward rocking of the engine as you accelerate and decelerate (or push in the clutch to shift) the shifts are A LOT smoother. The clutch doesn't seem to hesitate to engage as you let it out. It is just direct engagement. (This might not be what is actually happening but it is what it feels like) The shifter seems to go into gear smoother and has a more solid feel. Keep in mind I do also have both styles of CorSportUSA aluminum shifter bushings so this does help contribute to this feel. But overall I did feel a difference for the better.

Another thing I did notice was that there isn't as much of a feeling of weight transfer under hard braking. Where as the engine would normally probably lurch forward with the stock mounts it seems to stay more in place instead of throwing its couple hundred pound bulk towards the front of the car and throwing off the balance. The same thing happens around corners and hard acceleration too but I noticed it the most while braking hard.

As everyone suspected there is now pretty much no wheel hop. I purposely did some burnouts in first and second gear just to see if there would be any wheel hop. The car still loses traction (obviously) but there is no extreme shaking and terrible noises. It just does a smooth noise free burnout. I don't do burnouts in my car ever and really try to avoid losing traction at all cost but sometimes this happens and this definitely helps!

OK folks so here is the LAST but probably BEST enhancement I have noticed about these mount inserts... The TORQUE.

I don't know if it is my mind playing tricks on me or what but the overall throttle response and low to mid range power seems to have increased quite a bit. My girlfriend has no bias as to what performance mods do and she immediately said "your car feels like it has more torque" after riding in my car. While cruising mid RPM and then punching the throttle the engine doesn't seem to hesitate or anything. It just starts accelerating, and HARD. The same thing happens when accelerating at low RPMs too.

My explanation for this would just be that the engine is able to effectively and more efficiently transfer more torque to the ground. I think the reason for this would be that the engine isn't moving around in a squishy mount and therefor there is not as much energy loss from a moving engine while that engine and tranny are trying to rotate two separate driveshafts. One experiment you can do to see how much an engine actually moves is to park your car while it is on. Pop the hood and while the car is in neutral (and the E brake is on!) rev the engine with the throttle cable. You will see the engine lift up some and move as you rev it higher. Now imagine that with a load engaged! It sort of has to do with the same reason the car no longer has terrible wheel hop. I do not know if this is true but it seems possible to me! It seems like the more rubber bushings that are replaced with something harder in the front end of the car the more this effect could be felt. All of that energy is lost in multiple weak rubber points and bind up throughout the front end and probably makes your car lose a lot of potential power. I am actually really curious to see dyno charts as to whether this is true or not. Or if anyone else has a logical explanation for this.

Closing statement.

So if you are wondering if you should install these on your street car, let me ask you this... How much do you care about comfort/ performance enhancements? I would say I am probably right in the middle. I will sacrifice a little to gain some very well noticed performance attributes, but I won't put up with extreme chassis noise, clunking, loud exhaust, etc. Currently on my car I have plenty of mods the enhance the performance of the car while decreasing the overall comfort a bit but it just makes it feel like a sportier version of my original car. I don't believe there are any mods on the car now that really affect how good of a daily driver it is. It is still relatively quiet and smooth. Just a little stiffer. I would probably recommend trying the Ingalls engine torque strut first and if that doesn't achieve the results you are looking for then trying motor mounts. The mounts only cost $30 bucks but the extra 6 hours you spend installing them easily makes up for the extra $100+ for the torque strut. I have heard nothing but good things about the torque strut but decided to go with the mounts first because of price.

I hope this sort of answers people questions about the motor mount inserts. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. I feel like I have covered all the aspects of this product except for lifespan. Maybe in a year I will post if anything has changed.

Good luck and happy motoring!

 

lots of work.....have u ever tried polyurethane engine mounts......these r d best.....

 

i have these, just waiting for them to be installed with my MRRH, anyways great write up, and i recommend anyone getting RH should have ESMMs if not MM, or else your header will crack..

good job

 

Energy Motor Mounts are polyurethane.

 

Yeah but they aren't a full aftermarket polyurethane mount. Just a polyurethane insert.

 

Thanks for the nice review.

My friend mentioned the same thing about it feeling like there is more torque after changing the motor mounts in his wrx. Obviously the car isn't making more torque or is any faster, but I can definitely see how it feels more responsive.

I did mine at the same time as a supercharger install, so I can't really compare. FYI, they have seemed to have slightly softened up over the last year and half (not much, just a little).

 

I upgraded mine to Innovative MM, can't remember exact config., but it's good for upto 500whp. At any rate, I had similar experience with motor vibration, but I found my sweet spot at around 1500 rpm. I do alot of driving in downtown (stop & go) and for the first two weeks, I was kept on reving above 2000 rpm and I had similar noise/vibration on 2nd & 3rd gear. Even worse during highway rush hour traffic, constant stop & go..., shifting up & down; drove me crazy. But, after about two weeks, found my sweet spot and problem solved. I'm sure you'll learn the timing/ratio and such and it'd be find. Also, you'll break'em in especially as the weather gets warmer, so I was told. And I did ride on my clutch during that two weeks, LOL. Also, I agree with you on the performance/smooth high speed shifting/cornering/accel/etc. Thanks for the review!!!

 

This was the first thing I did to my car. Night and day difference. If you don't mind a little vibration, than I would totally recommend these.

 

Yeah... It could be that I have found the sweet spots in the rev/clutch combo or they are getting a little softer from breaking in but the vibration does seem to have toned down a bit while idling and the takeoff doesn't vibrate as much. The never vibrated at cruising though.

Overall one of the best bang for buck mods on my car! Can't beat $25 but as for bang for labor that is a slightly different story! :D

 

How come it took so long? A buddy and I did his RSX in 2 hours on our backs under the car lol. Not to be a dick or anything, it just seemed like it took you a little longer than it usually would have.

 

Hell I don't know. Ha ha. Not sure if maybe the RSX mounts are easier to get to or what? Did you do it while changing anything else? It was just a pain.

 

Alright here is my quick review of the ESMMs since i got them on my car today after getting my MRRH put on. The ESMMs definitely add some vibration, but you get used to it quickly. Installation should be done my someone that knows what they are doing, I personally wouldn't do it myself. Cost is cheap around $35 but if you are going NA and getting a RH these are a must.. if not 60As.

Probably already said that up top but just throw me some questions if you have any.

 

The vibration should die down after 2 weeks or so.

 

It certainly does feel that way. I also turned up my idle RPM a little bit on the KPRO.

 

Oh. Well that's a nice feature to have!

 

ive installed these before and i definitely did not drop the subframe...but its a good write up and i was happy with the results

 

i installed only the front one and it works great

it's a nice halfway point for stiffness and vibrations

i've been in an rsx with both installed and it was too much vibration for me

with only one installed sometimes i forget i have them and my passengers have never noticed

with two(on that rsx) you know for sure something is different about the car

obviously if you dont care about comfort dont even worry about vibrations

 

wat is the best cheap motor mounts?

 

modifying your originals is the cheapest way with either inserts or injection.

 

My motor mounts are shot. I need to replace. Do you use these in the original motor mount metal bracket? Does anyone have a procedural writeup/pix or anything that would help with the removal/install?

 

my front motor mount are shot. do i just buy the esmm inserts and put it over it, or do i have to buy a new mount also?

 

I have Energy suspension engine mounts, Tegiwa gear box bushes and Powerflex bushes in the chassis overall. Idle is a bit rougher as OP said. A small vibration i´d say.. Not sure how much UltraRacing bars make to it as well

Overall I´d recommend getting Energy suspension+tegiwa+powerflex combo for any ep model