Megan Racing Engine/Transmission Mounts
09-15-2012, 08:34 PM
#1
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Megan Racing Engine/Transmission Mounts
I recently realized that my OEM mounts were destroyed from 125k miles and 1.5 years of autocross. They have likely been degrading and past their lifespan for quite some time, but they just got bad enough to cause some interference with engine components rattling against sub frame members. The engine was literally sagging about 2 inches lower than it should have been.
I did some research and found that most of the harder polyurethane mount systems from Hasport and Innovative were a bit too much for street driving. My car is 50% street, 50% autocross, so I still wanted the driveability of an OEM mount, but something a bit firmer that could take the abuse of autocross and forced induction. I settled on the Megan Racing mounts which are direct OEM replacements but made of a harder rubber (not polyurethane) rated at 70A. I found a set for $280 from a site called 1xracing.com. They took a while to come in, and my initial order was actually cancelled for unknown reasons, but after getting on the phone with them we were able to work it out. This was the cheapest I could find these mounts.
The system came with the engine and transmission mount pieces. The part number is MR-6612 for your reference. Here are a few pics of what I received:
The mounts are of good quality, and are notably harder and more rigid than the OEM units. The fit was excellent and they dropped right in to the stock locations.
Here is what my old ones looked like after I removed them. Note the engine mounts are completely separated in half; the upper mount pulled off from the rest of the mount. The rubber was degraded and flaking off, and i believe the stock units are liquid filled so the inner chamber of the mount was gooey and one was completely dried out.
Removal was fairly straight forward. For the transmission mounts, there is a frame member under the back of the transmission that gets removed by unbolting three bolts (14mm socket) after supporting the weight of the transmission with a jack. The mounts themselves are attached to this frame with a single nut (12mm socket) on the bottom, and to the transmission by a single nut (12mm socket) on top.
The engine mounts are a bit trickier. Each mount is attached to a subframe member with two nuts (17mm socket) that get removed first. Then i supported the engine with a jack under the oil pan and removed four bolts (14mm socket) holding each mount's metal bracket to the engine block. This was a bit tricky and the area around the bolts is tight, but this seemed like the easiest way to do the swap. On the passenger side, the header is what is mainly in the way and requires an opened ended wrench to get at one bolt. Once these bolts are out, I jacked up the engine and removed the mounts still connected to their metal brackets. With the mounts out of the car, there was just one more nut (17mm socket) holding the mount to the bracket. With it removed, the old mount comes off the bracket and the new mount goes on. Then its just a matter of manipulating the new mount with bracket back into place, bolting the bracket back to the block, lowering the engine, and putting the two nuts per mount back on.
Immediately the difference is noticeable on first startup. The fact that my old mounts were completely blown exaggerates the difference in this case, but everything is much more solid and connected feeling. Throttle response, turn-in response, shift feel, gear changes, they are all greatly improved. Vibration is minimal, but felt most in the steering wheel and pedals. The shift knob is motionless during idle and cruising, where before it would shake around sometimes pretty violently. These are certainly still streetable and suitable for DD applications IMO. The vibrations felt do not result in any loud resonance in my case, and any additional noise is overpowered by regular road noise when moving. Peak vibration is felt at idle, and again is minimal at worst.
I would highly recommend this upgrade, especially those who are in need of new mounts due to blown stockers. The difference is night and day. Had i known, i would have done this a year ago.
Hope this bit of info helps, there wasnt too much info out there on these mounts. They get two thumbs up from me!
Also - This install took about a total of 2 hours for me including getting the car up on jackstands and back down again. Not too bad for a human, but it wore out my puppy Maxwell who helped in the only way he knows how... by stealing my wrenches and sockets every time I put one down. Therefore, he slept the rest of the afternoon.
I did some research and found that most of the harder polyurethane mount systems from Hasport and Innovative were a bit too much for street driving. My car is 50% street, 50% autocross, so I still wanted the driveability of an OEM mount, but something a bit firmer that could take the abuse of autocross and forced induction. I settled on the Megan Racing mounts which are direct OEM replacements but made of a harder rubber (not polyurethane) rated at 70A. I found a set for $280 from a site called 1xracing.com. They took a while to come in, and my initial order was actually cancelled for unknown reasons, but after getting on the phone with them we were able to work it out. This was the cheapest I could find these mounts.
The system came with the engine and transmission mount pieces. The part number is MR-6612 for your reference. Here are a few pics of what I received:
The mounts are of good quality, and are notably harder and more rigid than the OEM units. The fit was excellent and they dropped right in to the stock locations.
Here is what my old ones looked like after I removed them. Note the engine mounts are completely separated in half; the upper mount pulled off from the rest of the mount. The rubber was degraded and flaking off, and i believe the stock units are liquid filled so the inner chamber of the mount was gooey and one was completely dried out.
Removal was fairly straight forward. For the transmission mounts, there is a frame member under the back of the transmission that gets removed by unbolting three bolts (14mm socket) after supporting the weight of the transmission with a jack. The mounts themselves are attached to this frame with a single nut (12mm socket) on the bottom, and to the transmission by a single nut (12mm socket) on top.
The engine mounts are a bit trickier. Each mount is attached to a subframe member with two nuts (17mm socket) that get removed first. Then i supported the engine with a jack under the oil pan and removed four bolts (14mm socket) holding each mount's metal bracket to the engine block. This was a bit tricky and the area around the bolts is tight, but this seemed like the easiest way to do the swap. On the passenger side, the header is what is mainly in the way and requires an opened ended wrench to get at one bolt. Once these bolts are out, I jacked up the engine and removed the mounts still connected to their metal brackets. With the mounts out of the car, there was just one more nut (17mm socket) holding the mount to the bracket. With it removed, the old mount comes off the bracket and the new mount goes on. Then its just a matter of manipulating the new mount with bracket back into place, bolting the bracket back to the block, lowering the engine, and putting the two nuts per mount back on.
Immediately the difference is noticeable on first startup. The fact that my old mounts were completely blown exaggerates the difference in this case, but everything is much more solid and connected feeling. Throttle response, turn-in response, shift feel, gear changes, they are all greatly improved. Vibration is minimal, but felt most in the steering wheel and pedals. The shift knob is motionless during idle and cruising, where before it would shake around sometimes pretty violently. These are certainly still streetable and suitable for DD applications IMO. The vibrations felt do not result in any loud resonance in my case, and any additional noise is overpowered by regular road noise when moving. Peak vibration is felt at idle, and again is minimal at worst.
I would highly recommend this upgrade, especially those who are in need of new mounts due to blown stockers. The difference is night and day. Had i known, i would have done this a year ago.
Hope this bit of info helps, there wasnt too much info out there on these mounts. They get two thumbs up from me!
Also - This install took about a total of 2 hours for me including getting the car up on jackstands and back down again. Not too bad for a human, but it wore out my puppy Maxwell who helped in the only way he knows how... by stealing my wrenches and sockets every time I put one down. Therefore, he slept the rest of the afternoon.
09-19-2012, 04:28 AM
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My AP1 is at the mechanic getting Megan motor mounts and a new clutch installed, should have her back this afternoon. My OEM's were also shot so I'm quite anxious to see the improvement. I'll update you guys once I take her for a spin.
09-19-2012, 04:33 AM
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I tried to read as much as I could before purchasing, and asking a few people's opinions including Billman's. Innovate/Hasport have a soft polyurethane mount that they label as being for street, and it may truly have been soft enough to DD, but several people claimed that these softer polyurethane mounts would warp, distort, or even melt inside the engine bay. There were stories about people buying them, sending them back warped for warranty, getting another pair, and the same thing happening again. They would then usually upgrade to the next higher stiffness and complain about vibrations translated into the cabin.
Any of the higher stiffness polyurethane mount systems were reviewed to have a good amount of vibration translated into the cabin, particularly with top/windows up. I still street my car in the winter since NC doesn't see snow too often, so I still wanted a comfortable ride with top/windows up. I love my car the way it is, and I have been through the whole "Oh no, I made it too loud and annoying" thing when I had an aftermarket exhaust for a few weeks. I didn't want to get a mount system that would cause me to be upset with how my car sounded or annoyed me.
Like I said, there weren't too many reviews or even one-line comments on the Megan mounts that I could find. However, being supercharged and regularly autocrossing I knew that new stock mounts probably wouldn't last long. I took the plunge based on the few positive reviews that I had read and with the backing of Billman, and so far I am very satisfied. From what I have read, the mounts will loosen up a bit over this initial break-in period and any vibrations that exist now will lessen a bit.
The huge difference for me is going from completely blown mounts to upgraded ones... it truly feels like a new car. My shifter used to shake and vibrate so bad when idling or cruising, people would comment on it all the time. Now it is so freakin still, its crazy to see.
Any of the higher stiffness polyurethane mount systems were reviewed to have a good amount of vibration translated into the cabin, particularly with top/windows up. I still street my car in the winter since NC doesn't see snow too often, so I still wanted a comfortable ride with top/windows up. I love my car the way it is, and I have been through the whole "Oh no, I made it too loud and annoying" thing when I had an aftermarket exhaust for a few weeks. I didn't want to get a mount system that would cause me to be upset with how my car sounded or annoyed me.
Like I said, there weren't too many reviews or even one-line comments on the Megan mounts that I could find. However, being supercharged and regularly autocrossing I knew that new stock mounts probably wouldn't last long. I took the plunge based on the few positive reviews that I had read and with the backing of Billman, and so far I am very satisfied. From what I have read, the mounts will loosen up a bit over this initial break-in period and any vibrations that exist now will lessen a bit.
The huge difference for me is going from completely blown mounts to upgraded ones... it truly feels like a new car. My shifter used to shake and vibrate so bad when idling or cruising, people would comment on it all the time. Now it is so freakin still, its crazy to see.
09-19-2012, 04:33 AM
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09-19-2012, 04:35 AM
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I tried to read as much as I could before purchasing, and asking a few people's opinions including Billman's. Innovate/Hasport have a soft polyurethane mount that they label as being for street, and it may truly have been soft enough to DD, but several people claimed that these softer polyurethane mounts would warp, distort, or even melt inside the engine bay. There were stories about people buying them, sending them back warped for warranty, getting another pair, and the same thing happening again. They would then usually upgrade to the next higher stiffness and complain about vibrations translated into the cabin.
Any of the higher stiffness polyurethane mount systems were reviewed to have a good amount of vibration translated into the cabin, particularly with top/windows up. I still street my car in the winter since NC doesn't see snow too often, so I still wanted a comfortable ride with top/windows up. I love my car the way it is, and I have been through the whole "Oh no, I made it too loud and annoying" thing when I had an aftermarket exhaust for a few weeks. I didn't want to get a mount system that would cause me to be upset with how my car sounded or annoyed me.
Like I said, there weren't too many reviews or even one-line comments on the Megan mounts that I could find. However, being supercharged and regularly autocrossing I knew that new stock mounts probably wouldn't last long. I took the plunge based on the few positive reviews that I had read and with the backing of Billman, and so far I am very satisfied. From what I have read, the mounts will loosen up a bit over this initial break-in period and any vibrations that exist now will lessen a bit.
The huge difference for me is going from completely blown mounts to upgraded ones... it truly feels like a new car. My shifter used to shake and vibrate so bad when idling or cruising, people would comment on it all the time. Now it is so freakin still, its crazy to see.
Any of the higher stiffness polyurethane mount systems were reviewed to have a good amount of vibration translated into the cabin, particularly with top/windows up. I still street my car in the winter since NC doesn't see snow too often, so I still wanted a comfortable ride with top/windows up. I love my car the way it is, and I have been through the whole "Oh no, I made it too loud and annoying" thing when I had an aftermarket exhaust for a few weeks. I didn't want to get a mount system that would cause me to be upset with how my car sounded or annoyed me.
Like I said, there weren't too many reviews or even one-line comments on the Megan mounts that I could find. However, being supercharged and regularly autocrossing I knew that new stock mounts probably wouldn't last long. I took the plunge based on the few positive reviews that I had read and with the backing of Billman, and so far I am very satisfied. From what I have read, the mounts will loosen up a bit over this initial break-in period and any vibrations that exist now will lessen a bit.
The huge difference for me is going from completely blown mounts to upgraded ones... it truly feels like a new car. My shifter used to shake and vibrate so bad when idling or cruising, people would comment on it all the time. Now it is so freakin still, its crazy to see.
09-19-2012, 04:40 AM
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09-19-2012, 04:44 AM
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Originally Posted by LAp1' timestamp='1348058130' post='22022615
Your reply/explanation>>>>my reply/explanation.
