Product Reveiw: Banzai Racing Motor/tranny mounts
01-10-08, 12:35 AM
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Product Reveiw: Banzai Racing Motor/tranny mounts
Picked up some Poly motor and tranny mounts from Banzai racing for the FC for christmas this year. Installed them today. Here are my thoughts:
Pros:
1) These are well engineered. Im not talking just from a production or material stand point, but they are well thought out and planned. The stock mounts are about 10x harder to get off than the new mounts are to put on or take off.
2) The clearances for using tools GREATLY increaes with both sets of mounts.
3) The motor mount bolts screw into the mount in such a way that they or the mount cant fall out while the engine is being lowered, resulting in keeping your fingers out of jeopardy.
4) Shift feel is significantly improved
5) Clutch take up is much crisper as the engine isn't flexing as much and the tranny isn't squirming as much
6) Significantly stiffer than the stock set up.
Cons:
1) SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer than the stock set up. NHV is greatly increased with these mounts. Nothing like solid mounts, but defintely increased. I am hoping it will settle down with a little with time.
2) I can now hear everything happening in the drive line, including the bearings in my tranny. Which after doing this I have assertained are on the way out. 1,3,5 all whine significantly, and there is defintely a clunking going on in the tranny. The clunking i think is just a noise being transmitted through the mounts that is there with a perfectly fine tranny too, but is otherwise hidden by the stock mounts.
Thoughts on the install: Stock mounts come out pretty easy. The tranny mounts are a little harder and require some minor disassembly of the crossmember. No big issue, just some time. Air tools and an impact wrench make getting the old scummy bolts off the car a LOT easier. Once we figured out my impact gun (dont by kobalt tools..... there were no instructions for the gun on how to modify the settings on it). When raising the tranny back up to meet the car body for re-install you may need a phillips head screw driver to re-align the bolt holes. By design the hydraulic jack pulls everything towards the handle of the jack so the screwdriver helps to move the crossmember back into place while you get one bolt locked into place. Difficulty: 3-10. Can be done with hand tools, some jack stands, a jack and two hours of your day.
I didnt realize how much louder and harsher the ride would be. had I pre-driven in someone elses car with these mounts I probably would have gone with the Mazdaspeed mounts. That being said I am happy with them. i was warned they would be loud and transmit vibration, I just didnt heed that warning well. So take my word for it. if you have a g/f, mom, grandma, client or boss who will be riding in your car, go softer. If you want a raw pissed off animal, go with solids. If you want something in between, raw but not race car pissed off, these are a good solution. I am the type that says someone is being soft when complaining about NVH, so take my word for it. If I am complaining, its not an over-reaction.
Also banzai really needs to be given a hand for the engineering. it would have been easier to cut some poly, slap some washers on it, thread a bolt through and call it a day. They didnt. they put thought in to it and made a fantastic product from an engineering stand point.
BC
Pros:
1) These are well engineered. Im not talking just from a production or material stand point, but they are well thought out and planned. The stock mounts are about 10x harder to get off than the new mounts are to put on or take off.
2) The clearances for using tools GREATLY increaes with both sets of mounts.
3) The motor mount bolts screw into the mount in such a way that they or the mount cant fall out while the engine is being lowered, resulting in keeping your fingers out of jeopardy.
4) Shift feel is significantly improved
5) Clutch take up is much crisper as the engine isn't flexing as much and the tranny isn't squirming as much
6) Significantly stiffer than the stock set up.
Cons:
1) SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer than the stock set up. NHV is greatly increased with these mounts. Nothing like solid mounts, but defintely increased. I am hoping it will settle down with a little with time.
2) I can now hear everything happening in the drive line, including the bearings in my tranny. Which after doing this I have assertained are on the way out. 1,3,5 all whine significantly, and there is defintely a clunking going on in the tranny. The clunking i think is just a noise being transmitted through the mounts that is there with a perfectly fine tranny too, but is otherwise hidden by the stock mounts.
Thoughts on the install: Stock mounts come out pretty easy. The tranny mounts are a little harder and require some minor disassembly of the crossmember. No big issue, just some time. Air tools and an impact wrench make getting the old scummy bolts off the car a LOT easier. Once we figured out my impact gun (dont by kobalt tools..... there were no instructions for the gun on how to modify the settings on it). When raising the tranny back up to meet the car body for re-install you may need a phillips head screw driver to re-align the bolt holes. By design the hydraulic jack pulls everything towards the handle of the jack so the screwdriver helps to move the crossmember back into place while you get one bolt locked into place. Difficulty: 3-10. Can be done with hand tools, some jack stands, a jack and two hours of your day.
I didnt realize how much louder and harsher the ride would be. had I pre-driven in someone elses car with these mounts I probably would have gone with the Mazdaspeed mounts. That being said I am happy with them. i was warned they would be loud and transmit vibration, I just didnt heed that warning well. So take my word for it. if you have a g/f, mom, grandma, client or boss who will be riding in your car, go softer. If you want a raw pissed off animal, go with solids. If you want something in between, raw but not race car pissed off, these are a good solution. I am the type that says someone is being soft when complaining about NVH, so take my word for it. If I am complaining, its not an over-reaction.
Also banzai really needs to be given a hand for the engineering. it would have been easier to cut some poly, slap some washers on it, thread a bolt through and call it a day. They didnt. they put thought in to it and made a fantastic product from an engineering stand point.
BC
01-10-08, 10:53 AM
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I have been told, and evidently its on the instructions too, that the mounts will loosen up a bit in the next 500-1000 miles. Will update after said time.
I guess part of that will be answered in the next 500-1000, but IMO its probably better to go with both sets. Reason is mine were, at both ends, destroyed. After 17 years and 160k miles they were cracked, flaking and ready to fall apart. The tranny mounts are what I think make the shifting feel more precise. The tranny isnt wobbling around under the car and the whole assembly isnt rotating when rev matching. This makes getting the car in to gear much easier. The clutch up take is likely the engine mounts, but the shift improvement is either the tranny mounts or a combination of both working together.
***In no way, shape, or form do I think that these mounts are at all responsible for the tranny whine. If anything the fact that the tranny was able to move around so much before likely contributed to syncro and bearing wear. My tranny has at least 100k, probably closer to 160k, miles on it. Further its an NA tranny that isnt the strongest to begin with. All the mounts did was replace a worn component and allowed more of that whine to filter through to the cabin. I noticed the whine before, it is just much more obvious now.***
My suggestion is to find someone near you who has poly mounts that are broken in and see for yourself what you think of the noise. Im certain that as the poly wears in I will be very happy with the give and take of stiffness over NVH.
BC
So do you reccommend maybe just the motor mounts and leaving the tranny mounts alone?
***In no way, shape, or form do I think that these mounts are at all responsible for the tranny whine. If anything the fact that the tranny was able to move around so much before likely contributed to syncro and bearing wear. My tranny has at least 100k, probably closer to 160k, miles on it. Further its an NA tranny that isnt the strongest to begin with. All the mounts did was replace a worn component and allowed more of that whine to filter through to the cabin. I noticed the whine before, it is just much more obvious now.***
My suggestion is to find someone near you who has poly mounts that are broken in and see for yourself what you think of the noise. Im certain that as the poly wears in I will be very happy with the give and take of stiffness over NVH.
BC
01-22-08, 12:58 AM
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500ish miles past.
Things have smoothed out a bit. Much easier to cruise with. Still very loud on WOT and a little shudder at clutch release. Motor mounts are still full tightened down, so when i get under to change tranny fluid I will loosen them a touch and see how I like it.
BC
Things have smoothed out a bit. Much easier to cruise with. Still very loud on WOT and a little shudder at clutch release. Motor mounts are still full tightened down, so when i get under to change tranny fluid I will loosen them a touch and see how I like it.
BC
