OK. So I FINALLY put these on! I bought the red poly engine and transmission mounts. Thoughts:
Still in initial break in, but it's not bad. I ran out of time at the shop on Friday so I only had the trans mounts on. WOW. Those mounts with OEM eng mounts was HORRIBLE. Everything vibrated like crazy. The only wa I can describe it is like a 500hp V8 with a hole in the exhaust. Would NOT recommend only these.
Put the eng mounts in first thing Saturday morning. Pretty simple install when you have access to a lift, couldn't imagine doing this without one. Driving from shop to home (bout 20-30 km/15 miles) was a change.
PROS
Shifting is a breeze now!*
Heel-toe downshifting is 'quicker'/'smoother' due to not having to 'fight' to get into gear around a turn or under heavy braking.
CONS
NVH is increased a little, but only at certain RPMs.**
Can't hear the engine note any more
* Now, I did my trans and diff fluid changes at the same time on Friday so I don't know which it is, or if it's a combination of both. Also, in 2nd, 4th, 6th, and a little bit in 3rd gear, there's a slight whine in the transmission between 3-4K (think straight-cut gears). It's not loud but noticeable. I don't know if that's the fluid (Redline MTL and I forget off the top of my head which diff fluid i went with. It was Redline as well), the mounts, or a combination of the 2. But for *ME*, it's nice. (Because racecar, whatever
)
*I haven't had a problem with 1 > 2 grind in a long time. I changed my seat position and shifting habits early on, so it went away. So as for that aspect I can't say it fixed anything. It DOES, however, go into 2nd much more smoothly. Take that for it's worth I guess.
**OK here's the big one for everyone interested. I installed on Saturday and have put 350 miles on them. I went to the Nurburgring Sunday and did a lap too! Initially the NVH isn't so bad a cruising speeds. (on the way home and to the Ring) I can tell a difference already in pre- and post-Ring though. I think throwing it around that track helped the settling process a bit!
This is how it feels at 350 miles into it:
IDLE - a little rough on a cold morning. Sounds like a nice exhaust more than anything IMO, at least from inside the cabin. Definitely going to 'delete' the cupholders as they rattle now. Getting into first, when the RPMs dip the vibrations are rattling.
1K ~ 2100 - Smooth. No increased NVH from OEM in my opinion
2K ~ 3300 - NVH is there slightly, but not bad at all. You can tell it's stiffer but it's nowhere near teeth rattling.
3300 ~ 3500 - In 4th gear at 45MPH it's a lot. I want to try to avoid the word 'bad' since it's not BAD, but it is a lot. I just shift to 5th and it goes away (see above RPM range) or speed up. It goes away at around 50MPH in 4th.
3800+ - It's not bad at all! NVH is increased slightly. You can feel it (in your foot) when you touch the gas to pass someone on the highway (autobahn!)
Track Speeds
Fortunately I can write a quick review on this as well! Not knowing the track perfectly (obviously) I was at about 80-85% of my ability/training/comfort level. So I was pushing it, but didn't want to put it into a wall. Plus it was CRAZY busy (nicest day in Germany all year so far, so everyone else had the same idea apparently)! Anyway...as I was paying attention to the track not RPM ranges, I'll just put it this way...RACECAR! It felt and sounded like a purpose-built track car.
-Shifting was quick, smooth, and purposeful! I didn't have any issue getting into a gear or downshifting. 4 > 3, 3 > 2? non existent for me. Went right into gear no problem.
-NVH was crazy! Obviously being on the track I was in the higher RPM ranges, so it was expected. I'd say 55-7500 was the 'worst' in terms of NVH. I'll use the exhaust analogy again here. Sounds more like exhaust drone than anything else. But IMO if you're putting these (or any) mounts on, you're going to be tracking and track NVH isn't an issue for you.
The trip home (~150 km/93 miles) was better than the trip there. So I'm thinking once they get more and more miles on them, not to mention the track days coming up this season, they'll be just fine.