Smokehouse
Member
- :
- 2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3
Opinions are often difficult to sort out. When it comes to the TRZ mounts the opinions vary from "Holy s***...this thing is terrible! My car is loud as hell with this thing in!"...to "I love it!!! Those that complain about the noise are pussies!"
I figured the truth would be somewhere in between.
First off...like the others here say, the install was as simple as it gets. All I needed was a 17mm socket, breaker ratchet, some red loctite and a torque wrench.
It took longer to jack the car up than it did to install it...my buddy timed me and it took 11 min from start to finish once the car was off the ground. The most difficult part was breaking loose the stock bolts...which really wasn't that hard.
With that said on to the opinions...
I've driven performance cars for years...from older Dodge Vipers to Terminator Cobras and EVOs...I've driven many different types (note I didn't say I owned all of those). Bone stock the MS3 is balanced for daily driving but is pretty mushy in many ways. At first I was happy to be out of a punishing car but quickly found I missed the performance that punishment gave to me in return. Quite like Hellraiser, the pain and pleasure go hand-in-hand with performance cars, they beat the s*** out of you but offer an amazing driving experience in return. Adding this mount does remedy a few of those mushy issues (not all though). The clutch-work is better as is the initial bite when you do put it in gear...also like others have reported, the trans shifts better as well. It gives a more pronounced gear notch when shifting, something that bothered the s*** out of me. I'm adding the trans bushings soon, hopefully this will make the shifting even better.
As for the mount, it's definitely well worth the $$ TRZ is asking.
Now on to the noise (the thing most are concerned with). Initial take-off vibes hard but this only lasts for the first 1-2K in the RPM band and only on take-off (possibly 2 seconds). The rest of the gears are smooth. This is also a much more noticeable engine hum throughout the interior, the hum is pronounced no matter your speed or gear and makes the engine sound "meaner" by lowering the tone you normally get with the stock mount. Transmission noise is also much more clear, you'll hear the trans gear whine much louder than with than stock mount. This reminds me quite a bit of what a B&M shifter sounded like on the Tremec T56 in both my GTO and Cobra. Very mechanical with a dash of gear whine. Highway driving at 55-70 is no big deal, far better than something truly annoying like insane exhaust drone.
Does any of this bother me? Not in the slightest, personally I like the mechanical connection I get with the car...something I missed when I got rid of my GTO. If people really complain about this, I imagine they've never owned/driven a real sports car in their life. There's no way they could have and still complain about this mount. My GTO and Cobra were FAR more brutal than this...that 90's Viper took it up to 11, it rattled the fillings out of my teeth. Even the EVO 8 I spent quite a bit of time in would whoop on you more than the MS3 does even with this mount.
Long story short...this thing delivers. It's a tough little bastard that does it's job but adds some vibs/noises in the cab. If you want the benefits of having a stiff engine mount that does the job, there's going to be some price to pay. Look at the video of what it's like to drive a Ferrari F40/50/Enzo..they are some of the best performing cars on the road but beat the s*** out of the driver.
I figured the truth would be somewhere in between.
First off...like the others here say, the install was as simple as it gets. All I needed was a 17mm socket, breaker ratchet, some red loctite and a torque wrench.
It took longer to jack the car up than it did to install it...my buddy timed me and it took 11 min from start to finish once the car was off the ground. The most difficult part was breaking loose the stock bolts...which really wasn't that hard.
With that said on to the opinions...
I've driven performance cars for years...from older Dodge Vipers to Terminator Cobras and EVOs...I've driven many different types (note I didn't say I owned all of those). Bone stock the MS3 is balanced for daily driving but is pretty mushy in many ways. At first I was happy to be out of a punishing car but quickly found I missed the performance that punishment gave to me in return. Quite like Hellraiser, the pain and pleasure go hand-in-hand with performance cars, they beat the s*** out of you but offer an amazing driving experience in return. Adding this mount does remedy a few of those mushy issues (not all though). The clutch-work is better as is the initial bite when you do put it in gear...also like others have reported, the trans shifts better as well. It gives a more pronounced gear notch when shifting, something that bothered the s*** out of me. I'm adding the trans bushings soon, hopefully this will make the shifting even better.
As for the mount, it's definitely well worth the $$ TRZ is asking.
Now on to the noise (the thing most are concerned with). Initial take-off vibes hard but this only lasts for the first 1-2K in the RPM band and only on take-off (possibly 2 seconds). The rest of the gears are smooth. This is also a much more noticeable engine hum throughout the interior, the hum is pronounced no matter your speed or gear and makes the engine sound "meaner" by lowering the tone you normally get with the stock mount. Transmission noise is also much more clear, you'll hear the trans gear whine much louder than with than stock mount. This reminds me quite a bit of what a B&M shifter sounded like on the Tremec T56 in both my GTO and Cobra. Very mechanical with a dash of gear whine. Highway driving at 55-70 is no big deal, far better than something truly annoying like insane exhaust drone.
Does any of this bother me? Not in the slightest, personally I like the mechanical connection I get with the car...something I missed when I got rid of my GTO. If people really complain about this, I imagine they've never owned/driven a real sports car in their life. There's no way they could have and still complain about this mount. My GTO and Cobra were FAR more brutal than this...that 90's Viper took it up to 11, it rattled the fillings out of my teeth. Even the EVO 8 I spent quite a bit of time in would whoop on you more than the MS3 does even with this mount.
Long story short...this thing delivers. It's a tough little bastard that does it's job but adds some vibs/noises in the cab. If you want the benefits of having a stiff engine mount that does the job, there's going to be some price to pay. Look at the video of what it's like to drive a Ferrari F40/50/Enzo..they are some of the best performing cars on the road but beat the s*** out of the driver.
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