034 vs. HPA dogbone mount- performance improvement vs Vibration

ATR said:

There is a steel collar that I needed to use with the bolt that goes side to side securing the aluminum piece that attaches the transmission to the "HPA" milled aluminum piece.

If you left that out you'll get a lot of vibes because there will be a few mm of play causing excessive NVH.

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Forgive my ignorance, but when you refer to the "steel collar", are you talking about the washers on each side? Highlighted in red in the pic below?

I think I have solved the majority of the NVH, and am writing a separate reply now.

So far I have about 200 highway miles, plus about 50 city miles on the HPA mount. Until messing with it tonight, the NVH was AWFUL, like to the point of ruining the car. The pedals, steering wheel, seats, dash, etc. would all shake horribly. I was really starting to get discouraged with the mount. Anyways, tonight I finally had some time to mess with it, and have noticed a huge improvement with NVH. Here's what I did:

1) I raised the idle by 50 RPM (the maximum supported by OBD11 & VCDS). After everything warms up, I now idle around 750-800 RPM without lights, fan, or A/C. This didn't make a huge difference in NVH, but certainly was an improvement.

2) Loosened all the bolts and re-torqued. See the pic below. The puck is torqued to 100 Nm (74 ft-lbs), the sideways bolt through the dogbone arm is torqued to 70 Nm (52 ft-lbs), and the 2 bolts towards the front into the tranny are torqued to 40 Nm (30 ft-lbs). This definitely made a difference too, but again, nothing HUGE.

3) This last thing I did is what I think really helped. I took the car out, and gave it the beans several times in first gear, trying to induce a bit of wheel hop in order to put some stress on the mount and hopefully break it in. I think beating on it a bit is what really helped break it in and settle the NVH.

Side note, yes, it does still hop a little bit with the new mount, but it is soooooo muted compared to stock. It no longer sounds like a machine gun and feel like it's going to break the car in half.

I can still definitely notice a slight increase in NVH vs. stock, but the steering wheel, pedals, etc. no longer shake like crazy. Someone who is unfamiliar with our cars might not even suspect anything. For the moment I would say NVH feels similar to how my old 034 insert felt, give or take. I'm hoping it settles in even more over the next couple hundred miles, and at that point I will re-torque everything one more time just for good measure.

Bottom line is, I feel like I have my car back, except with the positive improvements of the HPA mount. Right now I am finally fully satisfied with the mount. I appreciate everyone's input and advice!

Hotfart said:

Forgive my ignorance, but when you refer to the "steel collar", are you talking about the washers on each side? Highlighted in red in the pic below?

I think I have solved the majority of the NVH, and am writing a separate reply now.

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You're very close to the collar I was talking about...

It is supposed to go inside of the aluminum part that's fitted to the transmission. The same part that you torqued to 40NM.

This collar gets inserted into that aluminum mount preventing excess movement.

Here's a picture I found of the aluminum part I'm speaking of:



As to what a "collar" is:



Also, simply flooring it in first to the point of wheelhop is a cool test. I personally went on some back roads and just let off the gas while in 3rd gear then hooning it a bit more then let off since that's not as jarring on the drivetrain as 1st can be. that seemed to help bed in the mount more so then anything else.

Hopefully this helps.

Thanks, yeah that definitely helps explain what you were referring to. After seeing your pic, I'm 99% sure it was installed correctly. I'll verify for sure when I re-torque things in a week or two (just for good measure).

Good idea on "bedding it in" with 3rd gear vs. 1st gear. I'm on the stock tune right now (not sure if you're tuned or not), so that might not be as effective in my situation. The wheelhop I do get is so minor compared to before that I'm convinced that doing it a handful of times on purpose won't really hurt things. Hope I'm not wrong by doing that, haha!

For HPA mount does one have to drop the subframe to install it?

FYI, Fastuning has the HPA mount on sale right now for $249 ($50 off of regular price).

Deviation01 said:

For HPA mount does one have to drop the subframe to install it?

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No.

You only have to cut out the bottom OEM mount.

Had the 034 till it snapped in half with stage 2 power. One odd thing that occurred with it was that something in my steering wheel would vibrate. Was so annoying. Glad the thing is useless and broke.

Have had the HPA for a while now (over 20k miles) and works great. No weird noise from something vibrating in the steering wheel.

Polar Lights said:

Had the 034 till it snapped in half with stage 2 power. One odd thing that occurred with it was that something in my steering wheel would vibrate. Was so annoying. Glad the thing is useless and broke.



Have had the HPA for a while now (over 20k miles) and works great. No weird noise from something vibrating in the steering wheel.

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How is NVH vs 034?

More vibrations with the 034. This is with BFI street density engine and trans mounts. You get some steering wheel vibration and can feel some vibrations from the front most part of the drivers seat. Very noticeable vibrations when going up a hill.

HPA I don't notice any vibrations at all. Be it the steering wheel or the seat itself.

Harshness between the two.... Prob the same till the 034 snaps like a twig and then your engine sloshes around like a boat in the high seas.

What is really harsh is upgrading your front sway bar when you already have engine/trans/dogbone/superpro control arms/subframe deadset. Front end can then be visualized as a brick that jolts you around. Fixed it by not having a functional front sway bar (one end link actually popped out while I was driving). It was so stiff that full throttle the car would zig/zag instead of going in a straight line.

I would not recommend the 034 to anyone. Annoying steering wheel noise (think it may be the horn spring??) and annoying vibrations that happen with the steering wheel/seat are terrible.

/\ On that note the 034 Street Density mounts for the engine and transmission are FANTASTIC!

Couple them to with the HPA mount and it's the perfect blend of stiffness and comfort. I have zero regrets with these mounts.

I don't understand why 034 doesn't make a 'Street Density' dogbone mount to compliment their engine mount line. It's obvious the dogbone insert does not work well... many complaints of bent and or broken inserts. Most people like the Revo or HPA dogbone mounts but the poly bushing can add a touch too much NVH. Seems to me a solid rubber mount would be a good compromise... what am I missing?

People with the HPA mount. What is the 12-14mm Adapter Sleeve? I know straight forward answer but did anyone use it??

Deviation01 said:

People with the HPA mount. What is the 12-14mm Adapter Sleeve? I know straight forward answer but did anyone use it??

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I might be wrong here, and please correct me if I am, but I believe HPA made a revision so their dogbone will fit both versions of mounts. I didn't install it myself, or else I'd have a better idea of what to tell you. Normally I would have done it myself, but I just had them toss it on when I had my clutch done.

So, it sounds like if you have the earlier mount version, then you may need the sleeve, but if you're later version, you may not.

Hotfart said:

I might be wrong here, and please correct me if I am, but I believe HPA made a revision so their dogbone will fit both versions of mounts. I didn't install it myself, or else I'd have a better idea of what to tell you. Normally I would have done it myself, but I just had them toss it on when I had my clutch done.

So, it sounds like if you have the earlier mount version, then you may need the sleeve, but if you're later version, you may not.

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Hmmm where would it go?! Lol