[Podunk]

Hey, figured i'd give a review of my experience after buying some of the ECS tuning 70A durometer poly bushings

Little background, after i recieved delivery of the car i notice the transmission under acceleration would lower and raise on decel, causing the shifter to go up and down when going through the gears on the 6 speed manual. this also lead to some undesirable driveability issues, such as surging in first or second gear, etc. so i knew with 180K on the clock, the mount bushings/isolators where worn out.

so looking for replacement, and wanting to upgrade at the same time with something a little better than stock, i saw ECS tuning had poly bushings in both a street and race formula, with the street being advertised as SLIGHTLY stiffer than stock with a 70A durometer measurement, versus the race 90A durometer rating.

i ordered them.

now for the review.

After installing these NVH is drastically increased, for "slightly stiffer than stock" i can literally hear the gears meshing and the clutch engaging the flywheel inside the cabin, and the gears being disengaged and engaged, and it is not a SLIGHT noise, it is a MASSIVE difference in NVH ( Noise, Vibration, Harshness) these things seems like they pretty much may as well be solid bushings with everything they transfer noise wise. the claim it is a more "engaging" driving experience is a bit of a ploy of BS on ECS marketing. noise is not experience, it is distracting and can hide other issues that may be present with the car further up, such as in the engine. or further back, such as the differential.

the good, the trans does not drop any more under accell, and gear engagements are firm, and positive, and the car does not surge anymore causing a rocking back and forth motion. so the mounts have drastically reduced deflection from the prior bushings in the driveline. this is positive in the fact it will reduce flex and wear on the Guibo, as well as the center shaft support bearing and direct power to where it is suppose to go, the rear differential, instead of some power loss in initial torque application going to twisting the powertrain. however this means that all stresses are now move to the trans mount cross member, and the transmission/engine in a more immediate fashion, so care must be taken when driving, cause suddenly immediate applications of excessive power can lead to failed components and cracked cases..

is 70A a "street" application? i would say in my current experience, definitely not, these are performance oriented and would fall more under race "lite"
with the 90A being even stiffer being "full race".

what do i mean by race lite and full race? race lite CAN do daily tasks, and street driving, but really isn't meant for it. and full race is dedicated track car money void where you know it will break, and that you will throw more money at it.

these really are more for the track, and not for the street in my opinion, but are not so harsh as to be strictly race track..

maybe my opinion will change once they wear in some, but as of right now, these are my experiences with it, and i believe they are rather excessive.

[theoforest]

Nice write up,

How about crusing at highway speed ?

I’m waiting for poly insert for my Tcase, ordered 83a and 90a..

[Podunk]

Originally Posted by theoforest

Nice write up,

How about crusing at highway speed ?

I’m waiting for poly insert for my Tcase, ordered 83a and 90a..

cruising not too bad, definitely hear the trans gears meshing and whining still, and any play in the U joints and rear diff gears is transferred to interior on off throttle-on throttle events. kinda like a metal "snap" noise. but it is subdued compared to accelerating and changing gears.