Rival Autosport Engine Damper Kit

[Rival Autosport]

What's going on fellow Miragers(?)! I'm here to gauge interest for an engine damper kit for our cars!

Prototyped based on the USDM Mirage chassis, it comes with the necessary hardware and brackets to install on your vehicle and drastically reduce the rocking motion of the motor as the throttle is engaged or disengaged. This in turn creates a more stable drive and makes the car's chassis and suspension more responsive to throttle inputs, rather than waiting for the play in the motor's mounts to be taken up. I've already found it a great addition to the vehicle, as it feels much more solid and it reacts more predictably than before. Even doing straightline pulls I've noticed less jerking and more go between shifts.

The final choice of material high-nickel stainless steel! Some are aluminum, but aluminum is far too soft to hold it's form under stress and loses it's performance after a period of time. It's mainly sold as a gimmick for lightweight, but it's durability is the concern here.
Entry level cost is at $224.99CAD plus shipping.

Now to the point: I am here to gauge interest in such a kit. And hopefully an introductory group buy. If I can get 5 pledges, I'll drop the price by 5%. 10 for 10%, and 15+ for 15%. But even just one person is interested, they'll be sure to get their kit.

So let me know what you guys think. I'll keep this poll up for about a month, so there will be time for people to get money together if need be. Here's a great opportunity to be first to get your hands on something special guys!

By the way, here's a pis of the original prototype in place. This was 1/2" steel which is overkill. But it was put together to make sure my measurements were right and that the piece functioned well. It did not disappoint!

[Angrybeaver]

What about something like an engine mount kit that would replace rubber bushings with urethane? Would there be any benefits to developing one for the Mirage?

[gone.a]

I am interested, however, have you thought about altering or replacing the bushings in the existing ''engine roll stopper rod'' ? Its located at the very bottom rear of the engine and attaches to the frame. You could replace or strengthen the rubber mounts using window rubber to fill in the engineered voids.

My understanding is that this mount is designed to mitigate the forward/rearward rocking motion of the engine while providing a controlled damping and it might be located in a more ideal location that a side-mounted top-mount.

One thing I hate is how jerky the manual is in 1st gear with frequent on/off throttle application and would be interested in a solution.

[Littlestan]

It's like you were reading my mind Rival! I can't believe how much movement and rocking there is
at idle, it looks like a damn twanging door stopper sometimes. I was going to just make my own
but since you've already gone and done the work I'll support it.

Is it just the one bracket or are there several points of attachment in the kit?

Sign me up!

[Littlestan]

What about something like an engine mount kit that would replace rubber bushings with urethane? Would there be any benefits to developing one for the Mirage?

I think the advantage to retaining the stock soft bushings and adding external points of dampened
engagement is that in the case of sudden large shock or shifting, it should still allow for some
comfy-ish movement. Hard urethane kits are fairly unforgiving and you feel everything, all the time.

[RedRage]

This is an excellent idea. Looks like the design could be cleaned up a little, but the function over form is what's necessary.

EDIT: What if you modify either an existing strut brace or fabricate your own, and run an absorber from 2 smaller mounts on the strut bar and on top of the existing engine mount. It would be far less parts, less steel, less cost, less weight.

I did a quick sketch to better elaborate.

[Rival Autosport]

Hey there guys! So I think I'll elaborate further to the benfits of the engine damper and address the other ideas and concerns of the community.

So the reasons an engine damper was chosen over stiffer bushings for developement were as follows:

- easier to install
- cheaper to produce up front
- unlike bushings, the damper does NOT severely degrade the ride comfort as it uses fluid damping compared to soft-material damping, as Littlestan pointed out

As for Littlestan's other question, there are 2 mounts: one for the upper strut tower, away from where the average strut tower brace mounts, and one on the passenger side engine mount.

To address RedRage's idea, it is possible, but for the sake of people who already have a strut tower brace, this solution is simpler. Also, a more independant system usually functions better as the tower brace is better off dealing with one set of forces, rather than 2 on different axis. Secondly, This is a picture of a rough prototype for testing and confirmation. The actual units will be much cleaner and proper. And come with stickers.....because stickers are the $#!%.

And to address ahausheer and Angrybeaver, I am thinking that the average Mirage owner may still value their ride comfort, but still look for performance improvements, so this is my idea for the time being. However, bushing kits will be developed eventually once I attain the means to do so, but as far as things go for now, it is a future thought.

[Rival Autosport]

So if I have tallied this correctly, it looks like The following members are on board:
- ahausheer
- Littlestan
- btavish

So by next week I'll start getting kits together, but I'll wait till month's end at least so everyone can take advantage of the prospective discounts.

[RedRage]

I can't say I want one now, but I enjoy the R&D and brainstorming. In the future if I put the car more into it's paces I'll order one. Excited to see the progress of the kit and it's advantages.

[gone.a]

Just to be clear, I will experiment with making alterations to the engine roll stopper rod before committing to buy an engine damper.