Has anyone ever compared a known-good OEM ETD to XLR8's? The ETD on my new to me 08 TLS is obviously shot as the engine feels like it is always flopping back and forth between the mount straps as you accelerate/decelerate/shift. It is annoying to say the least. Visual inspection of the mounts do not show any cracks, tearing, or leaks. I hear MANY good reports of people having this same issue and going straight to the XLR8 ETD and having good results; however, I have yet to see one report of someone having this issue and replacing their OEM ETD with a new OEM ETD. As much as I like going straight to modifying to make better, I'd like to understand how different the XLR8 damper feels from a new OEM damper. Anyone have any firsthand experience?

 

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According to the XLR8 website, it appears they have zero in stock for $149?
Shop XLR8 Performance Products on XLR8Performance.com

If that's the case, just opt for the OEM, #16 below, and call it a day to stop the 'flopping back and forth between the mount straps' before that continuous action trashes, even further, what's left of your rear mount.
Engine Mounts (MT) for 2008 Acura TL | Acura OEM Parts

 

Zeta, I called XLR8 last week to inquire and they did confirm that they do have them but their system wasn't doing something right when showing 0 in stock. I did go ahead and order it at that time. Me impulsively buying performance goodies? Nooo. :-) While impatiently awaiting delivery of the part, I got to thinking more about how the XLR8 damper works vs the OEM damper, the different stresses, different vibrations, etc. Seeing as how this car is my daily driver that gets romped on only when passing, merging, or any other, unfortunately rare, opportunity, I am curious which damper might be better for my application. At this point, I am going to run the XLR8 ETD and if I find any significant compromises, I may try a new OEM damper. I am curious if anyone has ever compared the 2 back to back though. I do see the pros/cons of either design.

The engine NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) mitigation strategy on our cars in stock form include what appear to be VERY soft engine mounts for mitigating sound/vibrations at rest and light throttle/cruising speeds, engine rock stops/straps that bolt ontop of the mounts that rigidly limit engine rocking motion during moderate/heavy accelerations, and an engine damper to smooth out the rocking motion of the engine, preventing sudden impacts or jolts as the engine rocks quickly towards the stops during quick accelerations/gear changes. The beauty of the damper is that it allows the engine to rotate and vibrate freely with small inputs (smooth) and to significantly soften fast motions (smooth). The tradeoffs that could be noticed would be if the damper does not slow the engine enough to prevent the engine from banging against the limiter at the extent of its travel, and the rock distance from stop to stop ids quite large, causing sloppy/disconnected feedback to the driver during starts and shifts.

The XLR8 Damper is more of a rocking limiter than an actual damper. The rubber bushings within are compressed against the outer wall, offering some resistance to motion, at the expense of increased vibration, but not with a dynamic response or force that a true damper would. The beauty of the XLR8 unit is that it significantly limits the engine travel, allowing the engine a much smaller window of rocking motion, lessening inertia, lessening impact, and integrates a rubber bushing to help absorb some of the impact, again at the expense of increased vibration. All of these traits increase perceived tightness and feedback during starting and shifting. I would assume that the XLR8 damper restricts the motion of the engine to an extent that the original stops/straps are no longer ever in contact which leads me to an area of potential concern. The stock rock limiters/stops/straps are quite robust with stout pads on the engine mount bracket that contact stout rubber padded straps that are heavily bolted to the motor mounts. There are 2 of these assemblies, one on the front mount, one on the rear mount. Comparing the hefty structural design and ultimate strength of the OEM engineered rock limiter to the relatively tiny XLR8 limiter, makes me wonder if it is now a relatively weak link. I also question if it will cause added stress to the XLR8 damper mounting points, causing fatigue or other failure. Perusing the threads here, I have not come across any accounts of failures. Has anyone had any issues using the XLR8 Damper?

 

Oh and since I apparently cannot edit my posts de to insufficient post count (Newbie), thanks for your insight and links for the parts. While I am a veteran at car engineering, performance, and online forums, I always cringe at the thought of having to start from the bottom and work my way up when joining a new forum. Some sites are just brutal on the new folks!

 

Nice!

I only see the rear one listed on the 08 TL-S parts diagram.
#12 rear engine damper assembly includes the bracket & hardware and #16 just includes the damper, sleeve and hardware?

Now, my CL-S six speed has a front and rear and unfortunately they are discontinued. Though the #16 damper for the 08 TL-S could possibly be used as a rear substitute on the CL.
Engine Mounts (MT) for 2003 Acura CL | Acura OEM Parts

Indeed. Matter a fact, back in the day when the NRG civic dampers were all the rage to tighten-up & replace the OEM front & rears on the 2G CL-S,
folks found out, over time, that the damper mounting bolts at the frame and bracket would loosen. In turn, the remedy was to use blue or red loctite so that one would not have to revisit.

This might be something to consider when you receive your new XLR8 and install?

Good Luck!

 

Sorry for any confusion. I was referring to 9 and 14 in the illustration below. Called a "Mount Stopper". You can see the beefy arms on 4 and 6 that go under the stoppers. These arms typically float freely under the stoppers when idling, light acceleration, and cruising, but push up hard against the stoppers when accelerating moderately to heavily, shifting gears quickly, etc. When the arms hit the stoppers, it creates the thunk, thud, jolt, or shudder that we all feel with worn OEM dampers. It is hard to believe that these large, thick, cast aluminum arms and thick steel stoppers on either side of the engine can be reliably replaced with a relatively tiny NRG damper with 2 tiny rubber bump stops inside of it; however, it appears that if you loctite everything upon final assembly, there have been no issues. If it works, it works! Thanks again for the insight Zeta.

 

I would take the OEM damper over the XLR8 damper any day. It's NRG which in my experience is just cheap garbage dressed in hot lipstick.

Broke in half in under a year.

 

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Damn.

 

Thanks for the insight and first hand failure account.
Did you go back to OEM after your NRG broke? If so, how would you describe the driving difference between the 2?

 

What I did notice was when I peeled out one time to make it across four lanes of traffic the wheel hop was excessive. You can definitely feel/hear it, which is what prompted me to get under the car and check.
When the NRG damper worked, it did its job well enough.
I never noticed a difference between the two, other than the OEM damper actually lasting longer than a year.

 

I recall having a discussion with Eric (Euro-R_Spec_TSX) about whether he had an OEM damper or an aftermarket one on his TSX - he stuck with the OEM torque damper saying that in working form it's sufficiently stiff. I think that's a pretty glowing review of the OEM damper.

I personally jostled with whether to get an OEM damper or an aftermarket one and I chose the XLR8 one because I was sticking with OEM mounts otherwise and wanted a reduction in engine movement. The XLR8 damper is also much cheaper than an OEM replacement if I recall correctly.