Background:
When I decided to replace the engine and transmission mounts on my GTI I wanted something that would be durable but not unpleasant to live with.
I found Custom Performance Engineering (cp-e) to be offering engine and transmission mounts for the Mk7 GTI and Golf R. The cp-e mounts looked to check the boxes I was most interested in, they have a Lifetime Warranty and the option of either 55A or 70A durometer bushings. Made in the USA was a bonus.
A couple of the descriptions that cp-e gives for these mounts reinforced the belief that these mounts would work out for me:
Available in 2 durometers for comfort or performance.
55A will give you very little noticeable increase in vibrations while providing a large decrease in wheel hop and engine movement.
Custom Performance Engineering
Some other options I had considered are:
- 034 Motorsport: 50/60 durometer
- BFI Stage 1: 70 durometer
- CTS turbo: 60 durometer
- Revo: Unknown durometer
Installation Impressions:
The Custom Performance Engineering mounts came well packaged in separate boxes for the engine and transmission mounts.
The engine and transmission mounts included a printed set of installation instructions.
The installation of the engine mount is straight forward.
The only trouble I encountered with installing the engine mount was when tightening the bolts that fasten the mount to the GTI frame rail. The bolts on either side of the mount are inserted through holes that sit close to the frame that houses the bushing. Because of this the instructions advise to install the bolts into the mount before placing in the car. Once on the car the position of the bolt head makes it impossible to fit a socket onto the bolt for tightening.
I was unable to torque the engine mount bolts that attach to the frame rail to specified values since I could not fit a socket onto the bolts.
While not a problem with installing the engine mount, the cp-e mount lacks the stock mounting point where a catch can could be attached. This is also an issue for the Golf R since this mounting point is where the coolant reservoir is attached.
The transmission mount does not have the same issues, but it does have a few concerns to be aware of.
If the mount is installed by following the directions, the brackets that support the battery tray will be installed, and then they block the bolt that secures the bushing into the housing. This bolt should be torqued to 90 ft-lbs.
The process of securing the battery tray to the brackets is complicated by the fact that the cp-e design uses a nut and bolt to secure the battery tray, whereas the stock setup uses a bolt that attaches directly to the mount.
Because the battery tray needs to be put into it’s final position, and then the installer needs to reach under the tray to hold the nut in place while passing the bolt through the tray, it may not be possible to reach the location where the nut needs to be.
This was the issue I encountered, I was unable to get my arm beneath the battery tray to hold the nut in place. Because of this I was not able to secure the battery tray at the center point.
A less significant issue was that the bolt custom performance engineering supplies to install at the front of the battery tray is too wide to fit through the hole in the battery tray. It is also too short if it could be made thin enough to fit through the hole.
Driving Impressions:
With the cp-e mounts installed the sound level and amount of vibration within the cabin are noticeably greater than with the 034 Motorsport Street Density mounts that were previously on the GTI.
I noticed rattling from places that I had not previously heard it from. The sound level was high enough that I found it unpleasant to drive the car.
An application that I have on my phone will display the sound level that the microphone is picking up. The cp-e mounts produced a sound level that was around 80 dB.
By comparison, I later switched back to the 034 Motorsport mounts and the sound level measured around 73 dB.
Because of the way the decibel scale works a ten dB increase is twice the sound level. Therefore a difference from 73 to 80 dB is substantial.
Contacting Custom Performance Engineering:
A message was sent to cp-e detailing the issues I had encountered as well asking to confirm that I had received the 55 durometer version of the products, and not the 70 durometer.
cp-e confirmed that I had received the 55 durometer mounts.
They advised me that with respect to the engine mount bolts that a hand tight installation will be fine. They also suggested I could try an open end wrench and “google” how much torque it would take.
They offered to drill a hole in the engine mount for the catch can, but I don’t believe this will work because I think the catch can will be in contact with the engine mount.
For the transmission mount they suggested that the main bolt could be torqued before installing the mount in the car. This seems like a reasonable solution.
They had not received any other reports of problems attaching the center bolt of the battery tray and were unable to suggest a solution. They did believe attaching the bolt would be a one-time thing, which is incorrect since the battery tray is removed when replacing the DSG filter.
They did not understand my details about the front battery tray bolt being too wide. This bolt not fitting is a minor issue and would be an easy fix.
Conclusions:
Overall I am disappointed with the Custom Performance Engineering mounts for the Mk7. There are design issues that impact the installation of the mounts, attachment of a catch can or washer reservoir in the case of a Golf R, and attachment of the battery tray.
The amount of noise and vibration caused by the 55 durometer version of these mounts is greater than what I expected and was unacceptable for long term use.
I removed the cp-e mounts and returned to using the 034 Motorsport Street Density mounts.
Thanks for your review of the CP-E mounts, did you give them ample time to break-in? Often people state their mounts get better after a period of time (week or 2), same with dog bone mounts as well.
Great job as always!
I did not. cp-e advises that after a few hundred miles they will break in “somewhat”. Perhaps if I left them in longer they might have become less annoying.
The aggregate of issues prompted me to switch to the 034 mounts.
Great article as usual. I installed the BFI stage 1 engine and transmission mounts 2 weeks ago and only introduced vibration during reverse and initial acceleration. Obviously, the noise level did go up a bit… more engine, transmission noises, but did tame my downpipe a bit. I haven’t driven a lot of miles on it, but it’s tolerable, especially if my wife didn’t notice a difference.
I would think the 55 durometer on the cp-e be more “daily driver” compliant. Do you think the design / type of aluminum (doesn’t really say what type of aluminum on their site) play a large role in the NVH of the cp-e?
That’s what I thought about the 55 durometer option, but something about the design caused it to be unpleasant to me. The type of metal wouldn’t be my first guess at the cause, but that’s just a guess on my part, I don’t know what properties of these mounts have a significant contribution to the noise and vibration.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the test! I have the BFI stage 1 and did got the NVH shock which I didn’t expect. It reminded me of my old dad’s car.
Are you saying that the 034 Motorsport Street Density mounts have the OEM feel but without the engine movements when flooring it if you are stage 2 / stage 3? I am desperate in finding a better solution for this.
Thanks!
They were on my GTI when I bought it, so I don’t have a good baseline for comparison on this car. I only once took a test drive in a new GTI for an experience with the stock mounts. I have driven several other normal cars and with the 034 mounts on the GTI there wasn’t any indication that it had aftermarket mounts. I’ve also never had any family members comment about noise or vibration, which was not the case when the cp-e mounts were installed. I’ve been happy with how the 034 mounts feel. I’ve seen some people commenting with concerns about how they might hold up over time, so I purchased mine through FCP Euro for their warranty.