Well, my engine did not get violated by an exotic tropical insect but the engine mount got a major makeover instead

Our OEM engine mount utilize an enclosed hydraulic unit that damper engine vibration for driver/passenger comfort. The draw back of this design and with any street going cars is that it allows significant amount of movement of the engine under hard acceleration and high G changes under track condition. This translate to sloppy engine response, imprecise transmission shift and inconsistent turns. You can think of the function of an engine mount much like walking your dog. OEM engine mount is like an undisciplined dog, pulling on the leash on every corner trying to pee on light posts. A proper functioning engine mount is a well trained dog allowing you to walk with ease and even go for a jog because he follows where you want to go

Folks at WEVO explain it much better as follow:

"The WEVO 997 SS Engine Mount is designed to offer more precise control of the drivetrain mass. Our experience with the whole family of SS Mount products has illustrated that most drivers experience the sensation of the drivetrain unit moving relative to the chassis mass. The drivetrain in a Porsche is independently suspended from the sprung mass of the car via the compliance in the engine and transmission mounts. This drivetrain assembly represents approximately 25% of the sprung weight of the car. The opportunity for forces to move the drivetrain comes from many inputs, such as the torque reaction of vehicle acceleration loads, the bumps and variations in the road surface and the lateral forces created in cornering and braking. That degree of independent movement of the drivetrain is responsible for some of the “sloppy” feeling that is evident when the performance envelope of the vehicle is explored. The higher the forces, the higher the deflections in the hydro-elastic mounts, therefore the deflections and movement of the drivetrain mass begin to operate out of phase with the movement of the car as a whole. For Racing the factory eliminate the hydro elastic mounts and install solid engine mount positions – marrying together the mass of the drivetrain and the sprung mass of the car. While solid mounts might be considered a conventional wisdom for a race car, this practice has an enormous impact on NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness) making it totally impractical for a street driven car.

The WEVO 997 SS Engine Mounts skew the performance intentions of the O.E. engine mounts and control movement by allowing smaller deflections under the same loads. Your drivetrain remains “independently suspended” but managed by a much stiffer suspension – much like stiffer dampers, anti-roll bars or springs could replace the original parts in your front and rear axle suspension configurations.

Unlike solid engine and transmission mount systems, the Semi Solid installation has no metal to metal contact and retains sufficient isolation from engine vibrations to protect your sensitive engine control electronics, sound system and instrumentation systems."

I learn the hard way about our OEM engine mount at Laguna Seca. I had some trouble going from 2nd to 3rd gear up the straight before turn two under high acceleration up a hill. Porsche now offer a variable electromagnetic engine mount for the 997.2 GT3/RS for $1300 but it's not available for 997.1 ... plus it will sure add weight. I decided to get the WEVO engine mount instead since it's reasonably priced at $198.75 each. Here is the full description link: 997 Semi-Solid Engine Mounts

OK, let's get started with this simple mod. First, the WEVO engine mount arrived in the box and looks almost good enough for display





Here is a look at the two OEM engine mounts. Kind of ugly and massive compare with WEVO





The engine mount is held on by two smaller M8 bolts (13 mm socket) up top and one large M12 nut on the bottom which require a deep 18 mm socket to gain access



OK, let's remove the OEM engine mount by first supporting the engine from below. I use my floor jack and place a piece of wood block under the crank case as not to damage the case. You need to jack up the engine enough where the body of the car is lift up by about 3-4 inches.
If you did not jack up the engine enough it will be very hard to loosen the M12 nut and there will not be room between the engine mount bracket and the nut since the engine is lowering while the nut is loosening.



Here is a view of the engine mount removed. Do this one side at a time and install the WEVO engine mount before removing the other OEM engine mount



Beauty and the beast contest LOL





OEM engine mount is not only ugly, it is heavy too. Both OEM mount weigh 5 lbs total compare with WEVO's feather light 2 lbs total. 3 lbs weight saving from the rear is always nice!





You may have to turn the WEVO engine mount center bolt slightly to fit. This can be easily done with a wrench at the base



WEVO engine mount installed. Tighten the top M8 bolts to 18 ft/lbs or 25 Nm and the bottom M12 nut to 60 ft/lbs or 83 Nm and move on to the other side. With the right socket and tools, you can knock this out in less than 30 minuets.



I made a video of the engine deflection comparing OEM vs WEVO engine mount. Unfortunately the OEM engine mount video was made at 11PM with my garage door closed as not to scare the crap out of my neighbor (I scared the living day light out of my wife instead lol). I did not go aggressive on the gas with OEM engine mount due to the circumstance. The video is only good to show slightly more baseline vibration with WEVO engine mount

Here is a picture of my Jerry rigged engine deflection seismometer



OEM vs WEVO engine mount deflection test

Driving impression: Well, you can feel the ever so slight extra baseline vibration at start up. Not annoying enough to even mention and totally forgotten the next day. No difference as far as vibration goes once moving. On the track I noticed I can turn with ease and the car is not fighting with me. This is especially noticeable two days ago at Laguna Seca. I put my PCCB back on with Pagid RS29 pads. This brake combination was horrible. I overshoot many high speed braking zone like turn 11 and 2 and no brake modulation what so ever! Despite of lack of brakes, I made my previous best time of 1:47 with ease. I thought my traqmate was broken since I had terrible brakes. The car was just a delight on turns and go where ever I pointed which made up loss time at brake zones. Up the straight before turn 2 under hard acceleration only cause 2nd to 3rd gear shift difficulty once when I try to speed shift as a trial.

Overall I am very pleased with the improvement. WEVO engine mount delivered what it promised and more. Best of all it's super easy to install and very reasonably priced which is a rarity for Porsche related product.

 

Outstanding writeup!

 

Run the Wevo's also... great writeup!... Thanks

 

Thank you for a great write up. One more DIY for me to add to my list.

 

I wish you were my neighbor! My neighbors are boring!

 

FYI.

Stock engine mounts also get soft with time and use which causes more movement and, in many cases, more vibration transmitted to body.

Great write up. Keep us updated on the brake pad combo. I do think the PCCBs have an advantage, just need to find the right pads.

 

Somewhat interesting is the Porsche's packaging/encasement of the urethane factory mount. Obviously the original design protects the rubber in the mount from elements/chemicals/grime dirt.

What does Porsche Motorsport substitute the OEM units with?

As usual a great informative post.

 

Thanks!

Cool. Another engine mounted by WEVO

This will be a quick and easy DIY - not expensive is the best part

lol, I think my neighbor think otherwise esp. when I fire up the beast 4 in the morning to go to Laguna Seca

Yes, you are right. I can easily move the stock engine mount bolt with one finger and I can't even move the WEVO mount with my whole hand. I am giving up on PCCB for a while. Tired of wasting money on pads. Will try P50 pads next year

OEM street engine mount are actually hydraulic that is why it's enclosed. Cup cars use solid granite as engine mounts

 

i am curious as to what the oem 997 gt3 rs mounts look like, are they hydraulic?, are they firmer then 997 gt3.

 

??

The one I shown above is from my 997 GT3 RS. I am almost 100.9% sure there is no difference between GT3 and RS as far as engine mount goes. They are hydraulic

Here is what my OEM engine mount look like

 

my mistake, i should have paid attention with the lime colour car u have, its a gt3 rs. i have a 997 tt and i am leaning towards the wevo instead of the rs mounts, it seems like wevo is designed to fit. havent decided yet, not sure how much more vibration/niose from rs mounts verses wevo...

 

WOW....just in time......MY Wevo's showed up today for my 997 S.
Sounds like you are happy with them!

Thanks for the write-up on the install.....


Stacy

 

let us know how the install goes and noise/vibration level increase. i am waiting for some more opinions

 

I will BUT I will be a bit YET...I am re-installing my supercharger for the second time,LONG STORY....do not ask,LOL!

BUT yes I will post my results!

Stacy

 

wow super charger for the second time. lol , the first one wasnt big enough ? lol . ok cant wait for the results

ronnie