Hello to the collective braintrust here. I've been quietly lurking, unengaged, for quite a while now. Visiting from time to time sorting through the minutia as well as wallowing in WOWNESS at some of the truly impressive work performed by many of you. Anyhow, here goes:

My 2010 manual FIT has performed as expected with rock solid reliability providing merely adequate over-the-road performance but more than sufficient for its intended (daily commuter) purpose. Being in my early 60's my halcyon days are behind me albeit still resonate from within on an involuntary, random basis. Now, I DO own a few motorcycles and performance oriented automobiles which aid in suitably quenching the urge when it does arise.

I digress as here are the reasons for my inquiry.

1.) Accelerating/Decelerating - the resultant loading/unloading of the drivetrain results in an elasticity, or considerable to/fro action which is understandable based on platform design parameters, i.e. quiet, unobtrusive, simple to manufacture and maintain. I vividly recall my early 1972 Fiat 124 Coupe' as well as my '73 Alfa GTV exhibiting a similar dynamic, however - those were readily addressed by swapping the large GUIBO joint for an competition unit.

I have seen the Innovative motor mounts. Requesting collective empirical results by those who have these. Are these suitable in this case and if so, is there a considerable degradation of overall comfort and NVH?

2.) Simple one here. Understanding the limitations of manufacturing. Do the SPOON (or other) chassis solid mount/realignment bushes result in an noticeable improvement - perhaps in concert with the above?

Thank you so very much in advance for your experienced replies.

-doc

 

With such a classy inquiry I find myself wishing I'd done more modifications to allow for a better response.

I can't speak to any modification addressing your issue directly but I can still share some thoughts.
#1: I think the Innovative engine mounts would yield some improvement, but from the few individuals who have installed them (and an article I found and lost some time ago) I'm recalling there being a notable increase in vibration.
#2: chassis stabilizing bars should yield improvements in body motion without the con of increased vibration, but I don't think that they'll aid you in reducing the inertia from stopping or accelerating. I suspect it to give the vehicle a more held together feel while it's rocking you forward and back.
#3: I think the component that would yield the most benefit in addressing the issue would be stiffer suspension, but it may come at a cost of reduced vehicle height based on how stiff you want it to be.

I believe the option from Bilstein to be purposed for improving road manners, and if memory serves it doesn't require that ride height be lowered, although you do have the option of reducing by an inch. There may be other options as well, the bilstein name is just really stuck in my memory. You may also be able to use a shorter, stiffer spring with some kind of spacer. I'm unaware as to whether there's negative potential in doing so, or even if such a product is readily available, but it seems like such a simple thing should exist.

I think there's a gentleman on here recently who made a thread intending to sell his fit (and his bilstein suspension,) asking if his sale advertisement seemed reasonable.
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Edit: I think I misunderstood. If we're actually talking about torsion of the axels I think the ideal resolution would be reduction of wheel assembly weight.
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