Just got the Stillen engine torque damper installed in my Z last week. Figured I'd post about my experiences thus far.

Installation:
The installation was a bit of a pain. When initially reading the instructions, it didn't seem too bad. It basically just looked like bolting the thing into place using existing holes in the engine and frame rail. However, the frame rail bracket supplied in the kit had the bolt holes slightly off center from the existing holes in the frame rail. This prevented us from being able to screw the bolts in. So, we had to grind out the holes in the bracket a little. After that the install went easily.

Performance
The damper works as advertised. There is a significant reduction in driveline lash. While revving the engine, the front (where the damper is installed) doesn't move at all, and the rear of the engine only moves a tiny bit. While driving, this results in vastly improved clutch response. I personally find it much easier to start out smoothly in first gear. This extreme amount of driveline lash in the Z has been one of my major gripes about the car, and this has almost taken care of it completely.

Aesthetics
As people have said previously, there is a small bit of additional vibration transferred into the cabin of the car after installing the damper. However, it was less than I anticipated. I don't find it to be intrusive or excessive at all, and there are no new rattles in the car due to this vibration. (And I'm very sensitive to that.) It's mostly just felt in the steering wheel, but even there it's pretty minor. I'd be willing to bet that most Z owners would not be able to sense the extra vibration if you were to secretly install one of these in their car without telling them.

Over all, I'm very pleased and would definitely recommend the product to others. The improvement in driving pleasure due to the reduction in driveline lash is worth the money spent. It's yet another of the issues I think should've been addressed in the stock car. (Along with the ridiculously heavy stock flywheel.) It's one of those things where you don't realize how bad it was in its stock forum until you've upgraded it.

 

Pics?

 

Nah, didn't take any during the install. I always seem to forget about that when installing stuff. There's really not much to it, though. Just a little baby shock absorber looking thing, one end bolted to the engine and the other bolted to the frame rail down below the power steering fluid reservoir. It's actually largely covered up by other stuff after all is said and done.

I'll see if I can get off my lazy butt and take some pics of the final result, though.

 

nice review. Thanks.

Did you review the JWT flywheel also ? I guess I'll search

 

I don't recall if I reviewed it in its own official thread. I certainly comment on it a ton. It's much like this torque damper: so much better than stock that it's something I think Nissan should've done from the factory.

 

does it do anything for wheel hop?

 

Don't know, haven't tried it since I installed it. I believe I saw someone else post a while back that it helped, but didn't totally eliminate it. I would guess suspension and tire choice would make the most difference in wheel hop. (?)

 

If you can, do you think you can post pics. I want to see where it will be installed. Also if you can show pics of where you had a problem. The damper seems like a good idea.

 

torque dampers rule!

 

Yeah, I'm so addicted to the improvement it made that I'm considering some stiffer engine mounts to go along with it. I just don't want to over-do it and cause huge vibrations in my car.

 

Do you have any pictures of the finished and installed product up close?

 

I still haven't gotten around to it. The problem is that I don't get out of work until well after the sun goes down, and this thing is shoved far enough down in the engine bay that I really need a sunny day to take a decent pic. (Or a huge light.)

But seriously everyone, this thing is all about function. You hardly even see it once it's installed since half of it is covered by the power steering fluid reservoir. If you're on the fence about getting one or not, do it!

 

For those wondering, here is a link to the product on Stillen's site:

http://www.stillen.com/Sportscars_de...d=55283&page=1

In that pic on Stillen's site, you can see the bracket on the left. That bracket is the one I had troubles with. (Had to grind out two of the bolt holes on that bracket a little so they would line up with the holes on the frame rail.) So, that bracket bolts to the fraim rail underneath the power steering fluid reservoir.

 

Spydr added it also. He modified the install a bit but here is a pic.

http://www.g350z.com/forum/files/picture_005.jpg

 

Yeah, that's a substantially modified install. The normal install bolts one end way down low to the frame rail underneat the power steering fluid reservoir and the other end to a bolt right next to one of the power steering pump bracket bolts on the front of the engine. Spydr's install, however, bolts to one of the strut tower bolts and then to another part of the engine higher up. His modified install would actually be much easier to do, but you'd want to make sure the bolts being used can handle the sideways force being placed on them and won't bend or break.

There's a lot of force being made by the engine while at full throttle. The neat thing about the Stillen install is that their supplied brackets (on both ends of the torque damper) help distribute the force amongst multiple bolts rather than just one on each side. Might not even be an issue, but it's worth considering.

 

Yeah he said that he had to move the damper because the aux fuel pump for the ATi SC was in the way.

he's done a couple of little mods so I'm sure he'll be ok.

 

When I dynoed my car, I was always impressed that the VQ motor doesnt budget at all. It seems very stiff right from the factory. For instance, are a 400whp blast in 5th gear, as soon as I left off, the engine seriosuly doesnt move an inch.

now maybe it would shift between gears, but when i compare this to other motors I have seen dynoes, the VQ looks rock solid. It almost looks like its not even running!

 

Really? Geez, mine rocked like a baby until I put the torque damper in. Now it barely moves at all. Did you have nothing done to stiffen up the engine mounts or anything? If your's doesn't move at all when stock, then perhaps I blew out my motor mounts thus causing the excessive softness. Weird.

 

Dyno runs don't load the drivetrain the same as on the road.

 

While I understand what you are saying, I still feel that a full throttle dyno run will torque the engine just as much as a full throttle road run. This would be an example of the extreme end of the torque being applied, and would show the most engine movement. On the road, of course, you couldn't see it happening.

But dynos aside, even when just revving the engine in the garage my engine used to move a lot, and compared to actually driving the car there's far less force being generated while just revving and thus far less engine movement should be expected while just revving. I can't even imagine what that thing was doing while actually driving the car, applying throttle and engine braking. Based on how much the shifter used to rock back and forth, it was a lot. And now it's virtually none.