[dradernh]

Originally Posted by WolfGTI

How are the differential bushings? I feel that the rear end moves around under heavy power and I notice it more with the diff. I think differential bushings should feel much more planted, however my car primarily a street car so how is the NVH with the solid bushings?

Some perspective regarding the increased NVH...my wife said upon her first extended ride in the car after I had the work done "I can't believe these sounds don't bother you. You are ALWAYS so picky about little noises!" Of course, I'm like "Honey...car guy, you know?" And truthfully, I haven't tried to figure out what goes 'clunk' (a very minor 'clunk', mind you, and one that comes up only when poor pavement is encountered), what occasionally goes 'click-click-click', etc. I just don't care, where someone else might care or would care for sure.

My overall opinion is that the increased NVH is very minor compared to the improvement in the car's handling performance. And I'm 70, not 25, so I'm way past being willing to put up with my cars' having anything that's excessive in nature.

Regarding the bushings, which got installed at the same time as the diff and the rear double-adjustables (which are an item in Koni's motorsports line), all I can say is that the rear-end is certainly hooked-up when I go to gas coming out of a corner. The car is definitely well-planted in those circumstances.

I've had a lot of built diffs, and I know what the diff did for the car. I've had two-way and three-way motorsport shocks, and I feel like I have a handle on what the shocks did for the rear end. That leaves the bushings, which I think tied the whole package together. I mean, they're central to what's going on back there, right, whatever else an owner may or may not have installed. Without the bushings, the car's rear-end would definitely behave differently in the corners.

It's too bad you don't live closer, as you'd be welcome to drive the car to see what you think. As it is, I can't really say exactly how much the bushings changed the rear-end's NVH. My take is that it's not enough for me to notice.

I'd recommend making the change, but it's not trivial labor-wise (yours or a shop's), and if you didn't like the result you might end up choosing to put the originals back again. Sorry I can't be more definitive.