I picked up my MK8 ST Performance Edition the other day. The car is fantastic however I have one small concern. The engine feels so loose in the bay when you're driving it. You don't even have to drive it hard to notice it when you really look for it. The car hasn't even done 9,000 miles so I don't think the problem is the engine in itself. I've asked around and apparently the engine mounts in these cars are terrible. It's such an uncomfortable experience and a bit concerning. It's very noticeable when you're pulling away and changing into 2nd and then going into 3rd when you pick up speed, I feel like I have to be very easy on the clutch to make a smooth transition. Has anyone else had this experience in these cars, if so, what would you recommend that I do? The car still has a year and a half warranty left so I didn't really want to make my modifications to it. But if the engine mounts really are terrible then I want to do something about it cause I'm always thinking about it when I'm driving it as I'm worried about pushing the car because I don't want to put any strain on the components.

It's because it's a 3 pot, I found the same when I had mine and you have the same thing with the 1.0.

The mounts are softer to compensate from the extra vibrations, the engine also isn't as smooth due to fewer firing cylinders per crank rotation.

10 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

It's because it's a 3 pot, I found the same when I had mine and you have the same thing with the 1.0.

The mounts are softer to compensate from the extra vibrations, the engine also isn't as smooth due to fewer firing cylinders per crank rotation.

Hi mate, I had the 1L before this and I didn’t feel anything in that car compared to this one. The 1L didn’t feel so loose in the bay. 

Might be worth getting it looked at then.

The mounts in the 1.0 and 1.5 are softer than equivalent 4 cylinder engines. It's probably more noticeable in the ST though, due to the extra torque.

15 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Might be worth getting it looked at then.

The mounts in the 1.0 and 1.5 are softer than equivalent 4 cylinder engines. It's probably more noticeable in the ST though, due to the extra torque.

Yeah I think I’ll have a look, it is quite noticeable even when driving normally. You’re probably right the torque in the ST is what probably moves the engine a lot more compared to the 1L. Is there a reason why they make the engine mounts softer than the 4 cylinders?

12 minutes ago, hilljamie17 said:

Yeah I think I’ll have a look, it is quite noticeable even when driving normally. You’re probably right the torque in the ST is what probably moves the engine a lot more compared to the 1L. Is there a reason why they make the engine mounts softer than the 4 cylinders?

4 cylinder engines are balanced laterally although they do wobble slightly vertically.

3 cylinder engines are balanced vertically but have a slight rocking motion.

You also have better overlap/continuity of the combustion stroke on 4 cylinder engines, whereas there are gaps between the firing of a 3 cylinder. This gives the three pot the nice thrum, but that also translates to a more "juddery" power delivery which has to be smoothed out with heavy flywheels and softer engine mounts.

You can normally notice the difference in power delivery, from fewer combustion strokes per crank shaft rotation in the way the engine sounds/feels at low rpm

 

16 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

4 cylinder engines are balanced laterally although they do wobble slightly vertically.

3 cylinder engines are balanced vertically but have a slight rocking motion.

You also have better overlap/continuity of the combustion stroke on 4 cylinder engines, whereas there are gaps between the firing of a 3 cylinder. This gives the three pot the nice thrum, but that also translates to a more "juddery" power delivery which has to be smoothed out with heavy flywheels and softer engine mounts.

You can normally notice the difference in power delivery, from fewer combustion strokes per crank shaft rotation in the way the engine sounds/feels at low rpm

 

Oh right okay thankyou. So even though the engine mounts seem soft on the car, would it not be doing any damage on the engine? Because that’s what my main concern was about, I don’t want the engine to be damaged from it but if it’s normal then I’m guessing it wouldn’t damage the engine from being like that?

Unless you hear it banging against the firewall I wouldn't worry too much.

10 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Unless you hear it banging against the firewall I wouldn't worry too much.

Haven’t heard any sounds, it’s just a small feeling when you’re driving. But no sounds whatsoever