The new year is here, and we’ve arrived in the year 2020. This is the first Throwback Thursday for the year, and we decided to focus on a great upgrade for your suspension. Each week, we take a look back through the Power Automedia vault and locate an article we feel is worthy of another look. This week, we are taking a trip back to March 2015, to check out, Polyurethane: How And Why It Provides Better Handling.

In the original article, we got into the discussion about what’s so great about polyurethane bushings. To answer that question, we went to an industry leader in the world of aftermarket bushings and mounts — Energy Suspension The company has been producing poly products for the automotive performance aftermarket since 1983.

As each piece is developed, the durometer of the material is tested to ensure the proper density for the application.

Since then, the company has been continuously working to improve and perfect the base material of its products and engineer new applications for cars and trucks that benefit automotive enthusiasts.

“A lot of companies make polyurethane products, but it’s the precise mixture of certain chemicals that produce the specific durometer ratings and performance of our polyurethane products,” said Michael Santa Cruz of Energy Suspension “We have worked for years to create patented proprietary formulas for a multitude of products, that are based on our engineering, design, and testing for each product.”

An Energy Suspension engine mount consists of two metal parts that are bonded together by the polyurethane.

Also in the original article, we go on to learn how the part the polyurethane bushing or mount is supporting will have less deflection than with rubber, and why that is a benefit. In the case of a suspension component — such as a shock absorber — while the rubber bushing compresses and allows the suspension jounce and rebound to be transferred to the vehicle (and the passengers), according to Energy Suspension, the poly-equipped shock absorber is more precisely and securely held in place.

This allows the shock to perform at its maximum efficiency and do the job it was intended to do. If take a look at a transmission mount,  we learn the mount will resist compression better than rubber, thereby diminishing deflection of the transmission during acceleration and deceleration.

Once a specific application is assigned development in the R&D department and the engineering team has made its initial assessments, CAD systems are used to design the parts.

It goes without saying, there’s a lot more in-depth insight in this informative article. That definitely makes it worthy of a second look. For that reason, we selected, Polyurethane: How And Why It Provides Better Handling as this week’s Throwback Thursday showcase article.