clutches.. what brand and your experiences?

[FRpilot]

im thinkin about getting a clutch soon because mine is worn out.. i think it is slippin but i dont know the factors to determine a slipping clutch.. what does it mean to smoke your clutch?

anyways.. i only know of four major clutch companies.. ACT, Clutch Masters, Centerfoce, and SPEC.. are there any other good companies i left out?

im trying to get a street/strip clutch that holds about 320-380 lbs of torque.. what are you guys experience with certain brands and types of clutches..

and lastly does anyone know a good place to get a clutch? its hard searching for a clutch on ebay.

[Tubed4evr]

I have an ACT street/strip clutch and I absolutely love it. It is perfect for my application(low power). I think it is rated at 285 ft-lbs and the pedal feel is damn near stock. My brother has a SPEC stage II on his S14 and he really likes his also. They are pretty comparable. Ultimately he went with SPEC because ACT was on backorder and he really needed the part. I have beat the hell out of mine for over a year and it is as good as the day I got it. If you want holding power much over 300 ft-lbs your starting to get out of the range of a street clutch.



enjuku (http://www.enjukuracing.com/) sells SPEC and they have wonderful service.

[whateverjames]

i have the centerforce DF. no complaints here, but i would get the ACT next time around.

[FRpilot]

why would you go ACT next time around? is there something wrong with the centerforce?

im leaning toward ACT or Spec. I haven't really heard much about SPEC, but enjuku offers it and it seems very comparable to the ACT. Does ACT rule out over all to most of you guys and girls?

[Bolo]

I've been running the SPEC Stage 2 on my SR for a while now and haven't had any problems with it. It's a good clutch and holds very well. Oh and I got mine from Ken at Enjuku, very good service.

[West]

Originally posted by whateverjames
i have the centerforce DF. no complaints here, but i would get the ACT next time around.

Im just the opposite, Id get the Centerforce Dual Friction way before going with ACT. Its holds better IMO and has the same feel as stock would.

Clutchs I have had in random order: All were with a Fidanza Flywheel...

1. ACT Street Clutch - Good for my appication at the time. Held well and had no problems. Engaged like stock.

2. Clutchmasters Stage III - WORST Clutch EVER. Was dead is 1 month after proper break in.

3. Centerforce DF: Held well and engaged much like stock. No complaints. Liked it better then the ACT Street Clutch.

4. ACT 6 Puck - Wasent a big fan of it just because it was a unsprung puck disc. Id get anything other then this just to have a sprung disc. I think SPEC makes one now IIRC. But overall a good clutch, just not something I would buy (and I didnt) :)

Next time around I think I will go with a SPEC Clutch...

[HaLo]

I'm presently using a ACT Street Disk with my sr20det. It's almost a stock feel and it holds pretty well. I like it very much! :)

[Foxcolt]

My spec stage 2 is an exact copy of the clutch masters stage 3. I've compared em side by side.

Spec star clutches are good.

CF dual friction are crap I had one on my KA. Worked any everything just not well.

Go Spec Star, cheap and works well. They've been around for a while based in europe. Just recently moved to american market.

[240racer]

I have the ACT 6-puck. the pedal feel is stiffer then stock, but not bad. It was much worse on my integra (stupid cable clutch) I have no problems with it even with trying to launch with crappy tires, where I slip it as much as I can. I agree with West though, it does engage harsh. Only get this if you need a stiff clutch and don't mind killing it everyonce in a while when you try to start out easy.

[xhdriver]

i have the spec stage 1 on my SR, it is too weak for my tastes but works well enough, i would get anothe spec, but not the stage one, its pretty much a stock feel wich i dont like.

[TeamRush42]

any opnions about the blitz clutch...single/twin...Im shopping too...

[FRpilot]

i dont know much about how the the blitz single/dual plate clutches feel, but i think they come with a lightened flywheel. i assume all the other japanese clutches are like that also which is why the single plate starts around $650+

[AceInHole]

I've got a SPEC stage III on my car. The only complaint I have is that the pucks look a bit thin and I'm worried it might not last a long time. Then again, it could be some tough clutch material and end up lasting a lot longer than my stock clutch.

Anyways, for performance it engages smoothly enough that on my stock KA24DE it doesn't chatter, but I can get a small chirp in the 2 - 3 shift on a stock engine (although this is with snow tires). Hopefully I'll be able to appreciate it more when the turbo is on.

[240fluke]

You didn't mention if this was for the KA or SR (maybe you did and I just missed it), but if you want more holding power on the KA you do have a few options:
1) The ACT has the heavy duty and now the new Xtreme Pressure Plate. The Xtreme Pressure Plate can hold more power than the heavy duty and IIRC will get your right around the amount of holding power you are looking for (this would be a good option to maintain streetability).
2) SPEC stage III I believe was stilll an organic disk (I think it is the stage IV that gets into the Pucked discs, maybe not though). This one would be right in the same holding capacity area that you are looking for as well.
3) The Centeforce Dual Friction I have heard people either like or dislike it, so you can kind of take your pick with this one.
4) The Clutchmasters Clutches I don't know how they are, maybe be good, but it doesn't seem like a lot of people either have these or have these and POST about them.
5) You can get a pucked clutch as ALL the pucked clutches should have no problem holding the power you are looking for, but you are going to lose out on some of the streetability of your car.
6) ANOTHER option would be to still look into the clutches, but look for a 280zx Turbo clutch. This is because these clutches are 240mm, while the stock KA is only a 225mm. This means that you can access more holding power on the standard organic disk clutches, get well within your range and maintain the streetability of the clutch. These do require a little modification (as they do not have the centering pin that the KA has), but they will work and the ACT street clutch for the 280zx application is rated to 467ft/lbs. If you want to research this option more there was a huge thread about it on FreshAlloy.com (search under Interesting Clutch/Flywheel ... under the 240sx Advanced page).
Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

Tim '95 SE

[FRpilot]

yea.. im trying to replace my clutch for the ka.. that's an interesting thing you put up.. i heard that ka truck flywheels are 240mm oposed to the 240 and altima ka's at 225mm.. i thought you had to get a new flywheel to support 240mm but now im unsure.. i was just goin to get a findanza flywheel and a spec stage III but now that you mention that act has that new material.. it sounds interesting.. that's the amount of power i'd lik it to hold and still be streetable w/o going to an all out 4 or 6 puck race clutch..

thanks for you info..

[AceInHole]

Originally posted by 240fluke
2) SPEC stage III I believe was stilll an organic disk (I think it is the stage IV that gets into the Pucked discs, maybe not though). This one would be right in the same holding capacity area that you are looking for as well.
I've got a SPEC stage III and it's pucked and sprung. As mentioned previously, I think it's definitely streetable.


6) ANOTHER option would be to still look into the clutches, but look for a 280zx Turbo clutch. This is because these clutches are 240mm, while the stock KA is only a 225mm.
Every time I've heard of using a larger clutch, a larger flywheel was required. There was a big discussion on FA a while ago on adapting a larger flywheel to use on a 240sx, and one of the guys said he was using an industrial clutch (made for trucks) with it. Supposedly the whole setup (flywheel and ~400lb/ft holding clutch) cost around the same as an ACT performance clutch.

The 240z clutch had slightly more holding power than the stock clutch, while costing the same (or less from some stores). A friend of mine has one on his turbo KA, and at 4psi of boost he says it slips.

[240fluke]

Thanks Ace, yeah sorry I guess I failed to mention that when you change to the larger clutch you also need to change to the larger flywheel to accomodate the clutch.

Oh, guess I need to go back and look at the Specs on the SPEC Stage III again. How many miles have you put on that clutch now? How is it holding up? It seems like a lot of people have very mixed emotions about these clutches.

Tim '95 SE