dj55b

iTrader: (2)

Well I bought the stage 2 clutch from them about 2 years ago, but never had a chance to put it in till this year. The clutch is supposebly made out of carbon Kevlar which is good, and at a price tag of 130$ with the pressure plate, and new bearings thats really good. I've autoX the car, did lapping, time attack, and lastly hit the drag strip and I must say i'm quite impressed of how well it grips especially drag racing. I did 3 runs back to back and not a hint of slip. How long will it last ... who knows ... but even if I get only 5 years or so out of it, I'd still be a happy camper. Just thought I'd share.

Kerebrus

iTrader: (30)

We'll see how long it lasts. Especially the pressure plate. The clutch is alright. Bearing is china grade.

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

Search this clutch has gotten many of us including me. If you're na and not making a lot of power it should last you at least 2 years, but my Turbo FB was making in the neighborhood fo 250whp and it was slipping after 6 months of use. I couldn't floor it on the freeway in 5th or it would slip bad.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

my friend had an XTD ebay clutch in his DSM, he had good luck with it - alot of others have had problems though.

It got launched/beaten pretty hard all the time, and no issues.

not saying you won't have problems though!

paganizondadude

iTrader: (1)

Supposedly my Turbo II i bought had an XTD stage 3 and he said it never slipped and that is was rediculously stiff. He said it would spin the tires at every stoplight.

2RotorsNaDream

iTrader: (7)

I used to have the stage 3 clutch on my swapped 210whp all motor MX-3 and it was slipping within 8 months with no tracking or dragging of the car at all. I wasnt satisfied at all, if I were you I'd save just alittle more for an ACT or something.

perfect_circle

mine still holds up great to the day with out a hint of slip. i think its just getting broke in. as i used to have to leave from almost 2k. now i can take off from around 1200

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Thanks to others' advice to stay away from XTD, I went with a Racing Beat street strip pressure plate and HD disc and it's a great setup. Enough grip for a superchargerd 13B. The 215mm pressure plate with its short fingers is a little stiffer than I'd like, but so is the manual steering. lol whatever. Glad I didn't get XTD. Thanks hyper4mance2k!

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Well I'm going to grab an XTD for Keiko because it's a cheap way to get a usable clutch in a stock 12a, and the RB Street/Strip setup in Naomi because I always go a step better for that car.

I decided that in the spring I'm going to go with the XTD clutch disc and plate and do one thing I should have done right the first time - replace the pilot bearing. I didn't do that when I rebuilt the engine and now I'm having second thoughts about it so I figure I'll do the clutch and whatnot in the spring and the pilot bearing along with it.

Jon

mustanghammer

iTrader: (3)

Why I won't ever buy a cheap - no name, off brand clutch.......

Below is a link to a thread from www.ImprovedTouring.com concerning an ACT clutch failure that occured on a 1st Gen RX7 racecar. The failure occured at 7500PRM behind an IT spec engine. Which means a non-ported, unport-matched 12A with a stock carb and a racing header. Scroll down to the bottom of the first page to see the pictures. VERY scary stuff.

http://www.improvedtouring.com/forum...ad.php?t=24347

An ACT clutch is not a cheap item and no one is certain why the failure occured. But if a name brand clutch can fail it seems to me that a no-name clutch made God knows where could too and may be more likely to do so as well. You guys are concerned about a clutch that eventually slips? That is a minor inconvenience when compared to one that grenades. Why chance it?

Buy from names you know like Racing Beat, Mazdatrix, Center Force, Exeddy, ACT, etc.

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

All clutches can catostrophicaly fail, the lower the quality the more likely it is to kill you. In my experience my clutch was slipping so bad i couldn't drive it on the freeway after only 6 months of use. Go ahead and blow your money on that cheap chinese crap, but I don't want to hear it when you post in ayear how pissed you are that you have to replace your clutch again... I'm not talking about a little slipping here. The clutch would not hold enough power to let me pass on the freeway. It would rev like it was in neutral once boost started to build.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

well I didn't hate changing the clutch but it was fun while it lasted ... its done for it right now, it was starting to do like what you mentioned as in slipping on the freeway and what not. Took it out and had some chunks missing out of it, and the pressure has the worst heat marks I've ever seen.

But I did abuse it pretty good, I got over 100 laps on it, 2 drag events, and 1 autocross. Plus all the daily driving for about a year.

Would I get it again? Probably not. Had I of used the forum's search when back in the hay day when I first bought it, I probably would of went another way, but what can you do. I had it on hand, and needed one it was worth the effort for the price.

Right now I've replaced it with a Stage 3 6 puck Ceramic bully clutch and what a grippy feeling! never stalled the car so many times in first gear lol. Here's the site to them:

http://www.bullyclutch.com/stage3.html

Cost about 500$US talking to a few people that have used them, they rank them above ACT, and Exedy

Kerebrus

iTrader: (30)

That or Clutch Masters, but honestly.. Don't go Racing Beat. I bought a "street strip HD clutch" and pressure plate from them that lasted 3 months and was GONE. I also know if someone whose gone through THREE clutches in the past 11 months with them. Someone who is a vendor source through them mentioned that they are going through a different source for their clutch parts now and they are JUNK! Sad stuff.

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

The only good thing about the RB clutches is they use the Exedy pressure plates. Great PP IMHO. But I they get thier discs from clutchnet. i've never heard of them. from now on RB PP and ACT disc. Now that I have the Exedy part number I never need to order from RB again.

edit: I win!! Less than a year and it's gone. I rarely get these, but "I told you so" all in good fun my friend.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

lol ... ya ... but like I said I already had it and it went to good use ... and then some

blackdeath647

iTrader: (2)

on my stock 12a i just went to the auto parts and got the off brand oem clutch replacement came with everything, and for DD with ocassional fun runs it works great, 3 years and no sign of slipping and it was about 150 dollars as far as i can remember.

PercentSevenC

I'm using a Centerforce Dual-Friction clutch setup right now. Seems okay so far. I will echo the sentiment that Racing Beat's "street-strip" clutch discs don't seem to last very long, at least not if you're putting any sort of power through them.

Jaime Enriquez

RB clutch discs are made at Action Clutch in East Los Angeles, using RB supplied Ferordo (sp.) lining.

Action makes some of them best and longest lasting clutches I have ever used. I have one of their old model Stage 3-style with segmented lining made from their "fibertuff" material. Over 3 years on the clutch daily driven, never a slip, even when abused.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

As Kerebrus said, RB has gone with a new clutch maker. I picked up one of their new 225mm HD discs last year and the build looks a bit different from the CLutchnet units. The lining has a Raybestos stamp on it, and the springs are fully covered. Thickness is about 7.9mm with no springy marcels (so it's the same when fully compressed by the p-plate).

I'm about to throw this new HD disc on the 20B with one of RB's Street Strip pressure plates and a light steel flywheel. Let's see how long it holds up. At least the pedal feel should be improved over the previous system (mentioned in my post above).

Speaking of holding up, I installed a similar setup on the RX-4 a couple of years ago and just had to change the clutch a week ago. The HD disc had worn down to 6.66mm. Ooh scary! I replaced them with an off brand (made in Korea) 225mm OEM style disc and a Daikin pressure plate. The pedal feel is perfect for the character of the 4.

I put a similar setup in the Cosmo and it too feels perfect for the car at not too heavy or grabby, and not too light or weak feeling. Engagement is silky smooth. I even towed a friend's VW crewcab (a VW bus with a truck bed) a short distance and the clutch, while still breaking in, never complained. It's one of those rubber spring discs common about 5 to 8 years ago. Not sure of the brand but it's not made in Korea, lol. I have another one of these hardly used at about 8.6mm thick. I think I'll use it in the REPU.

Percent's setup had a 215mm RB HD disc and a STOCK pressure late on a super light steel flywheel at 8 pounds (these came in 215mm only and aren't made anymore). It held up fine for about a year and then boost made it slip. I don't blame it; the p-plate was one of the lightest most pathetic pieces of crap I've ever driven, and yet the pedal feel was unusually nice and not grabby, even for an HD disc. Must have been all the slippage of the stupid pressure plate. If we had gone with my 215mm SS p-plate, it would have lasted a lot longer as the disc was only worn down to 7.1 or 7.3mm when it came out, I can't remember.

Normal disc thickness should be around 8mm when new. If you have difficulty getting an 8mm wrench to fit on the friction surfaces, it's thick enough. If it's loose, it's your call.

In the '81 S model with lots of nice upgrades and an SC 13B, I went with a half used-up HD disc at only 7.4 or 7.5mm thickness and the SS 215mm p-plate, as mentioned above, on a 9 pound unknown brand aluminum flywheel. It never slipped but the pedal effort was so high it was like doing a one-legged squat thrust every time I had to push in the clutch - too high for me for daily driving so it came out. I plunked this engine with the aluminum flywheel and 5" SC in the GLC (Shh, don't tell nobody until it's done) with one of those off brand made in Korea OEM style discs in 215mm (good used about 8.4mm thick and you could still see the machining marks on the friction surface and a litte bit of the brand stamp) and a centerforce I or II pressure plate. This same p-plate was tested in the red '84 GSL and the pedal effort was rather light but in the GLC, with its shorter clutch pedal length and travel, and therefore less mechanical advantage, feels a lot stiffer, but not nearly as lame as the '81 S.

I'd rate the GLC at about a 5 on a scale where 1 you can't hardly feel to 10 hurts the ball of your foot. Percent's Centerforce dual friction is more like a 6. The RX-4 is about a 4 and the Cosmo is slightly lighter at around a 3.5.

I'm curious how an XTD actually feels to drive, but I'd never buy one.

Sorry for the long-winded post. I'm sure you enjoyed reading it.

Kerebrus

iTrader: (30)

Always a nice read Jeff, but yea I'm not too happy with their new clutch maker at all. I've got a new clutch from Clutch Masters in my car right now and I've never felt such an amazing clutch before, really holding up well.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

I guess we'll see how long this new version RB clutch lasts.

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

well what the ****? why then did the clutch i just got from RB on monday come in a clutch net box and bag, with a clutch net sticker on it then if they're using action clutch???

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Your new one is from clutchnet? Well then where did mine come from? Raybestos lining. Springs fully covers by steel instead of the little windows the clutchnet discs have, slightly different steel plate where the linings are rivited, compared to clutchnet. Similar looking 'glue' sandwiched between the linings as clutchnet, although one of my old used clutchnet discs doesn't seem to have any glue, and did have a tendency to shudder. Even now you can squeeze the linings with your thumb and forefinder a little, where as the other with the glue is still rock-solid and never shuddered, even after wearing to almost nothing. One of the clutchnets sitting here is an early model with 'patent pending' printed next to the clutchnet logo. The other in newer and has a US patent number.

So many variations. Too many! The only thing I can do is try the new Raybestos disc and see how it holds up.

beavis

Sorry to dig up an old thread and this may relate to a car that isn't a RX7, but I figured you would appreciate the story anyway.
So the Mazda MX-5 is known to be a particularly powerful car in the world.
Despite that, we have discovered a clutch manufacturer out there than can sell a product marketed as "Stage 1 Racing clutch" incapable of handling MX-5 power levels.
The car in question is a standard 2001 Mazda MX-5.

The clutch failed at just 160kms/100miles. All the friction material disintegrated, peeling away from the clutch plate and leaving little more than a powder inside the gearbox.
We contacted the supplier but they have refused to respond, and sadly the clutch is from the USA (we're in Australia) so I can't go down the street and say hi.
So at the moment we are out of pocket for a failed clutch, for a new clutch, for machining the flywheel, and the effort to replace the clutch.

This was the clutch we bought:
XTD Stage 1 Clutch P Lite Flywheel KIT 1990 1993 Miata MX 5 1 6L | eBay
Distributors For Clutches | Clutch Kit Suppliers | Buy Online Clutches - XTD Clutch

And this is it, 100kms later:




Heed my warning, avoid.

Jager

iTrader: (10)

I've dealt with XTD before on a few cars, not on RX7s however.

One car we worked on had 3-4 clutch replacements within a year. I don't bother with stuff like that.