Clutch Time!
 

hi

i'm planning on buying a clutch for my rx7 in the next couple weeks, im looking for a quality part at a good price. my build is fairly mild, i expect MAXIMUM to make 290-300lbft @ Flywheel (300-350hp). I have a T04b .60 hybrid that i plan on pushing to the max (18psi) and all supporting mods. i want something that is okay to live with. my truck has a very heavy clutch so having a heavy pedal wont upset me and i can deal with less the street engagement but id like to have a little more then an on/off switch. im thinking something full faced, i Like ACT street offerings but @ $400 its a little pricey. i'm also looking at spec's stage 2, i like the price, but i've heard some bad things about spec clutches. i'm also open other options.

thanks

If $400 is too pricey, then your budget for a good clutch may be too low. Don't get something that is not tried and true. You don't want to have to replace it anytime soon due to failure. I purchased a southbend clutch for my old Hyundai and the tob was thin and weak causing the pp to break. $400 down the drain. Spent another 600$ on a Valeo and has zero issues and a much better feel. I'm not saying you have to spend that much, but stick to what people have used and say works.

its tough being in college and trying to support this car. i've heard ACTs are quality units, but i was wondering if anyone had any luck with the spec clutches?

acts or exedy...

think $1 per HP

ACT ftw.

i've gotta friend who's put in several spec clutches and had great luck with them. now im digging around seeing if anyone has had a BAD time with a spec clutch.

"edit" after a quick search im finding mixed reviews about spec clutches. some saying that they are garbage and some loving them. alot of the comments are coming from ppl with stage 2+ or higher. stage one is rated to 330lbft according to their website, should be plenty for my application...

where can i find exedy's torque ratings for their clutches? i would assume their street/stage1/whatever would be competing in the same torque capacity range?

get this one!.
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-rx-7-1986-1992-parts-194/os-giken-twin-plate-clutch-1001159/
I sold one last year,and I am still "pissed off" I did.

On my first n/a I went with a centerforce dual friction and it was awesome, felt like original pedal feel but insane clamping force. I put about 90k miles on it and never had an issue, im not sure what they are rated for since I know your making almost twice the power of my n/a but i would look into them

Centerforce in my n.a as well. I love it. Plan to use the same company when i go turbo.

Forget SPEC, I have a Spec 2+ and its starting to slip (without really beating on the car), it has less than 7-8K miles.

Don't have any experience with dual disk clutches, but I figure that one with the unsprung discs must be an on/off type of clutch.

I used to have an OS Giken twin disc like that. Sold mine and really regret it... Slips very well. Not "on and offy" at all. Very smooth.

found some centerforce II's for a good price. but i cant find what the torque capacities are on them...

I'm running a spec stage 3 and I haven't had any problems. Granted I havent really thrashed it yet (stock turbo), but I plan to run a bnr stage 4 soon.

I'd be interesting in buying one depending on price and trying it out. I have a few drift events and road race events I will be attending in the new few months.

its actually a centerforce dual friction, not a II. higher torque capacities and stock pedal feel (so centerforce claims)

well, i ordered the centerforce dual friction kit. got it through amazon for 286.03 shipped. the kit doesn't come with the throw out or pilot bearing however :\ but i had an extra of each laying around.

I've always heard bad things about SPEC as well but I bought my '95 camaro and it alread had the stage 2 on it. I don't remember how many miles it had before but I've put about 40k miles on it with occasional drag runs and spinning 315 drag radials and it still grabs hard. Maybe SPEC is hit or miss? IDK

regardless of make, i came to the conclusion that the install and break-in period make a large difference in the clutches life span and effectiveness

I think you're going to be really happy with the CFDF clutch! :icon_tup: Although mine is on an N/A the pedal feels great. Feedback and feel is very responsive and the car is very smooth. I hate to put it like this, but the pedal action feels much more sophisticated, like a much more expensive vehicle.

Of course I am putting all 146 stock ponies to the pavement, so I cannot really tell how it holds high power!

ACT. I have a 20B in one car and a big-turbo 13B in the other. Centerforce clutches failed quickly in both (22 minutes in the 20B). ACT clutches have lasted for years.

I've had a centerforce dual friction clutch in my old n/a with a racing beat lightweight steel flywheel , maybe it was just me, but i found that the clutch burned easily if not engaged just right, maybe i just wasn't engaging it properly or my clutch wasnt adjusted properly.

Ive had other people tell me before i bought it, that it was a very good clutch, one guy claimed to chirp 3rd gear in his n/a with it, though i never could, maybe im just not as hard on my transmission when i shift to make it do it.

For the record, my car was an 88 s4 with streetport , removed 5/6 ports , intake, and full exhaust from the header back.

I really think it all depends on your driving style, and what you like and what you're looking for, more stock like, or more of a race clutch...both have their up and downsides.

Any clutch that is like stock will just be better than stock as far as torque etc, but if you want a clutch that's going to make a really big difference you'll want a 6 puck clutch or 4 puck etc, or some kind of high stage clutch, the downside to having one is that it will have harsher engagement and you'll have to get use to it, also im sure a harsher engaging clutch will have more chance of making you blow out your drivetrain (that's why they're made for racing not street driving, though you can still drive on the street with it)

It's a coin toss to say what's best for a better than stock clutch, any name brand clutch would be good, exedy, act, centerforce...i'd try to stay away from the brands no one on heres really messed with and has no say as to if they're good or not.

Personally I'd go for the act, or the exedy, i hear alot of good things about act many people won't use anything but an act, but they're a bit pricey, you could probably get a similar exedy clutch for less.

See what other people have to say before you make a decision.

#mytwocents

EXEDY CLUTCH KIT STAGE 2 THICK 84-91 MAZDA RX-7 TURBO | eBay

That's an example of a clutch with pucks on it

there are two diferent ones, 10952 and 10954 im not sure what the difference is , one might be for only s5

As far as torque, from what i see the stage one holds around 230 lbs, the stage 2 holds 330 , so from what I'm seeing you really don't want a close to stock clutch, it'll probably be slipping if you're pushing close to 250-300lbs of torque, plus in my opinion you want something that's possibly even stronger than what you need, that way you have room to push more power without having to upgrade again.

The act clutch i just looked up actually offers support for more power from what it seems, its a 6 puck rather than 3 puck.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ACT-CLUTCH-K...ht_4810wt_1038


Just look around ebay and see what you find, you can usually find specs on it in most of the ads.

You can find clutches with stock like discs as well, basically you just want to look at the clamp load increase and the amount of torque its able to hold, more clamp load = stiffer clutch pedal (more race like)

Don't quote me , but from what my brother told me , the clutches with pucks don't really even need a breakin' , whereas any other type of clutch will...that's another benefit you get out of the clutch with pucks , they're made out of the same material as brake pads, which is why they never slip, and really don't necessarily need a break-in.