Or you can live in San Francisco and drive on hills everyday. It isn't *that* big of a deal with my 8.5lb flywheel. On real steep hills I'll use the e-brake or ride the clutch a little bit.

 

i have streetlite act flywheel and there was a difference. i would imagine the prolite you would feel a big difference.

 

I can't wait to get my build done so I can input my personal opinion on the difference.

 

Can i ask you guys whats the performance of the car feel like when you install a 12lb flywheel,, does the car accelerate much quicker?
Im thinking of going 12lb flywheel and an ACT street strip clutch (dont want to go down the 4/6 puck route , i hate driving them clutches),, trying to maintain some pedal pressure without the need of steriod injections in my legs, lol

 

I respect your opinion and business, but honestly who made you local driving instructor/critic? The driveability would have way more to do with the pressure plate than the clutch type itself. There is no reason a stock pressure plate, sprung 6 puck with a lightweight flywheel wouldnt be completely streetable. Riding the clutch produces immediate and significant symptoms(ie; clutch fade and burnt clutch smell).

 

Ha, its funny if you guys are worried about riding the clutch a little bit. You dont actually think the clutch wont outlast the rebuild, do you? Haha, only joking...I hope.

 

I find myself also sometimes reving toomuch and it took me about a day to get used to.
If anything I find it alot easier to be smooth with the clutch. But shifts are much easier and getting into a corner is alot funner.

FWIW I got a ACT Prolite w/ OEM counterweight.

 

Negative. The FD is jerky when shifting at low rpms. That's how the car came. In fact, it's one of the reasons why one of the magazines (MT or C&D) marked it down in a back-to-back comparison of many cars because it was very jerky. It either sat there or wanted to go...not much in between hehe

I feel for you man. I've heard about Frisco's hills. Screw that lol. And yea I've used the e-brake trick a few times, esp. when I don't have any wiggle room (guy behind you is riding your bumper).

Thanks, but that has nothing to do w/ this convo. I'm not selling anything

I'm self-proclaimed...didn'tcha know? Relax bud. My opinion/$0.02/call-it-whatever-you-want is just that: MY perception. I don't claim to be the next Skip Barber, but that doesn't mind I'm running around blind either When you've been taught, studied, and practiced certain things, the skill becomes second-nature to you, and you quickly notice a deviation from it. A simple example...to date, I have yet to jump in the car with one of our fellow FD owners and notice seamless and quick rev matching - and that's assuming they rev match to begin with. It grabs my attention VERY quickly, probably b/c I don't know how to drive WITHOUT rev matching. I do it unconsciously.

Oh and not that I use it as a benchmark, but just to indulge you, I've ridden with and drove Steve Kan around (who's a very accomplished driver w/ a whole rack of awards & trophies mind you), and managed to illicit a few compliments from him Call it beginner's luck

I wouldn't wanna run around w/ a stock pressure plate in such a circumstance. If you're running a puck clutch, the automatic assumption is you're using it for quick & immediate engagement, such as in drag racing. In such circumstances, clamping force is *everything* so I'd really think you'd want a heavy duty pressure plate (which translates to greater clamping force).

Also, sprung clutches are traditionally easier to engage, which more than likely translates to less clutch riding.

That's if you REALLY ride it...slipping it a good bit usually doesn't produce the burnt smell.

But then again, I'm not a local driving instructor/critic, so feel free to dispose of my posts promptly

LOL oh man. That's just bad. I sure hope my motor outlives my clutch...

 

A-rod, the differences between the heavy stock flywheel and a lightened flywheel are night and day. Revs will jump up and fall down much more quickly, and rev-matching is much much easier. Acceleration in the lower gears is also improved. Not too long ago I made the switch in my fc vert, so it's fresh in my mind......going way back to around 2000, when I had a light fw installed in my FD, I remember thinking that the acceleration difference in first and second gear was more than the difference from my intake and catback combined......

 

go with exedy twin disk and you'll never thing twice.

 

^^Well, I just don't feel it. I almost feel like I could have spent my money on something else.

btw, I'm also using the HD PP... People really put 6 pucks on stock PPs?!

 

Hey Rich...just to clear the air, my comment doesn't include you, as I've only ridden along w/ ya once, and given the circumstances that immediately preceded it (not to mention which state we were in), it was prob. prudent to take it easy lol.

 

It's all good man. I have plans (mua hua hua) to start frequently road racing my FD within the near future, so as to develop some ramalux driving skillz

 

Why are you trying to pull away without slipping the clutch?

thats what its for, and thats what its designed to do. At a minimum you have to get the car moving at least at the speed the car will be doing in first gear at the revs your doing before completely disengaging the clutch, otherwise your just shock loading your drivetrain.

Why try and pull away without giving the car any throttle and without slipping the clutch? I Dont get it... I know what your saying about reducing wear but as previously stated, your clutch will probably outlast your rebuild, and the clutch is designed to slip! If it wasnt, it wouldnt be two discs and a friction material. Itd be...well, i dunno what itd be, but itd be designed differently :P

 

a little quote earlier from Ramy...with my comments...


- If the revs jump up a bit between shifts then your not taking your foot off the accelerator before pressing the clutch, its got nothing to do with riding the clutch
- If you feel almost a lurch forward between shifts, when shifting normally then your either keeping the gas floored, pressing the clutch then coming off the gas or giving it too much gas before foot off clutch in the next gear.
- You engage the clutch from a dig at like 2,000 rpm (I can essentially engage the clutch and get moving with very little increase in rpms, if at all from idle). This one is a great clue, as to (subconsciously) mask poor engagement skill, ppl tend to over-rev upon engagement. i dont know what a dig is, but i disagree with the rest of the statement. Over-reving does not mask poor engagement skill, it gives you a smooth pull away. Basically what your saying is that people who have poor clutch control will over ref, thus stopping them stalling the car or getting a jerky pull away. Yet you then go on to say that you dont give the car any revs and dont slip the clutch at all on pull away on purpose, which makes the pull away very jerky?

Im really confused. why would you do this? am i reading this wrong?

 

+1

Obviously you don't want to ride the clutch at 4k RPM every stoplight. But it is designed to slip a little, I wouldn't worry about clutch wear too much.

And why are you so scared of changing the clutch? lol it is easy

 

Ramalux driving skillz I like that Rich. Ramulux Motorsports lol.

I'm not. I agree with you. What I'm saying is, some ppl don't slip it really...they RIDE it (ie car is already in motion, but they continue to hold the clutch a bit longer).

I don't do that normally LOL. I mentioned that in the context of (which I stated btw) that that's how I LEARNED how to drive stick. It all comes down to clutch control and learning the clutch "sweet spot." If you can find the sweet spot, adjust the pedal as necessary so you're comfortable at that sweet spot, then you won't be under or over using the clutch during shifting/engaging. That's all. Not that hard

I'm NOT promoting not slipping the clutch. Not sure where you got that idea. I'm talking about straight RIDING it. For seconds at a time.

That's ONE scenario. The other scenario that will STILL produce a rev jump b/w shifts is if you're off the gas, drop the clutch, shift, get back on the gas, and don't let off the clutch soon enough. You essentially are RE-applying throttle while your fit is still on the clutch. You are indeed RIDING the clutch. You need to release the clutch much sooner. This is the MOST COMMON rookie mistake I see when ppl are new to driving stick.

Point is, it's wrong

From a stop

If you and I were in the same car (for example), and it took you to 3,500 rpm to be able to slip, RIDE, and engage the clutch correctly for a smooth pullaway, and I could do it at 1,200 rpm, then yes it INDEED is poor clutch control. That's what I'm talking about. Ppl over-rev to mask that poor clutch control. They ride. It's not slipping. Slipping is what you're doin at 1,200 to keep it smooth.

Apparently?

 

You should feel it the most, mid-high range of the powerband, in first gear. Less is 2nd and so on and so forth. My first gears mid-high end really picked up when I added the prolite flywheel.

 

A-Rod needs his tune before he gets anymore encouragement to beat on the car... With all that said. This thread has some strange "opinions".

 

Very true... God, it's so tempting sometimes

 

I had the SR 9.5lber in my FC... wow what a difference....

heh - I seem to remeber a sweltering hot day in July.......
A-Rod - Should I make a pass?
B - It's hot.... humid... I dunno
A-Rod - I want to so bad though...

then we both look to our left as some trailerqueen piston car goes lurching down the track belching fireballs....
Convo quickly went back to heatshields

Ever get on with that SS heat shield?

 

I experienced a significant difference in throttle response between stock and my ACT Prolite. I found my self hitting the rev limiter a couple times when I first drove the car after install. You are talking about removing approximately 9 pounds of weight from the rotational mass. Its amazing the difference it makes.

 

I'm going to bump this up for clarification...

When rebuilding my motor and buying tons of parts I was told on SEVERAL occasions that the race clutches were designed for just that. Racing. Dump-Engage. Not calmly pulling away from a stoplight so as not to grab a cops attention... and not riding the **** out of it to start on a hill. My understanding is that they will warp and wear significantly faster if not used appropriately.

I learned to drive the car like this. It's a little hard - simply because I have to smack it in gear... but hey, this is what lots of builders/tuners were saying.

SO... lets just use my car as an example:

ACT Extreme with 6 puck unsprung...

Will Sally driving shorten the life of the clutch?

FWIW it also has the 9lb RB flywheel.

 

One other random though-----6 puck clutches tend to chew up flywheels pretty quickly, vs stock organic discs. Lightweight flywheels aren't cheap either......

 

What is "pretty quickly"?