I was tempted to post in, and possibly hijack, the other clutch thread floating around atm, but decided against it. I did some searches and haven't found too much on comparisons of different clutches irt ability to handle increased power, while maintaining normal driveability.

Back in November I dropped for a pair of BNR's with all the bells & whistles associated with a power upgrade (Fuel, braking/suspension, ignition, tuning, flow, etc., etc.). Well, I was down at Re:Worx yesterday (Englands larger Rotary Specialist shop) having a couple issues addressed and smoothed out for the pre-instal operation (Also gained 40rwhp through a quick tune!!). The mechanic there noticed that I am still using my stock clutch and suggested that I may really want to upgrade that considering what I plan on doing.

Well, I am STILL waiting to get my BNR's so figured I have time to pose this question/discussion.

Since I plan on safely making 350-400 rwhp once I get my BNRs installed and running what would be the best clutch (I'm running kinda slim on funds, dropped well over 7k this winter on getting this upgrade covered completely) for those numbers? I will probably keep the stock flywheel, if anything upgrade to the 13lb one..

(When I say *best* I mean minimal slippage while retaining a smoothness needed for everyday driving, coupled with price.)

What would be the best combination for the 300-400 rwhp range? How about 350-450? or 450+??

Opinions and experiences would be greatly welcome.

Thanks guys!

Levi

 

this was just brought up in another thread. any exedy twin plate clutch should do you good. only problem is that it will run you 1500.00-2000.00, but i think they come with a built in flywheel. so that should save you about 300.00, haha??

and clutches are rated by torque, the horsepower doesnt matter

 

Yeah, I know. I didn't want to hijack the other thread because it wasn't asking quite the same question.

I'm not trying to spend thousands on a clutch, this is my Daily Driver, not a dedicated track car. Overkill is overkill... hehe.

I am aware that clutches work off how much torque they can handle. However Torque and Horsepower are relative to each other, and since we, on the forum, don't typically measure our vehicles based off of how much torque we are making it would be understandable to use the HP value for separating different classes of clutch based off of power output.

 

Act 6 puck or clutchmasters stage 4.

Clutches that can handle that level will usually have a stiffer pedal due to the beefy pressure plate. The "grabiness" has more to do with the puck vs non-puck and material used.

I've driven both of the above and they work great. No they dont feel stock, but 400hp isn't stock so... They are totally acceptable and I've daily driven them both for years. I prefer the clutchmasters, but is it on a different car so it isn't an equal comparison.

IMO: getting a lighter flywheel isn't a huge performance difference. Ive done it to two cars, and if I were tight for cash, I wouldn't hesitate to use the oem flywheel (resurfaced of course).

 

Im running a triple plate excedy , and it is stiff but still resonable when you consider everything. In reality for the power your going to make get a the twin plate excedy and that will last you a long time.

 

I run an act street/strip clutch with act prolight 9.5lb flywheel. It's a little stiffer than stock but works great.

 

I guess if it lasts 3x the amount of mileage then it would be worth the price. I'm just skeptical, especially since I've seen ACT 6-pucks and CM stage 4 last just fine on high torque applications.

The ACT is $500, the CM is $700 (that I found) I wouldn't get either of these for anything much above 420hp or so, but someone else may have used one *shrug*.

 

I am still running stock ports on my motor, so I honestly don't expect to see any numbers north of 400 (getting close if I am really lucky). I'm really not sure I could justify dropping 1.5k on a clutch when $500 will get me what I need and will use.

Does anybody have any experience with the Bonez Street-Comp clutch? (I'm looking around at the different vendors trying to see what is out there in conjunction with this thread. I want to avoid buying from rx7store if at all possible since my past experiences (6 of the $7k spent) have been less than pleasing)


This is honestly the first I have looked into clutches, so I'm kind of a newb to what all is out there. Thanks for all the feed back so far!

 

^I think the rx7.com clutches may be rebadged ACTs. Excellent customer service from them.


To the OP - The ACT Street/Strip clutch is a good one. Might want to search on it as there are a bunch of good threads about it.

 

so Bonez is ACT?

 

For anything 400whp or less I would go with the ACT street/strip (SS) combo. I run this clutch and it is VERY streetable. Feels just like stock with a slightly stiffer pedal. Perfect IMO. I was making around 350whp on the old setup.

We'll see how long it holds up with my new single setup which should be pushing just north of 400whp. I may be forced to step up to a sprung 6-puck disc, which will not be nearly as streetable. The ideal clutch would probably be a twin plate setup, but I don't feel like spending that much $$ on a clutch.

 

now I don't know if this is true with teh FD, but on an MR2 it is much better to replace the throw out bearing with an OEM one as opposed to what comes with the clutch kit. this solves a lot of strange noise issues.

 

I at first had a ACT sprung 6-puck with a lightweight flywheel but I enjoyed wearing flip flops too much to keep that up. Also, you're constantly going up a hill around were I live and I'd probably rather get my legs waxed than have to deal with a stop sign, on a 45* hill, with someone 2 inches from my bumper. I switched to the ACT street/strip combo and have really enjoyed it. No exact HP# but it handles a decently sized single turbo at 14psi pretty well.

 

Call them up, they will probably tell you. I think all of the Bonez stuff is rebadged other stuff as there is no Bonez factory. RX7.com is pretty good with selection quality stuff for putting their name on.

 

I have Exedy Hypersingle and I love it. It engages smooth, the pressure isnt much over stock and should hold the power you want with ease. It also comes with the lightweight flywheel aswell so it isnt gonna be much more then if you bought the ACT SS and flywheel. The few pucked clutches I have driven were horrible, twin disks is overkill and harsh.

 

thats if you wanta waste $65

 

Uh, that seems like chump change if the aftermaket TOB are prone to failure. Maybe they aren't on FD clutch kits, but it happens all the time on ACT and SPEC clutches I've seen on other cars.

 

just a question, anyone know a cheaper place to get an act street/strip?

 

ACT Extreme with the street(oem) disc will be more than you ever need for the BNRs and still be much more streetable than a puck disc.

 

about a month ago we had a discussion on the throwout berring provided in the kit. alota guys who do routine clutch installs said they were fine. it might, like you said, be different for other cars. but the fd's kit is fine

 

i would just do a google search. might be able to get it right from act actually. i would def go with the kit...it should prob run about $300-$400. rx7 part sites tend to jack up the prices of things

 

www.turboimport.com had the best price when I bought mine. Just call and make sure they have it in stock or you might be waiting for a bit.

 

I have similar setup to what you are proposing and the ACT S/S works very well.