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Unsprung vs. sprung clutch for road?

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Old Feb 5, 2013 | 08:51 AM
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Unsprung vs. sprung clutch for road?

I have never had an unsprung clutch so I'm hoping to know the pros and cons before making that choice.
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Old Feb 5, 2013 | 12:03 PM
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From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
i like sprung, there is less shock on the transmission.
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Old Feb 5, 2013 | 07:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Adam12A
I have never had an unsprung clutch so I'm hoping to know the pros and cons before making that choice.
I've had both - personally I can't tell much difference.

Stick with the sprung clutch - as already mentioned it is a little easier on the driveline.
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Old Feb 5, 2013 | 08:06 PM
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Unsprung is not as street friendly.
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Old Feb 5, 2013 | 09:16 PM
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Unsprung metal puck equals a on off switch that engages quite harshly.
The center sprung ones (radially sprung VS spring between the friction surfaces) decrease the shock to the gears, and joints in the driveshaft.

What do you gain having unsprung? Long road... parts that wont wear out. But then again you will increase wear in others.. like u-joints.

Personally I only run the unsprung ones.. copper puck only. I got tired of the street cars having a clutch disintegrate on a rare track day/autocross on downshifts.
And yes.. you will need flywheels surfaced, or replaced after a clutch disk or two wear down.
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Old Feb 5, 2013 | 09:35 PM
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Ive been through a few clutches. 4 puck sprung was an on/off switch. 5 puck unsprung was probly a bit worse. Running a 6 puck sprung now, its prettty nice.
In my opinion the number of pucks makes more of a difference.
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Old Feb 6, 2013 | 11:43 AM
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There's quite a few pros and cons here. Thanks for the help I'm gonna mull it over
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Old Feb 6, 2013 | 12:07 PM
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From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
you also should have an honest look at the combo you're running. if you have a big engine with a "weak" trans like a PP/NA trans combo, you probably want the extra cushion of the sprung clutch.

if you've got something like a turbo trans and stock 6 port, then you could go unsprung without problems.

and then you need to look at the driver. it took our drivers years to learn how to not destroy transmissions, with the Rx7 the 3rd gear synchro works hard. a good driver can get it to last a season or two, a bad driver will kill it in a couple of races.

so with the Rx7's our drivers got a stock clutch, and i was looking at a longer shifter, they were really hard on transmissions.
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Old Feb 6, 2013 | 12:13 PM
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Os giken.str and ts2b unsprung was great with zero issues over the years and was very comfortable
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Old Feb 6, 2013 | 12:19 PM
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Originally Posted by j9fd3s
you also should have an honest look at the combo you're running. if you have a big engine with a "weak" trans like a PP/NA trans combo, you probably want the extra cushion of the sprung clutch.

if you've got something like a turbo trans and stock 6 port, then you could go unsprung without problems.

and then you need to look at the driver. it took our drivers years to learn how to not destroy transmissions, with the Rx7 the 3rd gear synchro works hard. a good driver can get it to last a season or two, a bad driver will kill it in a couple of races.

so with the Rx7's our drivers got a stock clutch, and i was looking at a longer shifter, they were really hard on transmissions.
Were these drivers downshifting at high rpms? My tendency is to brake first shift at an appropriate rpm for the gear. I'm a low budget racer so dependability and longevity are certainly points of consideration .
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Old Feb 6, 2013 | 01:50 PM
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From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Originally Posted by Adam12A
Were these drivers downshifting at high rpms? My tendency is to brake first shift at an appropriate rpm for the gear. I'm a low budget racer so dependability and longevity are certainly points of consideration .
probably! these guys determined that the engine overheated by spitting on the crank pulley, the pegged temp gauge was ignored.

we joke that putting on the drivers helmet takes off 50 IQ points, and this does put some people negative.....
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