Need a Strong Clutch!

[Turbo260Z]

Starting off saying I have looked up and down for a good clutch, and I have found several discussions on good clutches for setups around 250-300ft/lbs tq. I am hopefully going to be pushing for a max of 400whp and over 400ft/lbs tq on my l28ET build and I cannot find a clutch that specifacally states it's specs.

 

Can someone please point me in the correct direction for a strong enough clutch for my set up. Preferably someone who has had experience with a specific clutch at that power level? I will be using a 240mm flywheel.

 

Also what are your views on a lightened flywheel? What weight is best in your opinion?

[jeffer949]

ACT sprung 6 puck with the heavy duty pressure plate. It's held up to hard launches and has held up well.

[johnc]

Quartermaster 7.25" double disk of 5.5" triple disk.

[duragg]

My ACT HD served me well. But on less hp.

Light FW never hurts.

 

I have a twin-disk now, doubt I would recommend that for a street car. Who really wants to spend $2K+ for the clutch and flywheel for a street car. There are places that will re-spring the pressure plate too. I have an AZZcar PP with a broken spring I should probably send off.

[johnc]

A carbon/carbon multi disk especially in 7.25" is pretty mellow for street use.  Less pedal pressure then the beefed up single disk clutches.  OS Giken has some really nice clutch/flywheel combos for the LGata engines.

 

I swapped out the nightmare ACT 6 puck on this car for the OS Giken twin disk unit and the car was much more driveable:

http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/sr20det-240z/

[Turbo260Z]

What did you not like about the ACT 6 puck? That's what gained my interest

[TimZ]

Starting off saying I have looked up and down for a good clutch, and I have found several discussions on good clutches for setups around 250-300ft/lbs tq. I am hopefully going to be pushing for a max of 400whp and over 400ft/lbs tq on my l28ET build and I cannot find a clutch that specifacally states it's specs.

 

Can someone please point me in the correct direction for a strong enough clutch for my set up. Preferably someone who has had experience with a specific clutch at that power level? I will be using a 240mm flywheel.

 

Also what are your views on a lightened flywheel? What weight is best in your opinion?

I'm using a 240mm SPEC Stage 5 clutch with the rebuildable aluminum pressure plate option.  It's holding well over 600lb-ft at the flywheel, and is shockingly driveable - pedal effort is reasonable and it doesn't chatter on a normal launch in traffic, in spite of having an unsprung hub.  It has a full-face sintered iron disc.

 

The only downside has been longevity - I was using this with an 8lb fidanza flywheel and was getting roughly a summer of good use out of it before it needed replacement.  Since switching to a 10lb Fidanza it appears to be faring better - I suspect that the slightly heavier flywheel is requiring less slippage in traffic and is helping in that regard.  This is mitigated a bit by the pressure plate being rebuildable at a reasonable price, but I still have to pull the trans more often than I'd like.

 

For your power level they have several options that will likely have more "normal" longevity and a sprung hub if you prefer.

Edited April 19, 2016 by TimZ

[johnc]

The customer hated the ACT clutch. Car was driven very hard and drifted (customer is in the UAE). He had issues with the hydraulics and the shift fork when the clutch got hot. The clutch chattered real bad.

 

He sent me the trans, flywheel, clutch, and PP. I setup the OSG unit with an annular release.

[TimO]

I'm running the same SPEC Stage 5 clutch and flywheel as TimZ. I've had great luck with it. Similar to TimZ's experience I've had no chatter issues.  In fact my SPEC Stage 3+ with a six puck sprung hub would tend to chatter but only a little or not at all depending on rpm's.  The Stage 5 is not only capable of holding much more torque than the Stage 3, it is actually docile in traffic.  I believe the only difference in my set up compared to TimZ's is my aluminum pressure plate option is double clamped, meaning higher spring pressure. Even with the  double clamp set up the clutch works great. 

[Sideways]

Im one of them weirdoz running an XTD stage 3 6-puck clutch.

Last time i had my car on the dyno it was making 360 pounds of torque, so not  quite the 400- But ive been Driving on this clutch for *years* off an on (At points using my Z as my daily for extended period of time, longest stint was just shy of 2 years of daily use).

Some people are scared because of the price (Seriously- Theyre 100 bucks brand new off of ebay. The guy selling them was local to me in LA at the time and was more than happy to let me go pick it up in person), and maybe i got lucky- But ive been relatively happy with this clutch. Pedal is actually pretty darn light, it CAN chatter a bit getting into first- But with half-considerate clutch modulation (and the release is VERY linear on my clutch, quite easy to do), im more than able to get into gear butter-smooth 95 times out of 100, rain or shine, flat or hill.  Ive never had a *single* issue with this clutch.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Sideways

[ihiryu]

I'm not very familiar with the L-series, so my input may or may not apply.

 

In my younger years with a KA-T setup, I moved to a hardbody flywheel with a 280z clutch.  It moved me from 225mm to a 240mm disc.  This is known as the "whitebunny special".

 

Well at that time, many folks were using RB20 flywheels, with the 280z clutch for the weight difference of the flywheel really.  So I ended up trying to use my hardbody setup with a Z33 clutch.  I had to drill a few holes, and resurface the ENTIRE face of the hardbody flywheel. 

 

With that being said, when I went RB20 in my Z, I used the stock flywheel, mated to a 350z clutch.  I even used an OEM replacement Exedy.  While the RB20 is the torqueless wonder of the Nissan world, it's served me well, up to the 300 hp mark.  At that point I had more issues with breaking the U-Joints in the Axles before I had issues with the clutch.

 

So I would recommend a clutch for a 350z, I would use an ACT HDSS.  It's a full faced clutch, and can handle a good bit of torque.  

 

So basically, we know the input shaft of the L-Series are the same as the KA, and the VQ (since I've used all three clutches on the same KA transmission).  Obviously flywheels are different, but it won't because you are using a L Flywheel.  

 

(Shameless plug).  I can get you a great deal on an ACT clutch, or an Exedy clutch if you'd like.  

[ihiryu]

Also, ACT says the clutch disc is 250mm, so another 10mm of disc, might make the difference.  The HDSS is good for 455 FTLBs  So I would check to see if there's enough face on the flywheel to support the 250mm disc.

 

Again, on the Hardbody truck/RB20 flywheels I have to take my flywheel to the machine shop, where they remove all the dowels and they resurface the WHOLE flywheel before I can use the disc.  I know for a fact on the RB20 flywheel I did not have to drill/tap holes for additional bolts, but the Hardbody Truck setup I did.  

 

So I would imagine you will have to do the same on the L setup.