Ideas for a new clutch for my baby

[Loré Arens]

Seems like my baby may need a new clutch,
Would like to know what are some of the brands that you would recommend.

I have some minor upgrades to the engine: like a 16g turbo, intercooler.

So if I have to replace the clutch, pressure plate and flywheel, I would like to upgrade it to the next level.

My car has always been a little hard to shift, so anything else I get will be a blessing.

Thanks for the input.

[Jason Swan]

I run a street lite flywheel with act2100 plate and sprung 6 puck -all ACT stuff. Very drive able and reportedly good to 350-400.

There are others on the board who have run this rig as well   Yet others have severe antipathy to ACT.  All I can tell ya is my experience.  

I'm in Abby so if you want to give it a try just let me know.

[Robert Vorley]

+1 Jason,  the lighter flywheel is always nice.  If you aren't planning on maxing the 16g you could just use a street disk rather than the 6 puck, but the sprung 6 puck isn't that hardcore. 

I finally got a short shifter from RTM.  The cheap $40 one....and you get what you pay for but with some shimming it actually works.  Although the $80 one might not require shimming?  In addition, the shifter base bushings and shifter cable bearing upgrades are cheap and can improve the feel.

[Loré Arens]

Jason - thanks for the info.

Eventually I want to put my Eclipse on the track, but at the moment I am just enjoying my car.
Upgrading it a little at a time.

I want to have all the upgrades to work well together.
I just don't want to throw stuff together and hope and pray that it will work.

[John Hartman]

For a real street car that has to be driven alot in traffic and used as a car all the time, not just for fun, I suggest the CFDF.  Its held my engines power and held up fine on a few of Lowells builds in 11 second cars.  Until you actually make more power and torque than that, its a great street clutch.

I have driven it in downtown Vancouver many times, downtown Portland Oregon, downtown Seattle, rushour  Seattle traffic etc.  Its like driving a stock clutch for the most part.  Its a WEE bit stiffer but only a little bit.

Get an aluminum flywheel to go with it, for whatever reason they work well togeather.


And, on this topic, being that Lores car is fwd, I would suggest it wouldn't even need more than that for even more power unless you were going to run slicks and do lots of drag racing, because if the clutch can hold many awd launches it can hold fwd launches.  The tires just go up in smoke if you overdo the launch.

And not that there is anything wrong with the sprung 6puck combo(I will probably go with that when I over power the CFDF) but I have driven one and its definately not the same as driving a stocker or a stock like clutch.  Its not bad, but its not the same either.

[andrew volcz]

how about a stock replacement unit?

it doesnt sound like Lore plans to track it every weekend and for most 16g setups works fine (imo), not to mention shes FWD.

a stock clutch could have less life if you plan on frequently "tracking"

[Loré Arens]

Thanks Andrew, but I do not want stock.

I am looking to upgrade it,
and when the time comes it will be at the track all the time.

 

[kevin derhouson]

when you change your clutch invest in some urethane engine/tranny mounts, will help w/ wheel hop issues being FWD and they're the best bang for the buck upgrade that i've done.. cheap and easy.

[Jordan Kruger]

Go with an ACT2100 pressure plate,  and if I were you ide run a kevlar full faced sprung disk. thats perfect for your setup and power goals.  Its a definite step up from stock   and will still be very streetable.

Ide also recommend upgrading your fork and pivotball too.  The revised fork is way beefier!

[KevinBuckham]

I'm now running a TMZ full kevlar disc with their standard pressure plate and an X-ACT flywheel.  I've been very impressed so far and in terms of street manners it is on par with the CFDF but I haven't used it at the track yet.

[Loré Arens]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts,

Now all we have to do is take it apart to see what happened.........

[Brett Haviland]

I would get the Centerforce Duel Friction personally...  they hold up great and seem to last a long time.  I have ran them in a couple of my DSM's and they worked awesome. 

If your going to go ACT i would recomend the 2100 lb pressure plate with the street disk for a FWD turbo DSM.

I would stay away from the 6 puck disk if its going to see a lot of street/daily driving still.  From my personal experience you get a bit of chatter on engagment and also they dont seem to last as long with street driving all the time.  The disk is made out of a material that is harder then the flywheel/pressure plate and it wears out those surfaces pretty quick.  I found that a 6 puck clutch setup would last around 15 000 km's of hard street and some track driving before the flywheel wore down so much that it reduced the clamping force and the clutch would slip at high boost....

A clutch disk with a softer friction surface (like the CF DF, or ACT street disk) will last longer in a street driven car and you could expect more like OEM clutch life... 100 000 + km's.   The only downfall is when you start making big power or have a AWD (which you dont) the street disk will not grab as well as a 6 puck disk will.


CF DF or ACT 2100 w/ street disk.

[Dan Silburn]

I had a mild build in a 98 awd, evo 3 intercooler etc. I had the act 2100 with a street disk and stock flyhweel and it did very well for what I used it for. I was commuting with that setup and it was not hard to drive in traffic. My skyline now has a twin plate and I would rather swallow a dagger than drive it in heavy traffic.

[Loré Arens]

Just wanting to know if anyone here has purchased anything from DSM.com?
Are they any good, prices reasonable

What do you think about the ACT2600, instead of the 2100?

I am looking for a new flywheel as well, any of these advisable?
Fidanza Light-Weight Flywheel - DSM Turbo 90-99 - anyone using one?
Competition Clutch Flywheel - 2G DSM FWD, or ACT XACT Light Flywheel - DSM Turbo 90-99?

Thanks again for any info

Loré

[John Hartman]

I would suggest against the 2600 for your application.  Being that you are not going too wild on the build and that you are fwd, I say that the 2600 is not only hard on your driving, but hard on crank thrust bearings leading to crankwalk.

the fidanza flywheel is known to be good, used by lots.  I have no information on the CC flywheel.

Never used or really heard of DSM.com