Clutch Reviews... And Rant...

GTA_V6_Mustang

Active Member
Nov 29, 2004
1,326
3
39
Miami, FL
Ok well I have been back and forth between what clutch I may change to now. I have ready many things from many people. Dont cheap out, by a good expensive clutch, blah blah blah. I have also ready people who have cheaped out and purchased clutches such as XTD and F1 racing ebay clutches and had great experiences. So this is my story, lol. Keep in mind this is not my daily driver and will see like 1 or 2k miles a year if that.

Zoom Stage 1: $160.00

This had good driveability, no chatter. Installed with a brand new zoom billet steel flywheel. Was at the track the 2nd or 3rd time with it and actually went all day with no issues untill my last pass. Clutch exploded thru the bellhousing... Oh well, lol

Hays Clutch: 180.00

This had zero issues on motor and went the longest before any issues. Many years of motor 6k clutch dumps on slicks with no issues. When I started spraying the car it actually held for a bit then started to slip in high gear on an 80 shot and started to chatter real bad.

Ram HDX: 160.00

Had the flywheel resurfaced while I was in there. This clutch had the best feel so far. It took everything I could throw at it on motor and my 6k clutch dumps on 100 shot out the hole with slicks for a bit with no issues or slipping. Clutch was in less than a year though but saw some abuse. One day I was driving along and hit it on motor, tossed into 3rd and heard a loud boom. Clutch pedal went to the floor. Turns out the friction from the disc seperated from the rivets on the hub. Contacted Ram as this looked like a straight up manufacturer defect and there was no signs of overheat or anything on the clutch. They told me they would "re-line" the clutch for like 120 which i thought was insane since the whole kit only cost me 160.00, w/e.

Zoom Stage 2: 320.00

I figured this would end here and now. Followed the break in procedure to a T. Clutch felt fine on motor. Chattered like hell (kevlar). It has been in for less than a year and is now slipping. It does just fine on motor. It was doing find on 100 and 150 shot. Now that I got the car tuned and have it on like a 175 shot making over 540lbs of torque it wont hold worth a damn and acts as if its not even there. This clutch never even saw the slicks, just spirited street driving.

At this point I am more than a little annoyed at this. If I am going to be doomed to replacement of clutches every year no matter what stage or brand I pick I think I would just rather go with the F1 6 puck clutch from ebay that is less than all of the above. And how much worse could it really be than a stage 1 zoom or RAM hdx clutch. What do you guys think? Sorry for the long post, just a bit annoyed that I have to select yet another clutch.
 
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I had a Ram HDX that didn't last long at all. I now have a Spec Stage II, for less than $300, and it has been going strong for a year. No nitrous, but I'm not easy on it either. Spec gets my vote!

Joe
 
My stocker has been good to me, but my motor is stock and will stay basically that way for the foeseeable future. I want something thats EBAY priced and tough as the stocker. I have more toys than budget...
 
Twin disk! Funny thing I find is mod motor guys just go spec 3 or 5+ and have no issues... Maybe those mod motors are torqueless wonders
 
I'm using a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch behind my "Torqueless Wonder".

I cannot testify to it's holding power, because I'm not asking it to do anything other than hook up a set of street tires, behind a weenie engine. I can say that the pedal effort is minimal.:nice:

Just my .o2 in the FWIW column.
 
I've sprayed the hell out of a CDF behind a 351w and never had it let go. My current car has a kevlar stage 2 spec in it, but It's not on the juice or boost yet so I can't tell you how it will hold up. It chattered a little at first, but is smooth after break in. If you start killing high quality singles it's time to step up to a twin. They're high like giraffe pooty but they do the job...
 
I've been very impressed with the Centerforce dual friction clutch in my supercharged SSC. They've been working together since '05 flawlessly.

I've been more impressed with the original clutch in my '88 GT vert. I bought the car new. Now it has 126K miles on it and somehow the clutch still feels and operates great.
 
Got burned by CF twice over the years and it still lingers so I like the SPEC, McLeod, Fidanza and RAM pieces. Walt at Promotion makes some decent profiles as well... If you want something that will hold a lot of power and give the good pedal feel, dual disc is the only way to go.

My own car when it had 540RWHP/742RWTQ held just fine on a Stage 3 SPEC, the more heat I put in it the harder it grabbed.
 
I was looking at a couple of twin disc RAM clutchs on summit... I may try out a 6puck ceramic with aluminum flywheel next and if that should buy me at least another year so I can just get a t56 and 26 spline clutch setup.
 
Got burned by CF twice over the years and it still lingers so I like the SPEC, McLeod, Fidanza and RAM pieces. Walt at Promotion makes some decent profiles as well... If you want something that will hold a lot of power and give the good pedal feel, dual disc is the only way to go.

My own car when it had 540RWHP/742RWTQ held just fine on a Stage 3 SPEC, the more heat I put in it the harder it grabbed.

742 torque with no problem, that sounds like the clutch I need. Did it see any drag launches?