S.Blazes

im looking at either stage 2 or 3.

personally heading toward a spec 3+ with the lighten flywheel.

also i have already ordered a new slave cylinder. taking out the valve should keep the aftermarket clutch from destroying itself?

unless anyone can convince me otherwise in the next 24 hours.. lol

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

What company are you looking to buy the clutch from? The stock clutch is plenty strong if treated right. I ran 320 WHP on my stock clutch in my 06 MT with no issues.

S.Blazes

what about stock clutch with lighten flywheel?
what combo did you run?
im not particular on brands.
just need info

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

The clutch in the TL is strange. It uses an unsprung clutch disc ( no springs in the clutch) and a sprung or dampened flywheel. If you want to go light weight flywheel, you need a sprung clutch disc and if you want to use the stock disc, you need to use the stock flywheel.
I ran the stock clutch with the supercharger and changed to a more aggressive clutch disc and stock flywheel and pressure plate when I installed the turbo. The disc I'm running now is a P2R 6 puck, that will chatter from a stop a little and has a more aggressive engagement. I have learned to keep it pretty smooth, but many would not be happy with such an aggressive disk.

The company I will be using for my new clutch setup is Excelerate ( a vendor here on the site). He has some nice kits with lightweight flywheels and very streetable clutch discs combined with higher preload pressure plates. Even stage 1 kits hold quite a bit of TQ. I think Stage 1 starts at around $1300 for disc, LW flywheel, and pressure plate.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

the clutch is pretty good. Its the pressure plate that begin to have issue when you add more power to the equation. This is because it is a self-adjusting clutch.

Excelerate has a nice clutch. I think the clutch is made by southbendclutch and maybe the FW is ASSCO?? (need confirmation)

CM is another choice. They also use ASSCO

Last and most expsensive would be J&R which is 2k?

If you do OEM clutch make sure you have someone do it that knows how to do the preset on the LuK pressure plate.

S.Blazes

I am familiar with Excelerate.
All the clutches they offer on theyre website are CM.
I was reading some other threads and saw alot of things that are making me hesitant toward CM.

If i remove the check valve in the slave cylinder wont it save the pressure plate? and as for the preset? im un aware. if im using alldata will it include the proper instructions?

later on down the line i do plan on going with a turbo setup.

Right now the car is still a daily driver. i do not care about having chatter. obviously going aftermarket will make changes to the quite n smooth drive. but in my case i rather mod and enjoy my tl even more.

S.Blazes

p.s
thank u hispeed & thisaznboi88

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

I have a post about the preset. It's either on the first, second, or 3rd page. They need the special tool to do it

S.Blazes

just read a couple of horror stories about spec clutches onna evo forum..

..eek..

S.Blazes

Personally heading towards the CM FX400 with Aluminum Flywheel.
Also will alter the slave cylinder.
IS there anything else i can do to help avoid any damage to the new clutch and pressure plate?

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

don't ride the clutch? I think fx300 is all you need. 400 seems a little excessive even if you plan to boost.

S.Blazes

of course !

i was dumb and went from 6th to 2nd in a last ditch effort to slow down coming of a highway ramp. totally burnt my clutch down. so i rebuilt my tranny because my 3rd was toast and now im ready to get my clutch...

Okay. I am trying to figure out what options i have in the fx300

S.Blazes

so i went fx300 with aluminum flywheel.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

get fiber tough and not kevlar. Make sure its fiber tough!!

S.Blazes

i read in another thread that kevlar was better??

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

look for a post by 04accordcpe

I think he recommended fiber tough cuz he bbq the kevlar one pretty fast.

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

Excelerate has new clutch kits not listed on the website, using another company other than CM because of the problems people were having. Higher preload PP and much higher TQ ratings. I think stage 1 is 480 TQ. Worth looking at.

S.Blazes

oh shoot. i already placed my order for a fx300...

i was not aware excelerate had another clutch listed...
do you know how to order, or get any other information about it?

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

I would call him and see what the details are. I would think if they are selling CM stuff that it must work better now.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

I wish I would have seen this thread before buying the Spec flywheel and clutch. Although the Spec flywheel looks like decent quality, the clutch looks like an OEM clutch (not the ratcheting type) for what amounts to 2 to 3 times the price. I'm currently in the process of installing these but came across this steel ring that was included with no directions in the kit or on the Spec website as to what it is. It fits perfectly on the fingers when the pressure plate is not installed, so I was thinking it was a sort of spacer between the fingers and the throwout bearing. If anyone knows for sure, then let me know.





Here is a shot of the flywheel, for reference:

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

looks like a bearing to me. Does it fit inside of the flywheel?

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

It's not a bearing. It's a solid piece. I'm pretty sure it's a spacer because the Spec clutch fingers don't stick out as far as the OEM ratcheting type.



The only problem with it installed like this is that it doesn't sit parallel with the flywheel surface. In fact, it's cocked pretty good and concerns me.

I'm getting really irritated with this Spec clutch. I wouldn't of even bought it but the flywheel has much larger locating pins in it, forcing me to use a Spec clutch. And now I get the Spec clutch and it looks like a cheap stock type clutch with an afterthought steel ring to match up with the throwout bearing.

I so wish Exedy made a flywheel and clutch kit for the J35.

S.Blazes

have you figured out what that solid piece is used for?
have you gotten in contact with anybody from spec yet?

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

I'm quite certain that it's a spacer. I measured the distance between the clutch case mounting surface and the throwout bearing and it seems to be the appropriate thickness. I'm going to have the inner step of the ring machined a small amount so that the fingers don't bind up as much when installed. Thus keeping it from cocking.

I think Spec is using an off-the-shelf clutch and making up the difference with that spacer. For the high cost of the clutch, I would expect a custom design with application specific finger dimensions so that the spacer isn't needed.

The quality of the Spec stuff looks decent but they didn't do a good job of engineering, or were just too concerned about maximizing profit.

S.Blazes

What stage is it?

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

It's a stage 1.

brian6speed

iTrader: (5)

For my car the 03 cl, the spec clutch uses a stock pp just repainted.

I would be surprised if spec did any engineering at all. Looks like they took one companies flywheel, another companies clutch disc, and probably oem pp repainted.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

I talked to a guy from Spec today and he confirmed that the steel ring is a spacer, however it is designed to press fit into the release bearing. The clutch kit is supposed to be shipped with this already done. They are going to ship me a release bearing/spacer assembly.

Aside from this fail, the Spec flywheel and clutch do look to be decent quality. Even though the pressure plate is an OEM type, it's not the piece of crap Luk ratcheting type with unsprung disc.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

Here is what the assembly should look like...



If anyone is considering the Spec clutch or flywheel, keep in mind the larger locating pins for the pressure plate that I mentioned previously. This means that you can't mix and match components. You have to use the Spec clutch with the Spec flywheel.

Overall I'm satisfied with the quality of the Spec parts. If it wasn't for the fail with the bearing/ring assembly not getting shipped with the clutch, then there would have been no issues.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

tell us how it drives.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

Sure thing.
But it will be a while... car won't be on the road until spring.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

Update... car is on the road again...

1. Heinous noise when starting the engine. This is due to the flywheel teeth not being quite the right shape, thus generating a loud and obnoxious whine. I pulled the starter off and the teeth on both the starter and flywheel looked fine. I'll just have to live with it.

2. Clutch does not slip smoothly when letting it out. I've never had an aluminum flywheel before, so I don't know if this is normal or not. Could be flexing I guess.

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

According to Spec tech support, they use an OEM Honda ring gear on the flywheel, so I could possibly have a problem with the starter, which is brand new from Honda.

If anyone is thinking about using parts from different years, make note of this info:

J32 manual trans flywheel has 123 teeth.
J35 manual trans flywheel has 126 teeth.
You need to use the correct starter for the flywheel.

Also, the clutch release will get smoother when it brakes in (about 1000 miles). I have about 750 miles to go.

Bruce Banner

iTrader: (2)

Looking good there

Euro-R_Spec_TSX

Update: I have close to 800 miles on the clutch now and it seems to be smoothing out. Whining noise is still present. I had the brand new starter apart and everything looks fine, so I don't know what the problem is. I sure hope the noise goes away.

As for clutch pedal effort, it's probably twice as much.

I'd rather have a stockish pedal effort.