Is that bad? What do you mean by girly? Not Stiff? Before they took out the Racing Beat Setup, you could really tell the difference between the stock and RB's. It was much more stiffer. I did get use to it pretty fast, then that crazy problem came up and had to switch it bad to stock. Stock is soooo much softer. I kinda like it like that, I wish you could have the softness and the better gripping all at one time. Do you have a complete RB Setup in your car?

 

so having a heavy clutch is a *manly* thing huh

 

No its a RB flywheel with MS clutch and PP, but it really doesn't matter because Mazdaspeed, Racing Beat, and ACT all purchase their clutch's from EXEDY.

ACT simply takes off the "EXEDY" badge and repaints the hubs and such.

The difference comes down to sprung hubs, copper pleatings etc....

"girly" was simply the first word that came out of my mouth when I got the car moving. To me it felt almost if not identical to stock. I really couldn't tell if it grabed any better or not.

"stiff" or "hard" clutchs aren't a bad thing, just a side effect of making your car perform better.... your going to have to sacrifice some creature comforts, I've gotten used to the clutch and I'm grining each time it grabs.

If you have some time this weekend your welcome to take the 1.5hour drive up from maryland and take my car for a spin see how the clutch feels after a few hundred miles.

And if yours still has the RB set-up on it bring the car up I'll make sure what you are experiencing is what I was when I first installed it.

 

just had my rb clutch and pressure plate (and mazdaspeed flywheel) taken off fo rthe same issues .........WOW that's a lto of hot spots on my pressure plate and flywheel......will post pics tonight...i'm at work now.

i never drove her hard b/c i was breaking her in...even after the break in i didn't b/c of the vibrations..and what not. glad i didn't ...mine looks much worse than yours cas2themoe. I talked to Rb and they just got your set up in..and are checkign it out to see what the issue is...i'm going ot call them on monday too see what is up....they asked if i woudl be willing to send them my whoel assembly (flywheel clutch.pressure plate)...so they can check it out to see what the proble,m is...also they woudl resurface my flywheel b/c it needs it bad ...oh well least they are going to taek care of us....i am dying to knwo what the problem is.

 

As am I, post the pics when you get a chance so I can see what yours looked like.

 

will do..i'll be home from work at abotu 10ish...lol so i'll take the pics and post them late tonight. you should feel better mine has more spots hahaha

 

okay just got home and took some pics...had to resize them b/c my camera was stuck on Huge lol:D

okay lill history..this is after ~2k miles of not hard driving and no launching the car (i babied it b/c of the issues she was having)...took it to a few shops before i jsut took i tall out and switched to the stock set up.

the flywheel is mazdaspeed.....it may look like it has clutch material (powder)..in two spots on teh wheel that are darker than the rest...but those are actually severe hot spots...teh other hot spots you can easily spot. teh 2 dark spots worried me..i tried rubbing it off but no dice...it isn't dirty..it's burned

the pressure plate has a lot of hot spots as well...cant' tell anythig nis wrong with teh clutch though....so who knows.

 

wow, that really sucks. Yours is an extreme version of mine. LOL, Have u heard anything yet?

 

Damn, that flywheel took a beating.

 

^no kidding it did...imagine if i drove it hard or droped the clutch at a high rpm...i shudder to think.

 

spoke to RB today...they said to give them a call monday to see about shiping my whole assembly (flywheel and all) to them for testing.....they are still looking at your clutch/pressure plate and flywheel. so i guess we'll know next week which way the winds are blowing

 

Cool............ But I just want my clutch setup back in. It grabbed so fast and climbed the RPM's so much faster. :-( I miss it already and I only had it for a weekend before they took it out!

 

^yea i know...i had it for a while..never got ot really enjoy it b/c i was very nervous abotu pushign it at all...

oh well RP said they just put in a act clutch assembly with out any issues...so whoknows...mayeb we have bad luck........i jus tfeel bad abotumy poor flywheel...poor poor mazdaspeed

everythig else will be covered by RB b/c i go thte parts form them...btu i dunno abotu the flywheel........will they cover that too since their parts f'd it up (assuming thats what it was)...if it was the install i hope RP covers it..i hope i'm not left hanging in the wind

 

That wont happen. I dont play games like that! I'll be taking someone to court if something doesnt get done and done right!

 

Heard anything yet Army_RX8?

 

hmmmm no treally....i talked to Jin Tanner at Rb and they are payingn for ups to pick up and ship my clutch/pressure plate, adn mazdaspeed fylwheel and counter weight to them so they can figure out what went wrong....if the poarts are at fault (most likly)...then he said RB will replace them...or refund my money...and the cost of the install. so at least RB will take car eof us...but dang what a pian in the A$$.


how about you...any news?

 

No havent heard anything. I'm still waiting for them to call me. Maybe I should call them instead!

 

i would ....always good to be proactive...especially when it involves somethign like this.

 

i heard that RB has finished checking out your set up cas2themoe...you hear details...all i heard is that nothign was wrong with the parts (i.e. installer error)

if mine is the same looks liek it's time to chat with RP.....shoudl be too much of a hassle either way...both shops (RB and RP)..are very good and respected....but it does suck to be us it seems sa no one else has issues with this set up but us. lol

 

We're not in the wrong either way. I just want my clutch setup back in ASAP. I miss the faster RPM climb! I'll have to call them tomorrow. Thanks for the info, as you can see, I've been slacking............... :o