Exedy stage 1 vs stock
 

I found a exedy stage 1 clutch for sale. Currently running a na will stick to that. Have on mods such as cai and header ect. You guys think it will be worth to upgrade to the stage one or should i stick with the stock. Since i would get a good deal money wont be a matter, just looking for performance

same question... found a stage 1, will it make a difference on my otherwise stock rx8?

The difference in performance will be in your left leg . It might get a little stronger from the stiffer clutch .
So if you think that is a good reason to swap out a perfectly good clutch - go for it .

so you saying, that it wont do any use to swap???

I am turbocharged and not running the stage 1. There is no point in upgrading and their has been problems with the stage 1 as well. Search.

a clutch is not a performance part ... so looking for performance by swapping out clutches will have you searching endlessly.

That is unless you have enough power on the drivetrain that is causing the clutch to slip, thus robbing you of performance that you already have.....but NA (even boosted) that is not an issue

FYI, ACT clutch not the best in the world. Only have it for the flywheel and the fact that I am stuck with it, long story short disk 3 just went in :rollingla

Take a read through this thread before installing the stage 1: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...clutch-244381/

Well, I get clutch slip at 10psi currently. In a weekend or two I will be installing the S2 trans and a new OEM Exedy with heavy duty throw out bearing and we will see how she does at 10psi. But yeah on an NA car the only performance upgrade you would see is with lighter parts.

yup which even then, the lighter parts mean less surface area, which from what i have heard will leave a lot of drivers in a world of hurt trying to daily drive. Would be better served saving that weight in a flywheel upgrade.

Yeah I have heard daily driving suffers big time.

I have no problem daily driving mine, however, what RIWWP is 100% correct. The "HD" throwout bearing in the kit is trash. Gave me endless problems till I changed it out for a new "stock" one. Constantly rattling and not engaging the pressure plate correctly.

Smaller, lighter clutches are not just a pain to daily since you basically have to slip them every time you have to start from a stop... they may also increase the stress on the tranny given how most of them are multiple disk, aggressive clutches.

My car has a small, multiple disk wet clutch and it's a bitch to drive despite the car's feather weight :(

My "Stage 1" is the only mod I wish I had back. I love my light flywheel, best mod ever, but really wish I had stuck with OEM style clutch. My whole car is light and responsive, and I have a heavy clutch like in a 5.0 mustang.

Just my opinion..

Thanks for the advice.
I only asked due to NEEDING a new clutch anyway (this one slips BAD all the time)
I'm gonna stick with an OEM one (;

well i picked a brand new exedy stage 1 for super cheap from a friend who had a rx8 but sold it in 2011. I'll also prolly buy bhr lightweight flywheel as well So hopefully i like how it feels.

And hopefully you wont end up spending more money anyway when the stage1 starts coming to pieces on you... and hopefully that event won't be immediately after install like most of us.

yeah tht'd really suck. I guess ima need some luck on my side.

Luck and hope vs research and analytically thinking.

There is a way to avoid having to hope for good luck, but obviously it is up to you to take it or not.

well ive seen some post from people who ran a exedy stage one back in 2010 saying good stuff with no complients. I'm thinking the recent ones made must of been defentive.

I just killed one of the cheap eBay clutches after 5k(ripped half of the friction material off on clutch disk) of hard driving and auto X. I was thinking an Exedy stage 1 HD would be good for me, but after reading all this I have no idea what to get!?!? I don't really see an oem replacement (Mazdatrix has one but I think it is an Exedy). Every thing else is the off brand crap that I just killed or Exedy. I was under the impression that Exedy was the way to go. I'm going to get an RB mid pipe so I figured I would get the clutch from them too. All they have is Exedy... My original clutch got a harsh 85k and was only changed when I pulled the motor the springs in the clutch disk felt loose.

Who has a genuine mazda clutch?
Should I avoid Exedy clutches?

BHR has the OEM clutch for $375 shipped. Pretty much the best price out there and a forum vendor to boot.

Back when I raced an RX7, this happened to me. I had just replaced the clutch with one I got from Mazdatrix (this was 20 yrs ago). The friction surface ripped off the plate during qualifying. They explained that they sent me a HD clutch and didn't know that I was racing the car. I then got a sprung 6 puck clutch and while it was grabby, I didn't have a failure again.

Same thing happened to me--previous owner just replaced clutch with eBay brand XTD or the like, it lasted part of one race weekend before the clutch was junk as all the material was gone. After research I too am going with a sprung hub six puck which has bonded material so I'm hoping such failures will not happen (got it from a trusted RX8 company).

I talked to a few experienced people (although non RX owners) I know who have used Exedy clutches and they all had good words about them. I think the T/O bearing just isn't made for the extra force from the pressure plate. I found a guy who had an Exedy stage 1 in the box for a good deal so I jumped on it.

So now I'm debating on getting a Mazda T/O bearing... is $85 extra worth a little insurance?

You do know that OE clutches are made by Exedy right? :)

The throwout bearing sucks, the internal sleeve is made of plastic. You should contact black halo racing to see if they still have the upgraded, all metal ones.

I have discovered that exedy makes many of the factory clutches for various vehicles. I did assume they are also making the RX-8 clutch. This is why I bought an exedy stage 1. I'm also thinking Mazda or someone else (maybe the trans manufacturer) makes the T/O bearing.

Yes, Exedy makes the stock RX-8 clutch. Unfortunately, this hasn't prevented them from screwing up the Stage1 somehow in the past year or two. Install at your own risk.

Well the clutch is paid for and in my shop. Not much stopping my now but finding time. I appreciate the warning, but I can't bring my self to buy a another clutch. I will update with results. Wish me luck!

The clutch is in. It came with the Koyo bearing. It looked much stronger than my last one. The clutch feels great driving around town. The peddle has to be pushed deep to disengage the clutch. But is it close to what the service manual shows. I haven't made any adjustments to the peddle yet. The only issue I see is at high rpm the clutch will get a softer feel. I'm thinking that centrifugal force is causing the pressure plate to want to release a little. Thus increasing the distance the T/O bearing has to travel to disengage the clutch. This would explain the soft feel. I don't think it is enough to cause it to slip. I haven't tested it out. I'm still breaking it in. As long as it holds up in the higher rpms I will remain very happy with it. Any thoughts?

It starts to engage higher up as it breaks in. It was a pain to get used to for me, but it gets closer to where the oem clutch engages.

How many times must it be posted that the factory/OEM replacement clutch is more than adequate even for a competition RX8? Unless you do a turbo/SC conversion there is no need to spend more money, have a stiff pedal, and other potential issues using anything else.

the engagement point is adjustable. Installing a new clutch also means having to adjust the clutch pedal too

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda...t/61-0247.html


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im running an exedy stage 2 with a light weight flywheel. all i can say is it helps off the line, very aggressive and i love it

That's not relevant to the topic is it? The thread is clearly stage 1 vs stock, and the reliability problems the stage 1 has.

There is nothing about a Stage (fill in the #) clutch that improves launching an RX8 off the line over a factory clutch. You might as well be trying to argue that your car is louder therefore the aggressive sound level makes it faster. :hahano:

I have a 2005 and just put a SII R3 stock clutch on mine. Coming from a Stage 1 it is much more friendly daily driving.

The SII clutch is a little more beefy than the S1. I am very happy with it. plus its cheaper than the Stage 1

Wait, so you're saying you wish you had stuck with the Stage 1 clutch, or the OEM Clutch? Which did you like better, I mean?

if you read the entire thread and clicked on the links, he was one of the people that had issues with the Stage 1 clutch

just use the OE /OE replacement clutch, there really is no point and you‘ll only be opening yourself up for potential problems. I know Stage blah-blah-blah will sound cool to the people who have no clue (cough-cough) but you’ll look silly to anyone else who knows better.

just contact Ray at BHR and see what price he can give you on the Exedy replacement

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Stage 1, one month
 

So this is my exeddy
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f8d85d64a2.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...6453f3a1ce.jpg
stage one clutch after one month

Stage 1, one month
 

So this is my exeddy stage one clutch after one month
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...a7a0210038.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...43f006b6b1.jpg

Well that’s not normal.

Are you sure it was genuine and not counterfeit slave-made in Wuhoo-fluville?

Yeah the auto shop had the order numbers