Questions about Racing Clutch
 

Im going to upgrade/replace the Flywheel in my car real soon.

I forgot one of the part : "The Clutch"

Well, Im kinda new to these stuff.

Whats the good thing/bad thing about upgrading it to a better Clutch?

and whats the differents between a Sport/Race Clutch and a Pure Racing Clutch.

Parts Im going to Order :

Racing Beat's FlyWheel (Cuz its even lighter than Mazdaspeed's FlyWheel)

Stainless Steel Clutch Line

Upgraded Clutch Disc (Sport/Race or Pure Race)

Throwout bearing

I guess thats all parts I need for the "Transmission Upgrade" right ? Did I miss anything ? I see this on Racing Beat's Site

"you must install a transmission scatter shield, or ballistic blanket. Failure to implement the above may result in serious injury or even death."

What is a "Transmission scatter shield/Ballistic Blanket" ?

Thanks.

that would be about right. ACT has a wide range or applications if you wanted more options. SRmotorsports sells 2 complete packages.

For a street clutch go 30-50%. if you go 100% on a race clutch you will more than likely hate it for everday use. they hold more power with less slip.

Scatter shield is needed if you will excede the rev limiter. If you spun the flywheel to say 14k it could come off. More than likely it would fly up through your car and take your leg off.

edit: oh a full package will have a new pressure plate.

ACT units are very nice. Jason over at RX8 store sells them (way cheaper than SR Motorsports). Race clutches tend to give you more clamping force. If you are running higher hp, you need more clamping force. But they are also "stiffer," i.e. they take more effort to use. For racing on the track this might be necessary, but for stop & go traffic it will kill your leg. For almost every application for the RX8 (even turboed cars) the sport/race unit will be more than adequate.

the only way to get more holding power and not dramaticaly increase the force to engage/disengage the clutch is to use multi-plate clutches and/or increase the power of the clutch cylnder. The problem is they dont alway make, or have room for a clutch of this type.

Thing to get in a upgraded street clutch:
go with a clutch that is labled as street strip (thats an easy way to find a good clutch)
as said, get around 50% more clamping force but not much more.
make sure its sprung hub, NOT a solid hub....this will cause less vibration thru the trany to the car.
Get an organic or parcialy organic clutch friction surface.

Ive used the ACT stage 2 kits (stree/strip) in cars its a great increase in holding power and a good feel, but not to much for daiy driving, it will take you a little while to get used to the new flywheel and the faster engagement of the clutch. This is cause the lighter flywheel doesnt have as much mass, so it will be stoped (stall) easyer. The combo of this with the fact that the clutch grabs harder and faster, youll find it easyer to stall.

normally i would say sr motorsports is to expensive but i think for $849 this is a good complete kit. 9.75 lb flywheel may be to little for your needs.

http://www.shaneracing.com/RX8_Clutch_Flywheels.html

RX8 Store has ACT clutch & ACT Street Flywheel for $700. I have the SR Flywheel. Good unit, but they don't add the weight of the counterweight into it when they calculate the 9.75 lbs. When they discount their stuff they are in the ballpark, but usually they are pretty expensive. Quality stuff (I have their flywheel, & had the hi-flow cat unit) just expensive.

Thanks for all the input guys ! now I have a better idea

Hmm, I dont think I'll ever rev my engine over 10K rpm anyway. but just to be save I will install the scatter shield, where can I get something like that ?

I think I will go for the $849 set on SR motorsports. But gotta check around and find the best price :-)

Hmm, Im looking around the site and found something like, change the underdrive pulley will give me +12 hp ???

http://www.shaneracing.com/RX8_Power_Pulleys.html

Total & complete crap. I have a set on my car & it dynoed at 1-2 hp across the rev range. The flywheel & hi-flow cat. unit from SR Motorsports are nice units, but some of their claims on that website are pure fiction. They have a GT3 & GT4 package that they claim 25 to 40 hp. No way you are getting those hp gains from a marginal air intake, exhaust & pullies (GT3) or with hi-flow cat (GT4). This is one of the companies whose hp claims are wildly exagerated. The pullies themselves are quality units, very well made, but hp gains that are claiming are just not achevable on our cars. Better off spending the $500 on other things.

Fanman, you said you had the hi flow cat unit. What made you get rid of it?

Exactly, I mean Im new to car tunning but come on.

When I saw the "12+ HP increase !!!"

I was like

O_O ..|..

hmm, well, I guess I'll go for the flywheel thing.

Any sites you guys recommend for these stuff other than SRmotorsports ?

Also, Do you guys think Mazdaspeed flywheel/clutch set good enough ? lets forget about the price for now since I know Mazdaspeed stuff cost more and might not perform as good as some aftermarket parts. (at least I think the ACT package should be able to perform better than the MS parts)

Why the step up in clutch? I've put an ACT prolite (flywheel) in my 8 and left the stock clutch in there. Works perfectly. Nice easy shifting. And do yourself a favor and get the lightest flywheel you can. You cannot get too light. Come on somebody, make me a 6lb flywheel :)

If you are new to the tuning thing, then consider the high flow cat. probably the only swapable part that will give you noticable gains. Then save and save and save for a Greddy turbo or the new Pettit supercharger.

Oh, I didn't mean to say the flywheel will not give you noticable gains. The High flow cat will give you additional HP through all gears. The Flywheel will give you extra gains in the first few gears - and its a lot of fun! Not only will you have high reving, but you'll have FAST reving.!!

Doesn't Fanman have a Turbo. He probably got rid of it because of the Turbo's backfires.

I'll not touch any Turbo/SC for the time being, since the car is only out for what, 2-3 years now? and I think I have to wait and see what kind of "damage" will a Turbo/SC do to our 8 before I go for it.

"
Any sites you guys recommend for these stuff other than SRmotorsports ?

Also, Do you guys think Mazdaspeed flywheel/clutch set good enough ? lets forget about the price for now since I know Mazdaspeed stuff cost more and might not perform as good as some aftermarket parts. (at least I think the ACT package should be able to perform better than the MS parts)"

Please, I need an answer :-)

Yep, what brightnova said. Backfired too much with the turbo kit. Although now I'm regretting it a bit as I will be getting something that will hopefully be letting me tune the popping out.

Mazdaspeed is good stuff. If you want high quality performance parts & still keep your warranty then find a Mazda dealer that is MS certified/qualified & have them do the work. Otherwise there are probably better alternatives for cheaper in the aftermarket. For the flywheel the MS is very good. They had a comparo between the stock, MS & Unorthodox Racing unit. The UR unit was the lightest & has the integrated counterweight. I do agree with the posters above though, unless you are going FI there is no reason to upgrade the factory clutch. If you will be doing FI, then it is smart to do the clutch & flywheel at the same time since you are dropping the tranny.

Theres a MS Dealer but its kinda far away (in Long Island)

Hmm, isnt that it will cost more to install it at dealer? plus I think buying stuff from dealer is always the MSRP price is that correct?

I havent call yet so I dont know.

Oh, maybe I can have them do the Recall as part of the deal? to lower the overall cost maybe ?

Dealer install of a Flywheel will be $400-$600.
I had mine done by a local shop for $290.

Everything will cost more at the dealer. Hell, you can get the MS parts at 20%-30% off retail at Rosenthal. It depends how desperate you are to keep parts of your warranty. How hard ass your dealer is when he sees & feels that you have modded your car. See how cool the MS dealer is. Or if you just want to throw your warranty by the wayside (I did a long time ago) just go for nice ACT or RB unit.

And once you have thrown your warranty to the wayside, a turbo looks so much more attractive :)

And Fanman - whats going on with your green underlines all over your last two posts!!

ask the site mods who have found new ways to make money

Well but I mean.

I think Dealers should be cool about the Mods as LONG as its original Mazdaspeed part. but on the other hand, I mean seriously,

I "dont" really think that they will open the tranny up just to see if theres any "modification" did to it.

The only mod I did to my car (so far) is the K&N intake, which is CARB excempt so I think its fine(Since its legal, but ahh), and Original Mazdaspeed Rear Wing Spoiler.

Oh, how long does it take to install all these clutch line/clutch/flywheel/brakeline ?(cuz I got the brakeline already, might just gonna ask them to do it all the same time)

I've been on this board long enough to know not to make that assumption. Every mazda dealership is different. I have heard stories where they have given posters hard times about cat back exhausts, air intakes, etc & have put notations on their service records about this stuff incase they need warranty work down the road. Other dealerships won't even look sideways at the stuff. You should really talk to your dealership & see how stringent they are. I have seen stories where some MS-certified dealerships will only warranty the car if all work AND parts are bought from them.

CARB exempt has nothing to do with warranty. They could technically give you a hard time with something as simple as an air intake.

Flywheel installation should take anywhere between 3-6 hours, depending on the experience of the mechanic.

Good luck with the intalls, but I would talk to your service manager first. See what you can get away with.

Well, I should've gone to service (for the recall) on tuesday(which was yesterday) but I overslept (yeah, I know its my fault) and I havent call for re-scheulde.

Maybe I should ask them :-)

but I "already" installed the K&N intake and the MS spoiler, I really doubt they will pick on my spoiler, if they have to pick on something, it has to be the intake.

3-6 hours ..... in the other words I probably have to leave the car 1 day or so just just for the flywheel. (maybe the clutch as well, I dont know)

I guess I'll do this maybe next month or Nov then, since Im quite busy lately with my new job and school.

Im not racing or anything, Im just trying to make the already great car a little better. If they're(dealer) being bitxhy about it, oh well.

Thx for the advice, I'll keep that in mind.