SR Motorsports Flywheel/ACT Clutch Kit Review
 

Hey there, I just got my car back after San Dimas Auto Racing installed a SR Motorsports Flywheel and ACT clutch kit (Street Strip discs/Heavy Duty Pressurre Plate).

First off the total price for these products is 1026.56 (parts cost/tax/shipping from N. cali to S. cali). The parts came all bundled together and everything was well packaged. The flywheel and clutch were in their own boxes and everything came saftey sealed to protect the parts.

After I picked up the car I allllllmost stalled it.. The clutches engagement point is lower than stock. It only took me about 20 minutes of driving to feel comfortable with the new setup. Drivability is not really an issue in my mind.

Now.. to the fun part...

When my car was stock I had to be careful to disengage the clutch perfectly to get a good launch. Now, with the new clutch, all I need to think about is making sure to give it gas and the engagement will be perfect. Now.. when I talk about perfect.. just imagine your best shift where you feel immediate power. This clutch assembly will give you that every time effortessly.

Now.. what can I say about the flywheel... Hmmm.. AWESOME! Everyone kept telling me to go light on the flywheel so I followed their advice and am loving it. I did not have any drivability issues at all. With the clutch engaging perfectly the power comes on so suddenly it's great! The car surges ahead like never before.

When I was getting on the freeway I could feel the car's rpm's rising a lot more quickly than before. Also, on downshifts the rpm's fall faster so it's at the perfect point to downshift and blip the throttle.

Getting started in first gear.. to me.. isnt as tedious anymore. Before I had to smoothly disengage the clutch pedal making sure to give enough gas and feather on the clutch to get a good laucnh. Since the engagement point is lower now all I have to worry about is giving it gas and letting it out.. that simple.

All in all I am very pleased with this and thankx to RotaryGod, Mr. Wiggles, Broke_Apex_seal and others I absolutely love my setup.

Bottom line.. I would reccommend this to everyone. Get as light a flywheel as possible but personally I would stay away from the extreme pressure plate. Even San Dimas Auto Racing has it on their race miatas and say it's too harsh. I would get the Heavy Duty Pressure Plate, and I am not looking back.

Hope this helps all!

Thankx.

I was hesitant to get a new flywheel, but know i am for surely going to order one

Great review! 1k, that's not too much for the results you're reporting. Are you selling your old clutch (drooling thinking of doing some abusive clutch drops knowing a cheap replacement is available), and if so, how much?

Yeah.. I dont see why I would keep it. I am actually thinking about selling most of my stock stuff now.

I have the following stock parts.

Clutch
Flywheel
Exhaust
Springs

I want to change my wheels next so I will have the stock wheels soon too... Maybe it's a good time to post some of this in the wanted section.

I have no idea how much to sell any of this for though.

You know... After driving the car a few times tonight.. I couldnt resist taking it out again.. and again.. I am so glad that I replaced the clutch with the flywheel.

The power is instantly there and I would say that with this setup the car is vastly quicker.

When you shift the power is instantly there. In fact, I had to re-teach myself to give it more throttle than before...

Light flywheels also make heel-toe downshifting a total joy. I've got a 9 lb aluminum flywheel on my '88 Turbo, and it's killer. Rev-matching on downshifts is so easy and smooth since it revs so quick.

Dale

How much was the install cost?

Hey.. I created this thread for my stock parts

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=28466

Now.. listen to this. I called up mazda and asked them what the labor charge would be and they said 800 dollars. That tells me that charging an average $70 it would take them almost 11 1/2 hours!! Thats crazy...

San Dimas Auto Racing here in South Ca. estimated 5 hours for the install and charged me $375. A great deal I think considering I heard estimates as high as 8 or 9 hours before I purchased the products.

You no longer have a warranty...

Give the clutch 500-1000 miles to break in. When I got a centerforce put on one of my last cars they said after about 500 miles all the springs and so forth in the clutch and pressure plate would relax a bit and launching would get better. They were definitly right about that. It will only get better after about 500 miles.

I may not have a warranty... but I still have my free maintenance. By the end of this year I will almost have 20,000 miles on my car so the warranty will only last 2 1/2 years if I keep this pace up and I see no reason why I wont. Screw the warranty.. the stock clutch sucks ars :) You have to live for today my brotha!

Thats a good attitude, enjoy...:)

Is your entire drivetrain warranty void? I mean, clutches and flywheels can be considered consumable parts right? If you look at it that way, wouldn't changing your brake pads void the warranty on your brake system?

With the amount of driving I do, my 40,000 miles might be up by next summer. I'm thinkin of waiting it out before I go wild with the mods...

Which is something that occured to me as well. You can use whatever replacement brake pads you want, same with oil, plugs and air filter... but not clutch and flywheel??

Yeah.. I have read that it will void the drive train but not necessarily void your suspension.. A/C.. etc...

But..... I can not stress enough how awesome this clutch is. I used to think that replacing the clutch was a waste of money but not anymore. I just love it.

I kept saying it. A light flywheel is awesome and not hard to drive at all!!! It makes the car way more fun. Thanks for the confirmation.

How long does labor take??

It took 5 1/2 hours to replace the flywheel and clutch on my car.

My experience with the fly/clutch combo:

1) As stated above, there is a break-in period of 500-700 miles. This is where the springs relax a bit and the disc and fly become "mated" just like brake pads. Go easy on the new parts and they will last a long time.
2) After I installed my parts I discovered that the "friction zone" was at the floor. I could not get the clutch to disengage. After I freaked out, I read every scrap of paper included in the set and found a small note regarding adjustment. With 10mm and 12mm wrenches, I laid on the floor under the dash so as to adjust the clutch pedal and put the friction zone in the same spot in the pedal travel as the stock unit.
3) Since then Rotarygod and myself have had a little fun debating whether, or not, a lighter flywheel changes the perceived sound of the engine.

Charles

I'm curious to what clutch you guys are using. I have contacted ACT personally today and they said they are STILL developing their clutch for the RX8?

Hmm. Well Exedy and Revolution (Odula clutch) have clutch and clutch/flywheel combinations for sale for the 8.

When I received my clutch set from SR Motorsports it included an Exedy disc, which was quite similar to the stock disc, an Extreme Duty pressure plate(#MZ-010X), and original Mazda t.o. bearing, seal, and pilot bearing. They also included the Mazda counterweight with the flywheel.

Charles