RB flywheel and clutch w/pressure plate?
 

This is for all you people out there who know a whole lot more than me about the RX-8. I'm a recent civic convert. My next upgrade is probably going to be a racing beat flywheel. I'm curious if I should keep my stock clutch and pressure plate. In speaking with Racing Beat directly they told me the stock clutch has held up pretty good from their flogging. I have about 15k miles on my car but about 3/4 of that is highway. The other 1/4 I'm on it pretty hard. It's not slipping or anything yet so I don't think it's having any problems. Could you help me out here please. Thanks.

Do you plan to turbo the car?
If so, I'd replace the clutch and plate while you have the transmission out so you're not paying for that labor twice.

personally, if i'm going in the tranny, I'm going in once and fixing/upgrading everything. The labor is a real pain in the ass, why pay for it twice. Get a stage one clutch, not to much stiffer, but lot more durable.

That's exactly how i see it.
They're not all that expensive either.

Probably won't turbo until this fall. Just looking for some suggestions.

Another problem is I'm new to the area and I don't really trust any of the shops around here yet.

be carefull about picking a clutch....a few of us have had issues with teh RB clutch assemblies...they (racingbeat) are checkign to see what is wrong or the problem at the moment
this thread has pics https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/pics-rp-performance-shop-bad-news-60625/
this thread has more of the story https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...d=1#post875999

not sure if it was install issues..or parts issues...but racingbeat is checkign with their engineers to see if it is anythig nwith their parts..they are a good company been doign this sort of stuff for 35 years or so. but i just wanted to let you know there might be an issue with their clutch assemblies. so if you are going with them (they are great)...i woudl wait until they figure out what is up.

plus side is they stand by their customers and if somethings wrong they make it right:D :D:D


P.S. the shop me and cas2themoe (other forum member with teh RB clutch assembly) had our flywheels and pressure plate/clutchs put in is in Manassas, Va (northern), which isn't too close for ou i htink a few hours (like ~2)...but they have turbo'd 2 8's and done a lot of work on others :D. they've put in an ACT clutch in an 8 and had no issues..but the 2 they did on me and cas2themoe had issues :(

I already read that thread. Thanks Army rx8. I know the shop in manassas is a bit of a drive but i'd rather go to someone who knows what their doing. Could you tell me how much they charged you for the labor and stuff.

Woodz, out of first-hand experience I would like to offer the suggestion that you get an ACT Street Duty clutch/pressure plate if you decide to upgrade it. I have the Xtreme Duty set and it is definitely overkill. The factory combo will handle about 220 lbs./ft of torque, which is roughly 330 h.p. and it will withstand even mild turbo/nitrous boosts if used properly. The ACT Street Duty is a 34% upgrade. That's plenty enough for any street-driven RX-8. ACT also now has the entire kit available with the proper bearings and seals.

CRH

Did you go with an aftermarket flywheel or did you keep it stock. The flywheel seems to be where people are having problems. Although I haven't heard of any problems with flywheels other than racing beat.

I installed the SR Motorsports/Indigo Racing 9.75 lb. aluminum flywheel. SR offered the flywheel and clutch as a combo kit and at a very reasonable price.

Now, there are several opinions flying around regarding the performance benefits and driving manners of "lightweight" flywheels. All of those can be read using the search(obviously). I can offer this first-hand testimony regarding both aspects. The SR flywheel has shown measured reductions in my 1/4 mile e.t.'s in the area of three tenths of a second and the engine revs much quicker. For substantiation of that view I would direct you to p.m. "rxeighter". He and I did a similar install on his car back in March. My clutch/gas pedal finesse needed some detail work becuase the friction zone is narrowed considerably. However, it is just something that takes practice and it soon becomes natural. My girlfriend drove my car a time or two and didn't even notice anything different. How difficult could it be to deal with the light flys?

CRH

I don't think it would be a big problem except when you're stuck in traffic. What did you think about their flywheel. Quality wise?

312.xx is what i paided afer taxes and everything. not bad at all

^i agree with charles if you do go with act...Rp has put one of those set ups in an 8 ( i think one of the 2 turbo'd 8's they are workign on)...and they said it had no issues at all..adn it was a pretty great set up.

Army rx8- did you ever hear anything back from Racing beat about what their findings were with regards to your flywheel and clutch?

Pretty much what everybody else has stated. The RB Flywheel is not the issue. People that have put that on have had no issues. You can get the ACT pressure plate & clutch disc for cheap (www.rx8store.com, or www.rotaryextreme.com). Some of these outfits have total packages that include the flywheel, & clutch. I would suggest if you are looking at turboing the car to upgrade to the heavy duty clutch & do it all at one time. Dropping the tranny & removing these parts is a time consuming & $$$ proposition. Do it once. In talking with Jim Tanner over at RB he said their clutch package would not be good for over 275-280 hp (basically a unmodified turbo package).

The pressure plate rating has a lot more to do with clutch manners in heavy traffic than does the flywheel weight. My leg gets sore sometimes.

CRH

I know exactly what you're talking about. I had a 6 puck sprung hub full face iron disk on my civic. It grabbed like a badass but sucked in traffic. I think my left leg is bigger because of it.

I forgot to mention that the SR/Indigo Racing flywheel was like artwork with its quality. It has removable friction plates so the wheel is serviceable. The ring gear also meshed perfectly with the starter gear.

CRH

yea, i just recently got the SR motorsports extreme package...
shoot,CRH, what do you mean that it's overkill? I mean, I drive hard... real hard. i dont' ride the clutch or anything like that, but i barely meet the catch point, then dump gears to shift quickly... so, OVERKILL??

argaHhah explain pls.

negative..i'm going to call them today before i go to class. will try and update everyoen who is interested before class (it's at 6pm eastern)

I thought I wrote this earlier but, whatever.

Overkill. Jae, the ACT Xtreme Duty clutch can handle 443 ft./lbs. of torque. That equates to roughly 660 h.p. I don't think there is a street-driven RX-8 with that kind of power yet. In addition, since the Xtreme and Street duty kits use the same disc the additional capacity comes only by way of additional clamping force. The Street duty pressure plate will hold 330 ft./lbs. of torque, which equals about 495 h.p., with much less pedal pressure. When I bought mine, ACT didn't have detailed specs listed as they do now and with nitrous I figured it was better to go too big. I was wrong and if I were to do it over I would go with the Street Duty plate.

The only reason one would use the Xtreme Duty plate on the street is to have something to brag about. Then again, unless you have the $3,500, triple disc, carbon clutch kit with the aluminum diaphragm assembly from Exedy you don't really have much to brag about do ya? :p

CRH

i personally see no reason to blow money replacing stock parts that will handle pretty much whatever you will be able to throw at it (unless you get rediculously crazy that is) but its your money

So CRH,
are you saying that b/c it's the extra $50? or b/c it's not as streetable as the Street duty clutch and disc. With that said, is the extreme duty clutch and pressure plates a PITA to drive? or is it ok when you get used to it...

how is it in traffic?

The management of the friction zone is not an issue because that goes to the clutch face material. The thing I am trying to point out is that it is very possible to have both plenty of torque-holding capacity and a fairly comfortable level of pressure plate clamping force by sticking with the Street kit. If I wear my Converse Chuck Taylors, the ball of my left foot can become a bit sore. The Xtreme pressure plate can become heavy for some. I tend to take things to the utmost before admitting that I may have pushed the envelope a bit, so for me to candidly admit that I would do something differently next time is substantive. The fact that the ACT numbers are well beyond what we need on the street only technically supports the message I am attempting to convey. The idea is that there is no need to use parts that may cause discomfort for the average user and no need to use the Xtreme pressure plate just to brag about how strong our left legs are.

It's kinda like this; if you get 100% traction by using a set of 245's why would you use a set of 305's?

CRH