OS Giken Grand Touring Mono Hard clutch review

[ofuts]

Hi,

Had my JDL turbo kit for 3 weeks now (300ps/310nm), oem clutch was not slipping at all but i felt like the pedal started get softer than before and i got info that it would slip eventually, so i got an OS Giken Grand Touring Mono Hard (215mm, i dont know other details) installed today. Its the first time i am having aftermarket replacements other than exhaust system, and havent done tons of research, so sorry if i point out or ask some obvious things.

My tuner shop had this clutch and said it is suitable for my car, then i made a quick research and found out that OS Giken is a very good brand, then i called OS Giken Japan to confirm if it was suitable for my car and they approved, olso said that clutch feel would be similar to oem and it is very streetable, so i went for it even though that it was pretty expensive.

My first impressions after driving on traffic and highway:
- Pedal is much more heavier than oem, it gets heavier as you press it deeper. Heaviness is a relative thing so i can say it is similar (or maybe very slightly heavier) to BMW Z4 M Coupe clutch, heavier than 1st gen Audi S3 clutch. Anyway it is not too bad if you dont live in constant traffic jam.
- Grabbing area is very short and deep below the pedal travel (not at bottom btw) for first gear, so need to fully press the pedal to get going. I didnt like that part, especially short grabbing area, but it wont be a big problem after i get used to it i guess. You can half press the clutch like oem one for 3rd gear and up, nearly same feeling as oem
- Car judders when you start moving from a stop, this is the part i didnt like the most, and i dont think i will get used to it.
- There is a little chattering noise when you press the clutch fully, hard to hear and not very annoying.
- I occasionally hear and feel a "click" start-mid of pedal travel.
- Sometimes there is a loud rattle at neutral, when you press the clutch or you are in a gear it goes away, it is annoying. But i had this issue before, it might not be related with this product, though, i had this issue only at cold starts with oem clutch previously, but now i heard it loud and clear (only once) at warm weather and warm car.

My questions:
- Why do i get this click, is it important, how can i fix it?
- Is the judder when starting to move from a stop normal?
- Is the rattle normal? Do you know anyway i can fix it?
- Can i change the grabbing area to a wider range or move it upwards?

Hope i had given helpfull info to people who are considering this clutch even though what i had written were mostly negative and maybe some were installation mistakes. And i hope people with experience can reply my questions.

Thanks

Edit: I changed the fluid to Motul 300 75W90 (or 75W95, cant remember clearly). I had driven nearly 3 hours non stop firstly in traffic and then on highway, so fluid should be hot enough to have smooth shifting. Interestingly gear changes felt harder to engage and disengage than before, especially 1st and 2nd gear are much harder now. I checked the forums, everyone is saying the opposite, but this is what i experienced, again, maybe something maybe wrong with clutch installation.

[ofuts]

3rd day update:

After driving the car for around an hour yesterday night, shifting started to be real hard, had to try 2-3 times to get in to first gear in traffic. When i came to parking area i tried to investigate as much as my poor knowledge let me.
Sometimes it got in gear like butter, sometimes a little hard at first try, but most of the time it was really hard, becouse i didnt want to damage the transmission i didnt give too much force, took 2-3 tries to get in first or other gears. Once it got in any gear, it was easy to get in other gears or same gaer again if i kept the clutch pressed.
At times it didnt get in gear, idle rev dropped as i forced it in and car moved forwards a little, as if i was not pressing the clutch.
There was no problem if the engine was not running, could shift freely.

Today, there was no hard shifting issues, even better than ever (i guess the Motul oil waited and kicked in last night ).
Got used to grabbing point and heaviness. I feel like heaviness is reduced a little, and grabbing point extended a little, so it is all good about this subject.

Found out that, only in 6th gear at low rpm (up to 2300-2500rpm), there is a very loud metallic noise, it vibrates everything in high frequency and cause more noise, it is coming all the way from clutch to diff.
Same king of noise comes when decelerating by letting of the gas, below 3000rpm at 5th or lower gears, but much less noisy.

Still having the chattering (just learned the words meaning, so i ment this by "trembling/jerking" at my first post), and still not liking it at all. I looked it up, some say it is normal for aftermarket clutch at first and it will reduce later on, but some say it is wrong install, some say i need to bleed the master/slave cylinder becouse clutch doesnt open enough...
I am lost here, need help.

[Sportsguy83]

The pedal can be adjusted higher/lower very easy with a 12 mm wrench, there's a DIY in the forum.

The chatter is common of aftermarket clutches and lighter flywheel.

Troubles getting into gears is troubling and might be the clutch dragging because the shop did not adequately lubricate the input shaft and clutch disk hub.

[ofuts]

I just realized that "chatter" means noise, so this is what i meant by "metalic whining noise" at my first post, sorry for my English
So, "judder" (i think the correct word for "trembling/jerking" in my first post) when taking off from a stop is still not normal i guess, which is my main problem atm. I need help about this issue mostly.

[CSG Mike]

It should NEVER be difficult to get into gear.

Drive it around 1000 miles in traffic, and see if it improves. Clutches have a break-in period.

[ofuts]

3rd week update:

It is softer now, no problem in traffic too. Grabbing area is wider too. Or, i just got used to it.
I didnt have any serious getting into gear problems like last time, much easier shifts now.
Didnt have any "click" noise at all.
Didnt have any rattle noise at idle when normal driving but heard just slight noise once at idle after trackday driving.

I realized that deep, continuous clunking noise when decelerating was heard after spirited driving and track driving. And that noise is very similar to reverse take off or reverse hard acceleration. You can olso slightly hear it when revving in neutral, when revs drop. I am posting a video of this noise after a little spirited driving on a rainy day, not pushing too much, trackday situation is much worse.

Still had the judder problem though, especially when driving in traffic for a long time. Take off at hills were more severe. There was olso burnt smell each time i took off, no metter slow or fast.
Judder was more severe at reverse take off, and i could hear some metal hitting to metal kind of noise because of shaking.


I made clutch pedal height adjustment 4 days ago. Very interestingly this adjustment (reduced the height just a little) took care most of my juddering problem, it is much less now, olso much less burnt smell now.

For summary, i am pretty happy with it now, especially after that pedal adjustment, just that noise at the video worries me.

[ballsdeep]

How's it driving now?

[Sargy]

@ofuts

I have the OS Giken Grand Touring Mono soft clutch version of this and I could probably help out with your discoveries. I did my research to make sure I knew what I was getting into. Im happy with my purchase:

My first impressions after driving on traffic and highway:
- Pedal is slightly heavier than oem, to friends its similar to EVOs clutch pressure and some other AWD cars. After initial press, its pressure is consistent without getting heavier. Very livable on the street with this softer pressure plate.

- Grabbing area is very short like yours and perfectly in the middle. I have heard about first gear lockouts for other clutches which is why I went ahead and got this. I do not experience this feels like a normal engagement. yours need to be adjusted based on what you said

- Car judders when you start moving from a stop, This I also do not like but there is a reason for this. The clutch features a patented floating pressure plate system. This works opposite to other clutches where you get the rattle with the clutch depress rather than having it rattle at idle. This allows for an easier engagement as you let off the pedal, but since this is floating you will get an ON-OFF engagement that results in a judder. This is another feature I was impressed that caught my attention before buying it because this makes the car easier to drive in traffic with a single/dual plate disk. I have learned to just keep pressing the gas on and off as I left off the clutch pedal to get a smooth engagement. This will have no judder but you will take off a lot quicker. It all depends on the person that drives the car.

- There is a little chattering noise when you press the clutch fully, hard to hear and not very annoying. again, from the previous mentioned comment. This is a patented floating pressure plate. Keeps the car quiet when idling (for single plates only) while still have great performance similar to a twin disk or 4/3 puck disks.

- I occasionally hear and feel a "click" start-mid of pedal travel. This I dont experience so I cant comment on it. Maybe I haven't noticed it.

- Sometimes there is a loud rattle at neutral, when you press the clutch or you are in a gear it goes away, it is annoying. But i had this issue before, it might not be related with this product, though, i had this issue only at cold starts with oem clutch previously, but now i heard it loud and clear (only once) at warm weather and warm car.


Again this is a feature mentioned in the previous comments.
My questions:
- Why do i get this click, is it important, how can i fix it? no idea
- Is the judder when starting to move from a stop normal? Yes
- Is the rattle normal? Do you know anyway i can fix it? With the clutch Depressed, Yes



Here is a link to the system itself

http://www.osgiken.co.jp/pro_streetm...mechanism.html

[CSG Mike]

The click is normal.

I'd be willing to bet that other than the two of you and myself, there's probably a rare handful here who have any experience with an OSG clutch.

Their engagement on hard driving is absolutely fantastic.

For those reading this thread, the OSG is a push type clutch.

[Apoc]

I also have this clutch and have had similar experiences. The only concern I had was the increased gear lash but that seems to be common with the 86s when changing to a LWFW. Best clutch on the market imo.

[choi0706]

I'm running the twin disk version. Only complaint I have the tiny window of grab and the rattle when letting off the gas around 3k rpm.