Long Life Clutch
 

I am clutch shopping and don't really know what I'd want ideally or how to decide which clutch is best for me. I have put together a priorities list and would be grateful for educated and experiential advise.
First off, I work right next door to a shop that can do the labor, and I won't have time to do it myself, so I don't need advise on installing.
Now to my priorities list.
It will be a DD for hopefully many years.
I want the longest lasting clutch available, I can spend up to $900. I'd like a slightly stiffer pedal and a tad sharper grab than stock.
I will get the revised TOB and versus forged clutch fork to prolong the life.

I'm a new enthusiest, and although I have a lot of seat time in various manuals, I don't have the experience past minor mods and repairs.

Short question... What clutch under $900 has the highest potential for durability that also provides higher performance strength?


Might SC in the future if things go well. 300whp ballpark if I do.

I've looked for solid advise on this topic and all the discussions are many years old.
Thanks everyone in advance for your guidance.

Southbend Stage 3 daily!

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Any heavy duty single or dual "full faced" clutch.

Pucks, whilst being able to apply more point load, thus holding more torque, tend to wear out quicker.

My OEM was holding fine on a turbo 86 with around 280 nm (206 ft/lb).

In the real world you would be lucky to see that torque with a supercharger with your 300hp goal.

Remember the gearbox is rated to 250 nm (184ft/lb) plus or minus a safety fudge factor.

A sprung HD Excedy organic with the OEM flywheel should easily fit the bill and be extremely street friendly.

Are there any dual disk organic clutches around the $900? I thought there was an 86speedfactory video on one a while back, but can't find it now. I believe it was an act.

I've seen some clutches with slotted organic disks, at least that's what it looks like.... I suppose it's kinda like break rotors and pads. Slotted rotors eat up the pads faster.

South Bend Stage 3... I've always assumed the higher the stage the less DD friendly. Is that assumption wrong?

I see this clutch kit https://www.ft86speedfactory.com/com...l#.Xnhm-IhKiUk

It is $1200, which is a bit high for my goal. My goal is to get the new clutch kit, revised TOB, and forged clutch fork installed for sub $1500.

In my experience clutch life has to do with how you use it. Having drove semi trailer for a big part of my life, I may have useful opinions about this topic.



My clutches seem to last a long time.

The Exedy stage 1 in my opinion is the closest to OEM reliability with increased capacity. Increased capacity does not mean better longevity. Clutches with harsher friction material inherently will not last as long as they cannot withstand being slipped nearly as well, which is why stock clutches don't hold as much power.

Undoubtedly, the clutch wear is based almost entirely on your use of it. Don't ride it too much, don't induce drivetrain shock by dropping the clutch pedal, don't expect it to hold 300ftlbs of torque, etc.

The OEM clutch would be the longest lasting part, guaranteed. In 2 BM<Ws I've owned in the past, I had the OEM clutch last for nearly 145,000 miles. And that's with autocross and other misc use that it outside of the normal scope of how a car is intended to be driven.

Get an OEM clutch replacement, get a upgraded clutch release fork and pivot while you're in there from Velox, and you'll be good for as long as possible.

I'm aware of clutch use relation to longevity. I am on 120k miles on my wrx wagon and have had no issues. My brz is at 50k miles and it's on stock clutch and it's doing fine, however my TOB is otw out and I figured I'd do clutch same time.

I won't be doing any track days or autox, just some heavy spirited driving on some canyon roads on occasion. So pretty much comfort is top priority, however I don't really like the extremely light and long merge of the stock clutch.
I was planning on going FI this summer, but I have put it back again due to the market crash and cut hours at work. I'm just being safe. So likely if things don't go to wild I'll be doing fi by the end of the year or next spring.

Also, thanks for your help guys. It's much appreciated.

quit looking at Stage bla bla bla!



Look at what torque the clutch is rated at. If you are not a total ass hat and doing 4k drops at every light a single clutch rated around 250ft lbs is fine for a supercharger at that level. I have the ACT HD street clutch. Running a AVO turbo on E85 at 9psi. my torque should be in the 250 range (clutch is rated at 270) and works just fine for daily and track. Drag strip it would not work. I can not recommend the ACT just because it took forever to break in. I was convinced I was going to replace it but did not have the time, 5000 miles later is is a good clutch. Or just could have been Dallas traffic that screwed up the break in?

Well, to narrow down the options, does anyone know what budget clutch I should avoid? Any known problems to some of the $500 clutches?
I'll order this week sometime.

Thanks again for the advice.

I for one never had any problems with Exedy OEM replacement.
But your mileage will very.

What seems to be on the rise is ACT clutches failures as of late. But my two cents, I been in the automotive world longer to know ACT has been hit or miss.

Anyone know of issues with the Competition Stage 3 Clutch Kit?

https://www.ft86speedfactory.com/com...l#.XnlwwYhKiUk