Clutchmasters FX400 (6 Puck)

[Supermassive]

So I finally got around to replacing my clutch in preparation for my FI kit's arrival and wanted to post up a couple thoughts from the perspective of an occasional track day driver. I haven't taken the car to a track yet (installed it Christmas Day and it's now 2:50AM on the 26th) but have played around with it a bit and felt like it would be good to share a little.

First off my car is currently N/A with only an AP lightweight crank pulley, and a P&L Motorsports header back exhaust. So the FX400 is clearly overkill for this application at present (it's hold rating is 500 ftlbs of torque) but it's actually quite fun because the clutch and flywheel combo is lighter than stock. I tried to weigh the FX400 but my little bathroom scale apparently cant weigh anything 25lbs or less...so for the sake of argument I'm just gonna say that the FX400 is 25lbs +/- 2lbs...need to invest in a proper scale. The stock clutch and flywheel weighs in at 33.6lbs so we have a weight savings in rotational mass!!! YAY! How does it translate on the street...well this thing revs quick as hell now, and drops revs just as fast. As far as engine liveliness this is the path to take (I'd suggest an FX100 for stock engines!).

As far as actually driving in traffic or stoplight to stoplight the FX400 is a beast, not gonna lie. Pedal effort is high, modulating the friction zone is way harder, and if you don't give it enough gas the car will lurch...so you have to retune your mindset as far as driving this car. You can slip the clutch a little but it requires a conscious effort to do so...well at least for now while i am getting used to it.

All that said, this clutch is a lot of fun to drive with when you are accelerating hard, shifts are easy once the car is moving from a stop, because there is no slip between shifts you just dump and go. The pedal travel required to disengage the clutch is a lot shorter so the pedal pressure isnt a huge deal, in fact with practice you can feel the friction zone through the pedal way more than the stock setup. I've only come close to stalling the car one time and it was the first time I backed it out of the garage after install.

Some things to note:

Did a little burnout to see if it changed at all. The stock clutch could barely spin the rears before (I have Nitto Invos @ 255/35/18) due to slippage. With the FX400, it spun them up and kept spinning them up to redline, I bounced off the rev limiter a few times and shifted into second and got a nice little chirp. Not good for the diff I know but that's what you get with the kind of grip a 6 puck setup affords.

The clutch makes noise...it's not what I expected, because people said it would rattle on occasion, I just assumed it would rattle when the clutch was engaged. Well it's dead silent with the clutch in, the only time you hear the clutch is when you are in gear and decelerating using engine braking, and what you hear is a muffled rattle. I'm guessing it's the springs on the clutch disk that causes this but I'm no expert so someone might be able to clarify this for me. It's not a sound that is overly annoying as you can block it out just by having your radio on (not loud), but when driving with no radio it's noticeable...I kinda like it, goes with all the rattles and creaks that I have from running coilovers on camber plates and hard sidewall tires...it's another audio indication of what your car is doing.

So in conclusion, I am happy with my addition of a Clutchmasters FX400 clutch and flywheel kit. Not because it suits a N/A car but because it will certainly handle whatever my FI setup throws at it. It is way overkill for N/A and makes the car a bit harder to drive smoothly with the lack of power. We'll see how i feel after months of living with it and how it feels once I get the turbo kit installed and tuned.

[Starscream15]

Stand on scale holding parts and subtract your weight from that

Too late, I know!

[Supermassive]

Originally Posted by Starscream15

Stand on scale holding parts and subtract your weight from that

Lol wish i thought of that...was too focused on getting the car back together...

[Flat Black VW]

Originally Posted by Supermassive

Lol wish i thought of that...was too focused on getting the car back together...

Easy way to weigh your dog!

[carbonBLUE]

Originally Posted by Supermassive

Lol wish i thought of that...was too focused on getting the car back together...

by the looks of your stock pressure plate you have been hooning a lot lol... good thing sports car is driven like racecar more power to ya (no pun intended)

[Supermassive]

Originally Posted by carbonBLUE

by the looks of your stock pressure plate you have been hooning a lot lol... good thing sports car is driven like racecar more power to ya (no pun intended)

Yeah I don't baby my car too much when I drive, I gotta say the 255s in the back probably did more to wear the clutch down than anything. The new clutch doesn't even bat an eye to em.

[luxmn]

Awesome write up, can you give a rough budget for this project obviously without the FI kit until you pick one?

[Supermassive]

Originally Posted by luxmn

Awesome write up, can you give a rough budget for this project obviously without the FI kit until you pick one?

Of all my mods so far? I have already bought my FI kit through P&L Motorsports, so I know exactly how much it all costs

I could post it up in my build thread that I haven't updated in forever though for anyone interested. I'll get around to it when I have some time.

[luxmn]

Originally Posted by Supermassive

Of all my mods so far? I have already bought my FI kit through P&L Motorsports, so I know exactly how much it all costs

I could post it up in my build thread that I haven't updated in forever though for anyone interested. I'll get around to it when I have some time.

All of them would be nice but I'm mostly interested in this particular transmission upgrade. You're the first person I see doing this swap, so it's not as easy to get a feel for the budget as compared to wheels & tires upgrade.

And can we also expect a DIY for the Fi kit? The other lad with the same kit had it done through a shop so it's all just eye candies (awesome stuff nevertheless) but not much help for us low budget enthusiasts.

[Supermassive]

Well the Clutchmasters FX400 clutch/flywheel cost me about $800 and other than that the only other cost is in fluids. I chose Motul Gear 300 for this application. You might have to consider tool cost if you need any of the tools, buit that's about it as far as my transmission work is concerned. I may go with a CF driveshaft one day but not any time soon I think.

This was actually a pretty cheap mod if you do it yourself, I was quoted $300 minimum to have it installed by a shop so I saved money!

As for a DIY for the FI setup I have coming...yes I will be doing one. Most of the install will undoubtedly only apply to the P&L Motorsports kit, but I have a feeling some of it will be useful for anyone with this car and a desire for FI.

[Kochinopride]

Thanks for the review. I think I'm going with this set up when I pick up the Manual car in 2-3 weeks. I doubt the change will be hard to manage... Any manual car is softer than a Lotus...

[Supermassive]

Ok just a small update...

I've only put maybe 100 miles on the new clutch and I gotta say i was expecting to hate driving in traffic but the 6 puck is just on the right side of liveable. The pedal pressure has become almost un-noticeable it feels just slightly stiffer than stock...of course i have yet to jump back into a stock FRS to see if maybe my brain has already adjusted to this as normal.

The only gripe I have so far is how much the car wants to spin the tires off the line now. I blame how aggressive the grab of the ceramic pucks is, but it's ridiculous how easy it is to spin my 255's in first gear. With the stock clutch you had to rev hard and dump the clutch, with the FX400 as soon as the clutch grabs the tires give up. Acceleration is much improved according to my butt dyno, we'll see next time I can get together with a stock FRS if its placebo effect or actual.

Also Kochino if you fly me out to NJ I'll install it for you for the cost of a shared case of brew (and maybe a ride in your CLS *wink wink*)

[Sargy]

I would love to have the unsprung version of this.

[stockysnail]

Any updates on the clutch @Supermassive ??