Aftermarket Clutch and E85

[Chris.]

Hey All,

I've been reading a ton about different clutch options and to be quite honest, I am not at all impressed with the options we have for the n54. Let's break it down:

Act: the organic street seems to be a good "oem like" replacement but in most cases cant handle the tq numbers that an e85/meth car is putting out. *rated at 440 ft/lb.

HPF: serious issues with the plate welding to the flywheel. I don't even want to get near that.

Spec: horrible reputation across all auto platforms, but holds the power when needed. Customer service is awful.

ClutchMasters: issues with premature slipping after a few thousand miles.

The only company I would consider is act, however I don't know if the street clutch will hold what I want it to. Is anyone running the 6 puck as a daily? What are your impressions??

Thanks for the input!

[MuNkY6913]

I'm about to install the spec stage 2+flywheel. Hope it doesn't turn out being a bad decision.

[Stohlen]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

I'm about to install the spec stage 2+flywheel. Hope it doesn't turn out being a bad decision.

Just hope you dont have to talk to spec ever... they're just awful if anything goes wrong.

I would really consider clutchmasters...

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by Stohlen

Just hope you dont have to talk to spec ever... they're just awful if anything goes wrong.

I would really consider clutchmasters...

I already have it. I'm installing it myself. I've had a little bit of communication with them so far. The last correspondence felt really rushed and didn't answer all of my questions but I'll try them back again. I think it will all go right. Hopefully nothing goes wrong and I don't have to get ahold of them for anything.

[Dmacc]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

I already have it. I'm installing it myself. I've had a little bit of communication with them so far. The last correspondence felt really rushed and didn't answer all of my questions but I'll try them back again. I think it will all go right. Hopefully nothing goes wrong and I don't have to get ahold of them for anything.

You should be good to go, I've been running the same set up with the steel flywheel for ~9k miles thus far and haven't had any issues. At first when the clutch is new it's a bit difficult to engage, but over the next 2k miles it wears to a nice engagement point that hasn't change for me in 7k miles. It is holding 530wtq with no problem.

[Chris.]

Is anyone running the ACT organic street disc on e85?

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by Dmacc

You should be good to go, I've been running the same set up with the steel flywheel for ~9k miles thus far and haven't had any issues. At first when the clutch is new it's a bit difficult to engage, but over the next 2k miles it wears to a nice engagement point that hasn't change for me in 7k miles. It is holding 530wtq with no problem.

Hey Dmacc, got my clutch installed last weekend. boy did it kick my a$$ though. In the DIY video they have a bunch of cut scenes. no one tells you those cut scenes are hours of trying to get at one or 2 bolts. or how to even get at them properly. but we got it figured out. only been able to take it for a test drive for about 50 miles after install and the weather has been crap since. until today! I have a question for you since you have the same set up. the pedal is alot harder to push in compared to stock but its not as bad as i thought it would be. i'm wondering where the engagement point in the clutch pedal travel ended up being after your install? did it stay in the same spot? mine has seemed to move farther up on the clutch pedal travel. so it engages close to fully released. pre install it was about half way. there is still some room after the engagement but its alot higher than before. just wanted to see if thats happened to anyone else. i hope i didnt ef it up because right now it feels really good. shifts better too. and so far no chattering. i can feel the engine more in the pedal but no vibration or chattering.

[Dmacc]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

Hey Dmacc, got my clutch installed last weekend. boy did it kick my a$$ though. In the DIY video they have a bunch of cut scenes. no one tells you those cut scenes are hours of trying to get at one or 2 bolts. or how to even get at them properly. but we got it figured out. only been able to take it for a test drive for about 50 miles after install and the weather has been crap since. until today! I have a question for you since you have the same set up. the pedal is alot harder to push in compared to stock but its not as bad as i thought it would be. i'm wondering where the engagement point in the clutch pedal travel ended up being after your install? did it stay in the same spot? mine has seemed to move farther up on the clutch pedal travel. so it engages close to fully released. pre install it was about half way. there is still some room after the engagement but its alot higher than before. just wanted to see if thats happened to anyone else. i hope i didnt ef it up because right now it feels really good. shifts better too. and so far no chattering. i can feel the engine more in the pedal but no vibration or chattering.

Glad you were able to get it installed! My pedal was definitely a lot stiffer and my engagement point was more towards the top, it took around 1k miles and my engagement point moved slightly lower in the pedal. Right now it's at a pretty comfortable spot, slightly higher than stock, but not as high as you are experiencing now. After some good use it should lower slightly.

[CGMike]

Do you guys replace the dualmass flywheel with a regular flywheel when you replace the clutch? Any issues doing that? Any clutch chatter? Seems relevant to OPs question. Thanks

[Stohlen]

You should be able to adjust clutch engagement position.

[MuNkY6913]

@dmacc I took it out today and finally got the chatter to happen. After about an hour of driving I pulled into the drive way and got out and there it was. Loud as hell. Well that's the price I will pay. It's only at idle so as long as I'm moving I'll be alright I installed the single mass flywheel from spec. I can't even begin to think what the process would be to adjust the clutch. After the 16 hours it took to install I'm done with it. As long as nothing is efd up, I'm good. Side note. After driving today I got a static in the radio. It was almost like a heart beat of static. Radio off or on, loud or quite it was always there the same volume. Even when I turned the car off it was still going. Until I locked the door and it went away. Didn't happen before the clutch instal so I'll have to check the plugs I pulled during instal. Probably take the negative terminal off first for a while and see if that changes it. Anyone heard of this?

[Dmacc]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

@dmacc I took it out today and finally got the chatter to happen. After about an hour of driving I pulled into the drive way and got out and there it was. Loud as hell. Well that's the price I will pay. It's only at idle so as long as I'm moving I'll be alright I installed the single mass flywheel from spec. I can't even begin to think what the process would be to adjust the clutch. After the 16 hours it took to install I'm done with it. As long as nothing is efd up, I'm good. Side note. After driving today I got a static in the radio. It was almost like a heart beat of static. Radio off or on, loud or quite it was always there the same volume. Even when I turned the car off it was still going. Until I locked the door and it went away. Didn't happen before the clutch instal so I'll have to check the plugs I pulled during instal. Probably take the negative terminal off first for a while and see if that changes it. Anyone heard of this?

Did you end up going with the steel or light weight aluminum smfw? The steel weighs around 22 lbs and doesn't chatter as badly as the lighter aluminum version.

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by Dmacc

Did you end up going with the steel or light weight aluminum smfw? The steel weighs around 22 lbs and doesn't chatter as badly as the lighter aluminum version.

I'm thinking it was the aluminum because it was light as hell. I bought it of another forum member.
EDIT: nope it's the billet steel flywheel. Still pretty light. Didn't feel like 22lbs. Should have weighed it while it was out.

[Dmacc]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

I'm thinking it was the aluminum because it was light as hell. I bought it of another forum member.
EDIT: nope it's the billet steel flywheel. Still pretty light. Didn't feel like 22lbs. Should have weighed it while it was out.

For me chatter is worse when the AC is on, otherwise it's not too bad at 640rpm. On accel you can hear it up to 2k rpms and then it's not noticeable.

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by Dmacc

For me chatter is worse when the AC is on, otherwise it's not too bad at 640rpm. On accel you can hear it up to 2k rpms and then it's not noticeable.

alright sounds about the same. i cant hear it on accel yet but i'm sure as it gets broken in a bit more it might creep in there. good. atleast it sounds like i didn't ef up the install.