usndocgreen

So,
I have seen this question come up several times. What is the best aftermarket clutch for our cars? This question usually gets lost in all kinds of talk about applications and organic, double, triple plated, etc.
Personally, I want to go with FI eventually and would like to upgrade the clutch around that time. My personal goals are to have a car that is still drivable daily but can perform well on weekend track/street events. I am going to list the brands and products I know of. If you have personal experience with any of these products please let us know how they have worked for you and maybe we can get a few comments from some site sponsors also. Some of these clutches are for racing applications only which is fine, feel free to comment on them too. I am just listing name and price. There is a lot more info we can put up on each one of these. Please give your input if you have personal experience with these brands it would be greatly appreciated! Also if I have left out someone that you have had success with please let me know and I will revise the list!

Clutch Kits
Stillen offers: ACT Clutch Kit with Heavy Duty Pressure Plate and Performance Organic Street Disc $629.32
Jim WOlf Tech HD Clutch HIGH CLAMPING FORCE CLUTCH SET. 1200KG clamping force and a smooth organic disc $485
EXEDY STAGE 1 ORGANIC CLUTCH KIT $517
EXEDY STAGE 2 CERAMETALLIC CLUTCH KIT $750
GTM® SPEC EXEDY® TWIN-DISK CLUTCH ASSEMBLY $2195
Clutch Masters Stage 1 Steel-Back organic- $580
Stage 2-Steel Back Kevlar System - $710
Stage 3-Steel Back Kevlar System - $710
Stage 4(4 puck)-Extreme Duty Sprung Ceramic $710
Stage 4 (6 puck)-Extreme Duty Sprung Ceramic$710
OS Giken Twin plate clutch- $1795 (includes a performance flywheel)
OS Giken Triple plate clutch- $2137 (includes a performance flywheel)
OS Giken Quad plate clutch- $2271 (includes a performance flywheel)
South Bend Clutch Kits
Stage 1 380TQ 250MM Disk --- $400
High grade organic/copper mix full face street disk, these are the best organic linings avaiable. Smooth engagement with a performance feel.
Stage 2 450TQ 250MM disk --- $460
Segmented Kevlar disk facings, High TQ, Smooth Engagement and long wear.
Stage 3 475TQ 250MM Disk ---$500
Dual friction Organic and Feramic clutch disk, These offer high TQ, Smooth yet positive engagment and have unmatched durabilty and consistancy!
Stage 4 540TQ 250mm Disk ---$550
Dual friction Organic and Feramic clutch disk, These offer high TQ, Smooth yet positive engagment and have unmatched durabilty and consistancy!
Stage 5 590TQ 250mm Disk ---$600
Full Carbon/Feramic linings on both side of the disk give you a VERY durable clutch that will outlast and out grab the competition!
Stage 5 SIX PUCK 600TQ ---$650
The Original DXD clutch kit! This kit will offer you fast starts, Fast Shifts and lots of GRIP! Great for aggressive street, Track and Drag!


Flywheels
From Stillen:Light weight aluminum flywheel $493 online price
Jim Wolf Tech This low inertia flywheel weighs in at only 15.4lbs. Cutting the weight of the stock dual mass unit by 45% $450
EXEDY LIGHTWEIGHT RACING FLYWHEEL $598
Clutch Masters Billet Aluminum Flywheels $595
Fidanza Lightweight aluminum flywheel $718

Concentric Clutch Slave
ZSpeed Performance Heavy Duty Concentric Slave Cylinder for 07-09 350Z HR, G35 HR, G37 VHR, 2009-2011 VHR 370Z $289

1SiCkG

iTrader: (3)

jim wolf clutch= HUGE FAIL!!!

mikelr

iTrader: (1)

I've got the JWT clutch mounted to a Fidanza alloy flywheel and other than the typical "cement mixer" sound whilst the clutch pedal is out, I have no issues with the clutch. Smooth engadgment, slightly heavier pedal than stock, no issues with stalling due to lightened flywheels lack of inertia.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

I have Southbend Stage III clutch and billet steel flywheel. Not nearly as noisy as JWT or other billet aluminum flywheels, slightly heavier than stock pedal feel but very smooth. Have had it for avout 800 miles.

Tainui

iTrader: (1)

+1 JWT kit including the flywheel, bearing, braided line. 3,500 miles with this clutch.

micsky

usndocgreen - Nice! The same day we both post about options for aftermarket clutches. Good write-up though on clutches you've heard about.

I myself actually currently have the JWT clutch and flywheel. I am very happy with it for its smooth grab, and faster engine rev. It's ultimately how the stock "should" of been. However, I am very unhappy with it for it's clutch chatter noise. As well, if you are on an incline you get plate rattle even with peddle engaged (rattle goes away above 1200 rpm). This has prompted me to look around and see what my options are.

I am willing to spend a lot of money if I can find a clutch that is smooth and quiet. If anyone knows of one, please let me know.

Justin311

iTrader: (1)

has anybody on here actually USED a clutchmasters clutch or flywheel? can they provide feedback if so?

I have had great luck with CM on other applications. It seems that JW has infiltrated this community and gets used a lot...but I hear just as many poor opinions as positive ones :/

On another note, I am unsure how one can claim the flywheel is causing a noise. The TO or Pilot bearing can certainly cause a noise, usually while the clutch is in...but with the clutch [pedal out the FW and clutch are pressed together quite firmly by the splines on the PP and I dont understand how the FW is making noise - unless its LOOSE?. Perhaps the JWT clutch or bearing is noisy and people think its the FW? Or if I'm off base and somebody can explain how it makes noise, I'm all "ears" hehe

mikelr

iTrader: (1)

Basically the noise is from torsional vibrations loading and unloading the take up springs on the clutch disk. The dual mass (basically two piece) flywheel used to absorb these pulses (to a point, the stock flywheel/clutch disk still made noise), with the use of a single mass flywheel these forces are not dampened resulting in a noisy clutch at idle.

usndocgreen

Thanks everyone for the reviews thus far. Feedback is super helpful from clutch/FW's already in use. I will try to contact someone from CM and maybe the reps from JWT, CM or GTM to see if they can comment on their kits. Not as helpful as actual reviews but info is info! Thanks again and keep it coming!

christian655321

iTrader: (5)

Jwt is just a modified stock clutch ,junk but okay for stock power

Unless you are FI then anything will do - if you want the shiznat then o.s. Gieken is one of the best.

Team Punisher

Makes more noise than exhaust and intake together.

Justin311

iTrader: (1)

One of my good friends is a Clutchmasters dealer. He (and I) can comment on Clutchmasters in general, after trying every brand/style under the sun in our community and my own personal car (ACT, Southbend, OS Giken, CM, SPEC; organic, kevlar, 3 puck/4puck/6puck, sprung/unsprung, carbon/carbon, triple plate) we have settled on the 6 puck UNsprung clutchmasters.

A lot of people will probably be suprised, especially by the unsprung disk...but...The pedal feel is slighly LIGHTER than stock (changes the leverage point, its really simple and clean), the 6 pucks grab and launch hard and consistnelty, but are not spaced so far apart they chatter, and the things last considerably longer under hard launches than a full face disk. And the lack of SPRINGS actually helps you master daily driving it. All "puck" clutches grab in a repetitive motion (the more pucks the more iterations and the smoother it becomes, 3 puck is the worst) and with the 6 pucks it grabs pretty smoothly - HOWEVER, with the springs on a 6 puck, it absorbs the motion of each puck and then "rebounds" the other way, making the sprung clutch actually a bit jerkier in real world practice.

It is VERY hard to describe in words lol. I have a clutchmasters 6 puck unsprung in my MR2, if anybody wants to try one out they are welcome. I am leaning heavily towards CM, but debating full face vs 6 puck. I doubt I'll ever get to the power levels nor driving style (read: drag radial clutch dumps on VHT) necessary for a 6 puck...however I know quite a few on here are 350+ whp which does really require that kind of clutch.

I hope that helps you a little bit on clutchmasters and puck clutches in general. I would still love to hear from somebody who has a CM in a 3.5 or 3.7 because application specific is the best test - like the dual mass flywheel above which I was not even aware of - very app specific.

Edit: I looked to see if I had a picture of my 6 puck before I put it in, this the only one I found immediately - you can see it off to the right on the lower edge sitting on my step stool. Notice there are NO springs in teh disk at all and the pucks are very close together. The best of both worlds IMO....

usndocgreen

Hi All,
After contacting JWT, one of their reps got back to me with the following. ENJOY!

Hi Marshall,
The JWT lightweight flywheel which replaces the very heavy OEM dual mass flywheel, helps allow the engine to rev quicker which will then gain better acceleration and throttle response. The deceleration when slowing while in gear is also quicker so less loading on the brakes when slowing down. This part bolts directly in place of the factory flywheel using the OEM flywheel bolts and other added benefits are that the friction surface/heat shield is replaceable (making this a rebuildable flywheel) at a lower cost without having to replace the entire flywheel when servicing the clutch in the future is needed.

The JWT 1200kg clamping force pressure plate and disc have nice engagement for daily driver use due to the heavy duty organic friction material and stronger springs on the clutch hub. We also have the pressure plate spring/finger fulcrum set to keep the pedal feel in the car nice and not far from what the clutch pedal feels with the OEM clutch. This clutch combination can support as much as 600hp potential if properly broken in.

Now about noises heard when changing from a dual mass flywheel to a solid flywheel (any solid flywheel, not just a JWT unit), many people somehow think that the clutch or flywheel are making the noises when in fact is is the rotating parts inside the transmission that are what is being heard. That is the reason a dual mass type flywheel was installed from the factory to cancel out the harmonics from the large 6 speed gears, bearings and synchos when they rotate at slower speeds. Otherwise, Nissan/Infiniti never would of used a heavy dual mass flywheel in the first place and would of been a solid flywheel like all the Nissan/Infinitis used before the 350Z/G35/G37s came out. Notice that when you push in the clutch pedal that the transmission sounds get quiet. This is because they are no longer rotating with the clutch depressed. If a clutch is going to make any noise, it will be when it has a load on it and the disc is released which is when the clutch pedal is physically depressed. When the clutch is released, the 1200kg clamping force of the pressure plate has the clutch disc sandwiched between the pressure plate and the flywheel friction surface. At that time, everything is tight and there are no parts that can make any noises.

- Ben Pila, JWT Technical and Sales Service

usndocgreen

This was also forwarded from Ben at JWT. Thought it was good reading. The link to the online build article is below! Thanks Ben and JWT!

"In a quest for smooth, quiet drivetrains that are strong enough to take relentless abuse, Nissan has adopted dual-mass flywheels on all (both) its new engines. Big, strong gearboxes like the one in the 350Z/G35 tend to rattle and groan like a UPS truck at low rpm. The noise comes from torsional vibrations originating from the surge of individual power strokes. A dual-mass flywheel separates the crankshaft and clutch sides of the flywheel by a set of springs. Using the power of math, Nissan engineers chose appropriate spring rates and flywheel mass to damp out these vibrations, making the gearbox smooth and quiet and eliminating complaints from those who would whine about funny noises.
Unfortunately, that math also shows Nissan engineers the Z/G35 flywheel has to be 25.5 pounds to damp things properly. That doesn't seem overly heavy when a quick a quick zing of the throttle unleashes 274 lb-ft of torque, but when we replaced that 25 pounds with 14 pounds of Jim Wolf aluminum flywheel, we were amazed what we had been missing.
Free-revving in neutral is just silly now. The lighter flywheel frees horsepower once used for accelerating its 25 pounds. In high gears, the difference is negligible, but in first and second gear, where each mile per hour means more revolutions of that 25-pound flywheel, the difference is surprising. Hard-driving fast shifts are now easier and smoother, but cruising around, revs actually drop so quickly between shifts that lazy gearwork makes you drive like a clutch monkey.
The gearbox does indeed make noises now. At idle and accelerating hard below 2000 rpm, you would think something was wrong if you didn't know better, but since you put the flywheel in, you understand the noises. Above 2000 rpm, the gearbox is silent. The noise shouldn't translate into accelerated wear, by the way, it just sounds like it does."

Project Nissan 350Z - JWT Clutch - Sport Compact Magazine

Justin311

iTrader: (1)

That is good reading man... Thank u. Still debating if I like quiet or quick revving more.....