Topic: ceramic clutch disc?a NO NO!!!!!!

[tryn2Crawl]

don't mean to put  marlins new ceramic disc dowm but I've have lots of experiences with these kind of disc. I've raced Hondas for a while now and to tell you the truth, they eat up your flywheels. Maybe its because of the way it's being use ofr, I don't know. No doubt, they grab like crazy with no slippage.Expect to buy a new flywheel when its time for a new disc. Thats just my experience. Anyone inspect their flywheels yet after a ceramic disc install?? I've experiece with ACT and Clutchmasters clutch kits w/ ceramic disc before and thats what happen. Maybe it's because it's on a Honda??Could be though.

[BigMike]

This is true. Usually when someone needs a stronger clutch, it's because they've increased their engine's performance far beyond it's stock counterpart. At such a point, the engine will overpower the stock clutch, naturally. So you've got a couple options... 1) Run a larger diameter clutch, 2) Use a Multidisk clutch pack, or 3) use a compound that has a higher coefficient of friction.

#1 Would be a great choice, but then we would need to change the transmission in order to place the starter out farther, and that would be a huge job requiring many custom parts.

#2 Is a great choice since you can maintain a smaller rotational mass while centering the weight at a smaller diameter. You could use 3 or 4 disks that have a smaller OD and less contact surface per disk, but multiplied would give more frictional surface total. But this requires either a new custom flywheel, or modifications to a stock flywheel, and would be at least $800 to get done.

#3 This is the only reasonable choice for the big power builder who can not afford the thousand dollars or so for the other options, since this way is just $275 or so.

Well, with that said, I am sure this is common sense and I dont mean to be a jackass with this, but my point is that the majority of the customers who are buying this clutch do not have 200+ horsepower engines, they just simply want a clutch that grabs much better than their stock clutch.

So, with a stock engine, I would imagine that it would take some time destroy a flywheel with this higher frictional ceramic clutch disk. Sure, with an engine with 200+ HP, yes, it's going to tear up the flywheel, but for the average 22R or 22R-E, this is an excellent clutch for someone who wants the highest level or clutch performance without having to pay $800 something for the alternatives. I am sure that the average engine with this clutch and stock flywheel combo will last for many many miles to come-

BigMike

[BigMike]

I forgot to add that my experience with this is that I ran a Ceramic 4-pluck disk in my Supercharged MR2 with a Normally Aspirated transaxle for about 15k and it tore up my Chromolly flywheel pretty good. But I also was putting out close to 300 Horsepower and Torque, which is DOUBLE what the engine was stock. Of course the clutch size itself is just too small for this kind of power, so that's what I had to do in order to keep it hooked up. The problem was that I was not using a Supercharged transaxle that had an inch larger flywheel diameter. I believe my NA flywheel and clutch size was a 7 7/8" whereas the SC clutch size is a 8 3/4" or something?

Right before my engine died, I was working on saving $750 for a 4-disk clutch pack that a company in Canada would fix to my flywheel. They were going to center the disks and drill the holes, and then rebalance the flywheel.

But I never got around to that and now the car is sitting in my backyard.

So I guess, if someone's 22R-E is putting out close to 230 HP and 288 Ft-Lbs Torque, then I would advise them that this clutch will indeed slowly eat away at their flywheel and might only last about 15k or 20k miles.

So to compare that to the Hilux Clutch, you know, I was using a 7 7/8" ceramic clutch with 300 HP whereas the Truck is a 8 7/8" or a 9 5/16" with just 100 - 150 HP or so. So clearly I had the absolute missmatch of power and clutch size, so that's why I had to run a 4-pluck. The 4-disk multiplate clutch pack sure would have been sweet-

[freds40]

Mike's right, there are otions but it's all about what is a viable option to bring to the marketplace. The Ceramic is the easiest and most cost effective way to get more holding power. In a world where most guys are looking for the best deals out there, it'd be hard to sell an $800 plus clutch pack to people who are building an off-road truck. On the race scene, multi-disc clutches are all the rage but those people drop the coin on performance and performance alone.

That being said, I have a ceramic disc in my 600RWHP Dodge and it drives me nuts. It is extremely grabby and does cause the truck to hop a bit on take off, but it does grab and I can count on it to hold all 600 ponies without fear of slipping. Now when I can afford it, I will definately be dropping about $1500 on a dual disc South Bend clutch, but until then, this gets me by.   

[mr4x42u]

on another note flywheels are pretty cheap..my buddy got one for 45 bucks..and like most parts they wear out over time...the thinges we will do for performance huh..