URGENT - Need clutch advice.

Mad Kiwi · Post by **Mad Kiwi** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:44 pm

Hi Guys

I am planning on doing the evening track day at Hampton on the 27th (I think that is the date) in "wee1" and the clutch is slipping slightly.

I can just try it but have a feeling I may not get home.....I think fitting the LSD was probably the last straw on that poor overworked original thing!!!

Anyway.

1/ I need to upgrade to an 1800 flywheel so am on the scrounge for one of those......

2/ Need an 1800 clutch kit, preferably heavy duty but am very concerned with pedal pressure. Need it to be as stock like as possible...

Car is a turbo but only running 6 psi though intend to go to around 8-9 in the near future...

Suggestions, experiences, thisngs to look out for etc....I'm all ears!!

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:53 pm

im running a 1800 flywheel and aussie heavy duty "Xtreme" clutch in my turbo.its the heaviest clamping cover that they make.

pedal effort is like stock .my wife didnt even notice the difference. im running a full face organic disc but i f want more HP capability i would change to a 6 puck sprung disc.

on miata. net pretty much the ONLY gauranteed solution is the HD exteme clutch (not the same as my xtreme clutch)
i dont think any of the mx5 clutches could be considered overly heavy. its not a mustang.

many guys upgrade the clutch to a clutch which "might do the job" and almost always they dont. the exedy HD etc clutches just fail.
i went from a lightened 1600 flywheel to a standard weight 1800 and certainly notice the throttle response.

punkoutnz · Post by **punkoutnz** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 3:09 pm

I got autoclutch to build my clutch for me, 2200lbs pressure plate and a full face carbon/kevlar clutch disk. It's really nice to drive on and although "bitey" it's still perfectly streetable, even in traffic.

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:26 pm

yes i think mine was a 1 ton clutch cover as well. perfectly driveable.

its a case of "you notice the change" but if you bought it like that, you would never know.

Mad Kiwi · Post by **Mad Kiwi** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:34 pm

So for a gauranteed off the shelf solution, the Flyin Miata happy meal is the way to go?

Nothing closer to home?

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:26 pm

depends on what power you want to go for..i guess the xtreme cover plate and sprung 6 puck is about the most streetable high HP one available "locally" (ex australia) but the flyin miata happy meal is a fit and forget deal. many people baulk at the cost, only to do the whole ting twice which ends up being more expensive in the long run.
at $599USD for a lightweight flywheel and HD clutch package its a bargain really.
its been 5 years since i did my clutch so there could be newer options on the market maybe a quick ask on the aussie forum might shed some light on toher options.
an 1800 size fm1 happy meal with the flywheel of your choice is a great option.

brownie · Post by **brownie** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:15 pm

Did you check our classifieds,I,m sure there a clutch listed,might be suitable...

Mad Kiwi · Post by **Mad Kiwi** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:16 pm

Hi Brownie, Yes I did see that and it looks really good except that I am worried it might be a bit too on/off for me.

I am admittedly not doing so well, but trying my hardest to retain street manners and driveability as much as possible. I have in the past gone too far and found the car/motorcycle doesn't get used as often as intended due to it having become too performance orientated and just not "fun" any longer in a day to day environment.

I love this car and want to continue be able to drive it (and enjoy driving it) to work and about as often as possible, this means often in peak hour traffic etc.. (not your Christchurch 10 min kind, more the slit your wrists in desperation, Auckland kind

)

If you or anyone else could say that the clutch type you have listed is a bit heavier than stock and not "too" on/off I would take it in a heartbeat...

I look forward to some elaboration or even some harder sales pitch ...

brownie · Post by **brownie** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:30 pm

To be fair ,i have spoken to Autoclutch myself,and there's do sound good,so long as you are happy to spend around $600.00,but no doubt there's would be usable every day,The one listed is fairly heavy duty,1/2 the price though !

It came up at a bloody sharp price,to on sell at a sharp price,I wouldn't use in my own car either,i like using the car in traffic,even though our roads are reasonably free flowing,dare you to find a smooth bastard,Gunna be a long time before we get nice roads to drive on again,smoothish in bigger cars but a arse in the LOW roadster and a pig in my HARD suspension work truck,i just have to Harden the Fu*k up really

Mad Kiwi · Post by **Mad Kiwi** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:46 pm

Okay, have decided on Flying Miata Happy meal stage 1 clutch with 13lbs flywheel.

I have driven cars with light flywheels and for a street driver found them to be a pain. So I have chosen the heavier of the 2 options....

Hopefully arrives next week and will have a report on the feel, driveability etc then....

SLYDIT · Post by **SLYDIT** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:06 pm

if its anything like my clutch, you will wonder what all the fuss is about.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:42 pm

Mad Kiwi wrote:Okay, have decided on Flying Miata Happy meal stage 1 clutch with 13lbs flywheel.

I have driven cars with light flywheels and for a street driver found them to be a pain. So I have chosen the heavier of the 2 options....

Hopefully arrives next week and will have a report on the feel, driveability etc then....

Yes, but were they MX5s you drove with light flywheels??
I have an RB 9lb flywheel with a Stage 1 Exedy cluch and it is a piece of cake to drive around town.
Incidentally, I had all of the above balanced as a precaution given the rpms used on the track, and they were remarkably accurate...the engineer remarked how this is not the norm! So I considered the extra cost of about $60 from memory worth the piece of mind.

Mad Kiwi · Post by **Mad Kiwi** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:57 pm

Hi Ian, thats interesting to know re the driveability. To answer your question , no not mx5's. Mostly rotaries, Holdens etc back in the day.....

I wonder if yours is stock or not....?

The stock engine mapping seems very good, smooth, no bogging or spluttering where as my turbo car with the Link computer is a bit spluttery, not bad at all but certainly not OEM. I figure a slight bog at the lights etc with a light flywheel might be a real nuisance...

Anyway, clutch kit, bonnet louvres, braided brake lines and Trackspeed Brake ducts all in the one shipment coming.

Recently fitted the Flying Miata frame rails from Angreal (thank you once again!!), Carbotech brake pads all round(WOW, what an amazing difference that made!!) and new NGK plug leads which helped improve the idle and slightly decreasing the off idle bog, surpising considering the ones removed looked alright and not that old...

Hopefully car is almost sorted for track days now....no doubt all this ancillary work will reveal a massive mechanical issue...Murphies Law and all....

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:57 pm

Yes...mine is naturally aspirated with just intake/exhaust mods/advanced timing...so no idle or off idle issues.
Leaving aside your tuning issues, there is a belief out there that a lightflywheel is a pain around town. When I fitted mine, I noticed the difference, in stop start traffic...it took me all of 10 secs to make an adjustment ie about another 200rpm when letting the clutch out....easy as.
Good luck with all the mods.
Saving for a day on the dyno so I can fit my Gen2 PNP ECU!!

Ian

brownie · Post by **brownie** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:24 pm

I'll agree with Ian,
I've got 1600,with TODA 3.5 kg flywheel and standard clutch,Piece of cake around town,The only problem i get is the stuffed roads down here can make it a bit............jumpy ??,If that's the word,Before the earthquakes and we had decent roads it was smooth as to drive,took about 20mins to adjust to it

bgg846 · Post by **bgg846** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 8:25 am

A little advice please. Figured id butt in here instead of making a whole new topic. Im swapping my 1600 out for an 1800. Both from an na. Iv brought an extreme clutch hd clutch and light weight flywheel for an 1800 i believe.
So my question is will my 1800 engine flywheel and clutch work with my 1600 box or should i have got a 1600 flywheel? Also should i get an 1800 starter motor or is the 1600 starter motor up to the task? I notice they have diferent amounts of teeth.
Cheers

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 10:33 am

bgg846 wrote:A little advice please. Figured id butt in here instead of making a whole new topic. Im swapping my 1600 out for an 1800. Both from an na. Iv brought an extreme clutch hd clutch and light weight flywheel for an 1800 i believe.
So my question is will my 1800 engine flywheel and clutch work with my 1600 box or should i have got a 1600 flywheel? Also should i get an 1800 starter motor or is the 1600 starter motor up to the task? I notice they have diferent amounts of teeth.
Cheers

As long as you have both the flywheel and clutch then it'll happily work. The 1800/1600 flywheel & clutch are different sizes so if you have half the jigsaw then it won't work. You won't have this problem

bgg846 · Post by **bgg846** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 10:58 am

Cheers. Thats a relief. And do i fork out for an 1800 starter motor or will my 1600 work?

Angreal · Post by **Angreal** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 12:36 pm

Pretty sure it's all plug n play.

http://www.topdownmx5.com/clutch.htm

The one on the left is the 1.6, the one on the right is the 1.8

MrGrey · Post by **MrGrey** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 1:49 pm

I cannot see any reason why your 1.6 starter would not work, but some of the more experienced chaps may have a better idea.

silver bullet · Post by **silver bullet** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:59 pm

For my 2 cents worth, I'd go with autoclutch in Auckland.
Had one rebuilt by them and I'd recommend them totally. Give them a ring, the guy was only to happy to talk at length and he'll talk you through flywheel selection too. To be honest with an 1800 flywheel there's plenty of weight to be lost by a good machinest and as it's turbo'd you won't be revving it to the sky anyway.
I ended up with a very nice feel and good bite ( an scared of destroying diff now ). Have used my car for well over 1000km of completion or trackdays and the clutch is operating the same as when I got it.
Give them a call at the very least, they do this for a job.

bgg846 · Post by **bgg846** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:20 pm

Cheers the main thing was the starter motor as the 2 listed on trade me say 1 has 8 teeth and the other has 10. Thaught if i mixed that and the fly wheel up maybe the teeth wouldnt match and would jam up. Already have a light weight flywheel and hd clutch waiting

bgg846 · Post by **bgg846** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:21 pm

Cheers the main thing was the starter motor as the 2 listed on trade me say 1 has 8 teeth and the other has 10. Thaught if i mixed that and the fly wheel up maybe the teeth wouldnt match and would jam up. Already have a light weight flywheel and hd clutch waiting

bgg846 · Post by **bgg846** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:31 pm

Cheers angreel. Definitly matches the right hand 1

WideOpenThrottle · Post by **WideOpenThrottle** » Fri Jun 06, 2014 10:51 am

MrGrey wrote:I cannot see any reason why your 1.6 starter would not work, but some of the more experienced chaps may have a better idea.

I have an 1800 HD clutch,1800 flywheel and 1600 5 speed box.All works perfectly with 1600 starter motor

URGENT - Need clutch advice.

URGENT - Need clutch advice.

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