StevieR

Hey guys, hope this topic hasn't been beaten to death. I searched with little found.
Last season I had a competition clutch stage 5 with an xtreme pressure plate. Needless to say, it fell apart within 3000 miles. I wont get into details unless you all want a story about them, or their **** product.

So I'm at a loss as to what I should buy. I want to try and stray from twin disc's if possible.
I'll be street driving my car, b series turbo. Last year i only made 391.9 whp but shooting for 550 this upcoming tune. Where have you guys gone for your clutches? What did you find worked best? I don't mind chatter or harsh engagement. I just dont want to have another clutch blow up on me this year.
Thanks.

h22-eg-hatch

iTrader: (1)

Completion clutch here.
Stage 4 , 6 puck sprung with the heavy duty PP.
no issues ..... Yet...
What was the story on your comp clutch. I'd like to know

StevieR

I'm on my phone atm. Ill post tonight with pics. Basically the rivets fell out of the pressure plate, the pads chucked apart and the throw out bearing had dry spots. 3000 miles

OneBadTurboCRV

This seems to be the story with Competition Clutch lately. Don't worry, you aren't the first or last this has happened to. They will send you a new one most likely, all you have to do is call them. Other than that I am sure most will tell you ACT, XTD, or some other crap. Just cough up the money for a twin disc and call it a day.

StevieR

Haha. Them. Send anything to me? Jokes. Ill copy and paste from my build thread. Give me a minute.

StevieR

So. Lets just start from the beginning. I purchased a competition stage 5 unsprung clutch kit with "xtreme" pressure plate through www.imageinmotion.com around late February. With the help from Tgonie on the boards here, we installed it April 14th ish.

I did not drive the car at all until July 16th (I believe. Give or take a day) and the clutch blew up catastrophically September 3rd or 4th.
I didn't make a single pass at the strip, slicks were never put on, and it had only seen one semi dyno session due to technical difficulties. I called Competition Clutch immediately to tell them I had an issue with the clutch and that it wouldn't engage, made a very bad rattle noise, and slipped like a bitch if I put it down. They basically told me it was installation error. Were they ever wrong.

Fast forward to December holidays. I figured since the clutch blew in September, I wouldn't buy another clutch until next season. Funds were tight and it just wasn't time. I bought an integra GSR to beat around in the mean time, and for winter.
I got around to finally pulling the transmission and what I came to find was pretty bad. I'll repost pictures from earlier in the thread so its all tidy.

Upon a closer look I saw some of the fins depressed inwards.


I noticed there was a hunk of metal stopping the fin from retracting back to its resting place.


When the pressure plate was completely removed, it fell into two pieces. What were the metal bits? They were rivets that seemingly held the two pieces together.



The rivets were in horrible shape. The one side was completely sheared off, and the other side half way gone.



Who knows how long they were bouncing around before I grabbed clutch once, and it bounced between fin and mount. There was also signs of some sort of scraping elsewhere. Not sure what caused this entire failure.

Ok, so that sucks, but that's not it. The Stage 5- 4 puck unsprung clutch I had was also fucked. It is literally chunked all the way around.


The clutch was rated for 550ft/lbs btw. I only made 391.9whp last season, so assumption of 270~310 wtq. It is, after all, a Honda.

Alright, so now I call Competition and speak with the warranty guy. I'll leave names out but I'm pretty sure there is only one guy. He requested I send him pictures of it all, so I sent him what you see above plus more. Here are the emails we exchanged-

Me- Here are the pictures you requested of the assembly.
If you need more just let me know

Comp-Can you fill out the attached form? It will give me a little more information on the failure an create an RGA if necessary.

Thanks!
(form just asked specifics of the car, power made, when the clutch was purchased, where from, car use etc)

Me-Let me know if you need anything, or what has been decided.*sent filled out form*

Comp- Unfortunately you are out of the 90 day warranty period but I am curious as to what caused your failure as I do not see anything in the pictures that looks obviously wrong. Are you willing to send the clutch back in for inspection?

Me-There are rivets that have blown apart of the pressure plate on the pictures. Along with the clutch pads having chunks missing. This is obviously a manufacture defect not an installation error as someone from competition had earlier told me. I know that your policy is 90 days, but within 90 days many people do not drive their vehicles. Especially when they are built during winter and driven in the summer. The car was driven July 16th 2012 to September 3-4th ish. I am not willing to ship the parts unless competition clutch is willing to help make it right again. This was lost time in my car, and the clutch was brand new.

Please do not take offense to this, as it is not a stab to your ethics or to competition clutches policies. They are policies and I can respect that, but I think the 90 days is difficult to decide when it should start and end. I see competition has many very well built street and drag cars sporting the clutches. That is why I went with you guys. So far the customer service has also been helpful and excellent but if this is going to be a circle of arguing about who's fault what was, I do not need to waste my time and shipping money when I could be saving for another clutch.

I hope you understand and do not take it as a rude gesture on my part, but hope you can share my frustration.

Comp-Stevie,

I understand where you are coming from especially being out of country and having the possibility of a large shipping cost. Seeing as how warranty would not cover the replacement of your parts, would you be willing to accept a 40% discount off the retail price of a replacement kit?

Me-Sorry ******, but no. I honestly do not see as to why I should have to pay anything for a part that failed very pre mature. And if the part will not be covered in full, I will decide to go with another company. If this one failed pre mature, how am I to say that the next one won't do the same and I'll have paid 60% for another broken clutch.
Now, I'm not saying that competition clutch products are horrible, but my experience says that the clutch didn't last at all. Broke way too soon and was catastrophic failure none the less.

I do not want to become pushy but if this is how it is going to be, I will be posting on honda tech, and my own personal build thread with 20,000 views(I overestimated. ~12,500 at this time) on a local forum, that competition clutch will not even cover a failure that is very seemingly their fault. I'm not that kind of guy, but it seems like sometimes you have to be pushy back as to not get walked on.
Thanks for your time and help in this situation and I wish things could be easier.
Regards, Stevie.

CompThere is no way I can make a diagnosis without having the parts in hand but seeing as how you are out of the warranty period you would be out the cost of shipping just to have us give you a diagnosis. So I offer you inexpensive replacement parts. If you do not wish to accept these I understand and I will keep an eye out for your honest review of the situation.



Thank you,*****


So that's it. I suppose the only part of that conversation I didn't fully understand, is that he said he couldn't offer me full diagnosis of the clutch without having it. I don't want a diagnosis as to what went wrong. It's pretty obvious the rivets broke. So why would I pay for shipping for that?
Either they'd cover it, or it's "over 90 days" and wont cover it. Also, I don't feel as though the 40% off was enough. No doubt it was a nice offer, but I feel like I shouldn't pay 160% for a clutch. Sorry.

So that's it I guess. That's how that one ends. Sorry for the extra long post, but I want people to know about this before choosing Competition Clutch.

phaphon

thanks for the info I guess I will be saving up and just get a twin disc .

TeranceFL

just bought a CC stage 4. Hope it holds up

Saifskyline

iTrader: (1)

Same i got the Competition stage 4.. a few people run them and havent had issues with them at all

StevieR

Well i hope for your sake, it holds. But this has ruined any faith I had previously in the company.

RcGarage

I'm rocking a clutch master now and love it. its night and day better from my old competition clutch.

phaphon

maybe you needed to break in the clutch ? i know i didnt break in my clutch master stage 5 and it wore out pretty fast

OneBadTurboCRV

Well that is a newer one... I haven't seen a pressure plate fail. Were you over throwing it by chance? The clutch disc however is exteremly common for pad failure. This is why after my Stage 4 wears out/explodes or if I have to take the trans out for ANY reason I will be replacing with an Exedy twin disc.

I am surprised they didn't help you out, but they for sure lost me as a customer. The problem with ricers is everyone wants to cheap out, but CC *should* be a step up from garbage... Hopefully the next clutch you choose ends up better than the last one.

I also want to add a timeline warranty is BS anyways. If I purchase parts as a back up or for a build I am doing, I may expire the warranty before it even is fired. Oh well, there are ways around that - but its still a hassle.

TGonie

break in should have nothing to do with rivets shearing off... Ive had cheap ebay clutches hold up better than that

blackeg

i run the same comp clutch as you but make almost 100 more hp and have no issues. perhaps it was a bad manufacturing batch, or you have like 200 passes on the thing. dont get an act, my personal experience they are worse off than the comp clutch.

StevieR

Never been down the track. I don't even know how to stage yet lol. And I did do a proper break in. I'm looking for suggestions here too guys!

MELEN2120

hey good luck with you goal .but i say go for the twin its ok for daily use and i prefer to drive a twin over a 4 puck or 6 puck unsprung

4genaccordfreak

This is a pissing match waiting to happen. This topic has come by time and time again.

Honestly, any brand of clutch will always be "personal preference", it is a wear item.

All the well-known, quality brands are mass produced and not all units are inspected for quality control. Some companies are better than others. Although I notice alot of people purchasing a clutch kit that is under-rated for their setup. If anything, choose a clutch kit that is slightly MORE than what you need, especially if you know the setup will be used under harsh/extreme conditions.

All companies will have failures here and there. Some people swear by a certain brand, while other people like to switch it up and try new things.

I understand clutches can be expensive, but what can anyone expect with the abuse they take, especially under racing conditions. If you have to "SAVE UP" for a clutch, you should:
A) Find another hobby
B) Don't abuse your drivetrain nearly as much
and
C) Lower your power level, or buy a clutch far exceeding your torque capacity, or expect to replace a disc or a full kit each year if it takes enough punishment.

SiRCiviC94

Act 6 puck n forget about it

StevieR

The tq capacity of this setup was 550 lbs/ft so... Yeah it exceeded my numbers by a lot.
I can completely understand a wear item. This is not wear. This is also not how I intended the thread to go. I just want others opinions on certain brands/setups. Had a company cover their product? Let me know. Had a clutch last years without failure? I just want personal experiences or preferences. What's the best twin then? How street able is a twin? These are all questions I have

Turbo-LS

iTrader: (4)

I've got a clutch masters stage 5 with upgraded high rev pressure plate for sale only 4 passes on it and one dyno session. I like it but wanted a twin so swapped it out. The very little I used it I liked it a lot better than my comp stage 5

A single disc is t going to hold a lot of power for a long time. Have to turn down the power or man up with a twin. I'm running a twin clutch masters in my car now. Love it.

4genaccordfreak

I understand your misfortune with the Comp Clutch. I remember your previous thread about it and how CC would not help out with the product failure.

These types of things happen, even to the best product companies around the world. Parts fail.

To tell you the truth, alot of other companies will not warranty their clutch kits unless it is manufacturers defect from a brand new package.
I say again, it is a wear item. Any company will "usually" never be able to prove pre-mature failure, because there are too many factors to take into consideration. Improper installation, abuse, improper break-in procedure, improper torque capacity for the setup, street-use/race-use and ultimately EVERYONE'S differing driving style. Companies would go broke if racing teams tried warrantying clutches because they were not lasting for even a season of racing.

I am not solely suggesting these factors are related to your situation at all, so please do not take it personally.

Just telling you that this topic as been beaten up over the years. You will hear a complete mixture of opinions from: ACT IS GOD, COMP CLUTCH IS ****, CENTERFORCE SUCKS, EXEDY OWNS ALL and every other variation.

If you had a bad experience with ONE company, try another.

To comply with what you are asking, I am currently running an ACT HD pressure plate and 6-puck sprung disc on a 400whp street driven setup. Been running ACT clutches since the early 2000's with all-motor and turbo setups, with very little failures. Another great ACT combination was an XTD (extreme) pressure plate with a Street (full-face) disc. Over the years I have had "pucks" on discs flake off due to heat, had clutch disc splines shear off. **** happens, buy another and hope it holds up. Alot of wearable parts like this holding up for extended periods of time is sometimes plain old LUCK!

blackeg

What's the condition of your throw out bearing, and what axles are u running?

StevieR

As I said, the throw out bearing felt dry in spots. It was competition clutches tob. And I had stock axles in.

StevieR

I think I'm going to go with the clutch masters twin disc. Now, do I get race or street? I plan on doing a lot of qtr mile runs and already have a charity lapping event booked. But this is also my summer daily car.