I'm curious what single disc clutch kits are out there, if any, that can reliably handle the added torque of a turbo? The goal is to have a daily driven mild turbo build, around 250 wheel torque in a b series, paired with an easy engaging clutch rather than a puck design with harsher engagement.

 

Exedy Racing stage 1 is always a good go-to.

 

We ran an Exedy Stage 1 in a K20 Powered CRX making around 250whp for over quite some time and that included probably 75 passes down the 1/4 mile drag strip on slicks...when we pulled it out to upgraded the complete setup it looked brand new still..quite impresssed in general when it comes to Exedy Stage 1 clutches

But for your turbo setup it may not have quite enough torque capacity for your needs. Most full face discs are going to be rated towards the lower end of the scale for torque capacity so hard to point you in the direction of one of those that will actually last a long time.

I have driven quite a few cars with the Competition Stage 4 which is their 6 puck sprung disc and it is a bit harsher but doesn't seem to chatter much after the initial bite of engagement.

 

I loved my ACT HDSS when I had a 250-300ft-lb setup. Very easy to drive and solid engagement. Went about 4 years on it daily driven + racing on the weekends.

 

There you go...first hand experience....I have had good luck with the ACT HDSS over the years...a lot of people get turned off on the price but if it lasts that time frame on a turbo Honda I call that well worth it.

 

Another one to consider is the Exedy Stage 2 - I ran that back in the day on several ~300whp setups. It drove like a stock clutch after the initial break-in period

 

^x2

 

I ran a spec stage 3+ clutch with a full face disc in a turbo h22 swapped Eg a few years ago. That clutch engaged like stock and was the easiest clutch to drive out of all the turbo Hondas I've had. It had no problem holding 411 foot pounds too. I was very impressed with it. After 5,500 miles I parted the car out and the clutch still looked new. That being said I don't think spec clutches are very cheap but the driveability was great. I just run puck clutches now, I like the harsh engagement lol.

 

Good to hear, that's the clutch I went with.

 

I'm not a big fan of spec personally. We've had a lot of issues with clutches literally blowing up.. at least with some of the earlier stuff. That being said my new project is limited in the clutch department. My only options are Spec, ClutchMasters, and South Bend. Can't decide who to go with lol, cost is about even between them.

Clutch durability is going to depend heavily on the weight of the vehicle, torque output, and driving style...

I used an exedy stage 2 clutch in my sr20 s13 that was making 260-275wtq and it drove like a dream and stood up to a fair amount of abuse.

Other than that I've used Competition Clutch exclusively in all of my cars and friends cars, running the gauntlet in variation and power output with very few issues. They are super reliable in terms of life when properly sized for torque output and they are broken in properly.

A few friends have had good luck with the exedy hyper single. It's not the cheapest single disc clutch but it's super reliable and durable.

Our heaviest car which is our c6 z06 makes about 630wtq and we ran a katech twin plate in it for 20k race track miles until 2 buttons sheared off the pressure plate at Road Atlanta and killed the bellhousing. The car weighs about 3200lbs and we are trying to find another twin plate so I feel your pain on deciding on a clutch.

If this clutch is going in your crv project then you need to look heavily at the weight of the vehicle. With a higher torque output and more spirited driving the weight of the car heavily affects clutch life. You'll probably end up having to move away from a full faced disc that uses a metallic friction material to stand up to the weight of the vehicle. The only downside is the "puck" metallic discs have a fairly aggressive engagement.

Your best bet is to stick with a sprung hub clutch that has 6 pucks. The lower the number of pucks the more aggressive the disc.

A few companies like South Bend and ClutchMasters offer full face or semi-full face metallic pressure plates. These still have a high torque capacity while maintaining a milder engagement.

You probably need to contact what ever clutch you're leaning towards and discuss your application to find the best solution.

Especially since with an awd platform there's more load on the clutch since you're having to turn 4 wheels instead of 2 and the added drivetrain weight has a slight impact. Also the higher traction levels an awd platform offers generally means you'll have to slip an aggressive clutch a bit more from a dead stop since there's no wheel spin/slip to cushion the shock on the clutch

 

I went with a McCleod twin disc on my 5.0 that will make similar power to your Z06. The McCleod twin is rated at 1000hp.

 

Yea the katech clutch is a modified OEM LS9 twin plate with a custom aluminum flywheel. Katech told us that a few of the clutches were breaking buttons on high hp circuit cars.

We pulled the whole drivetrain and suspension to build a new motor (2 titanium rods started rubbing together at the big ends) as well as doing some major suspension and cooling system upgrades. The old motor made somewhere around 650hp 600tq. New motor will be higher compression and a few other things. Not sure on power output but I think my dad was looking at a quartermaster or tilton twinplate, not sure if he was going to a 7.25" unit or not but I'll look t the McCleod clutch and mention it to him.

I'm still stuck on deciding between clutches for my svt focus. The OEM clutch uses an LuK/Exedy dual mass flywheel (that I hate with a passion) and an LuK/exedy single disc full face organic disk. The strange part is the disc has a solid hub, no springs, and I'll need to put a clutch in it soon. Moving to an aftermarket clutch requires a single mass flywheel and a complete setup with flywheel and clutch is between 800-900 dollars depending on the brand. So the price difference between SPEC, ClutchMasters, and South Bend is negligible. Just trying to find the best clutch for the money.

 

i used to have act puck clutches in my cars for years. eventually i got sick of the "problems"
1 - around 250-300ftlbs it was literally breaking chunks off the pads
2 - the xd pressure plate eventually had trouble engage/disengaging above 8000 rpm

i switched to the comp stage 5 and am happy. it has an easier engagement than the xd pp, and the disk is wearing very evenly.

just my first hand experience over the last decade

 

Competition Clutch stage 4 user checking in. Absolutely love the clutch on my Y7. Also, trying to sell it. The flywheel on the other hand...**** that thing.

 

Exedy Hyper Single

I have switched to Exedy years ago and never looked back since. I have been using Exedy Twin Discs for my last few builds and keep a spare on hand as well.

 

I run a Comp stage 4 on a resurfaced oem flywheel. probably around 20k or so miles on it no problems.

 

Ran one on my ~400whp/280wtq LS/VTEC and it was a great clutch...forgot about that one

 

This is because the dual mass serves the purpose of damping now instead of the sprung disc hub. No longer need the sprung hub, it adds more parts and cost.


I am pretty much an Exedy soldier, but have used a **** ton of CC stage 4 or 5 on turbo hondas with favorable results as well.

 

Using a comp stage 4 sprung version. Easy to drive if you ask me

 

Yep, as long as you keep it on a stock, or stock-ish weight flywheel, they're a blast, grip like nobody's business, and break-in is stupidly easy. Toss it on a 6 pound...and you'll become like me. Old, bitter, and with a fucked up back from shitty low RPM, low load parking lot driving.

 

Exedy hands down! been using there stage 1 for 3 years still works great on 280+ hp ITR

 

I have been running a comp clutch stage 4 for three years now with 321whp and 265 lb-ft of torque. I have daily drivin the s#$% out of it and never had a problem. I got it used from a friend and it probably has a total of 50 or so passes at the strip on it, that's launching at 8k+.

 

Yea that's what I figured. I've owned a few cars with dual mass setups. I just never thought to look at the disc.

The SVT flywheel was modified by Ford with heavier springs to increase response and performance... I've hated every car I've owned that has had a dual mass setup lol.

 

That sounds so backwards. Why not have a decent solid flywheel, with a sprung, heavy duty pressure plate... I never liked the jdea of dual mass flywheels. Just sounds like a load of extra junk and mass

 

Finally updating this because I'm getting back to the project. I ended up buying a SPEC Stage 2 clutch disc and will be using it with a Competition Clutch Pressure Plate that I've had stored from an old build. The SPEC Stage 2 is a full faced Kevlar disc design with "excellent drivability".

The rep and website claims it's good for 280 flywheel torque. Realistically the car won't see past 230 wtq. We'll see what happens. Going into LS turbo AWD CRV for my girl. Crossing my fingers that she'll enjoy the clutch pedal feel, otherwise she won't drive it. I'll let you how it turns out when it's built.