One of the best things about the G is the large aftermarket, especially pertaining to the engine with the 350Z being nearly the same.

One of the downfalls of having such an aftermarket backing can be deciding on which of the many parts available to buy. Enter my dilemma.

After a ton of searching, I came up with nothing really in the way of reviews, which kind of surprised me so if I'm missing it please steer my poor searching in the right direction!!

My issue:
I need a Throw-Out Bearing, it's getting irritiating, and worse in the cold temperatures. I am thinking (correct if wrong) that it would be quite foolish to do only the bearing without doing the clutch. I figured a Clutch kit would be best (slave cylinder, clutch assembly, TOB, and just resurface the flywheel if necessary).

I want to go with something good up to about 360 WHP, so I'm thinking the Stage 1 would suit best. I would prefer shifting that is not firmer than stock by any large amount, as the bulk of my shifting is smooth DD activities, and for the first year anyways, I'll only be putting down 220-275 WHP

If you guys can make recommendations on a nice smooth reliable clutch for this car that would be appreciated.

Obviously there are a lot of well known reputable name brands out there, but different friction materials, slave cylinders, TOB's, etc, all make for different clutches entirely. One company's Stage 1 may be completely different in feel than anothers.

Any advice is appreciated, hope this thread can point some others in the right direction as well!!

 

What mods are you going to do to get up to 360?

 

The ACT HDR4 will cover your needs up to 500 rwhp and still be comfortable to drive on the street. Hope you get everything replaced before the throw out bearing freezes up making shifting impossible...Gary

 

Moderate Boost will be coming eventually after I get into supporting mods and some exterior, suspension, and likely brake upgrade work.

For this year Z tube, Thermal spacers, TB coolant bypass, coupe midpipe, and I'm fighting with headers or just Y pipe, as I won't be boosting past 8 PSI anyways. I'll be installing a 3" exhaust before the Boost as well obviously.

4 Puck doesn't seem to be available from ACT for this engine? Perhaps I'm searching wrong?

Also, the 4 puck is a solid hub, would you recommend that over a dampened hub considering the bulk of my driving is street use?

Thanks for the help so far! I feel the same about the TOB seizing, I'm worried about it causing other damage though at this point, I have a back-up car I'm going to be driving in the winter anyways. If it may cause damage to one of the shafts then perhaps I should just park it...

 

If you want a good daily driving clutch I would recommend a full face disk stage 1 clutch. Solid hub are brutal , that's why even aftermarket has dampened hubs. Performance clutches generally have heavy duty springs and are more secure than oem hubs. The added shock is not good for thrust bearings in transmissions, ask me how I know.

Also the stronger the pressure plate the worse it is on the thrust bearings in your engine on startup mainly. Thats why alot of people will unhook the clutch depressed start switch when using a performance clutch.

I can't speak on specific brands for the G but I have used a Spec stage two on a 500 horsepower Supra for years and love it. For a while I was using a stage one full face organic disc at 425hp with no slipping. I think a Stage one Spec of similiar would work great for your power levels.

 

Thanks for the advice, I was under similar impressions about wanting damper springs in the hub especially for a DD.

I don't really get the 2nd part of your post though:

I am assuming you meant to write thrust bearings in your transmission?

Glad to see some opions coming out, please keep them coming, I'm nowhere near decided

 

No, the crankshaft thrust bearings.
When you depress your clutch the slave cylinder applies force to the center of the pressure plate. Since the the pressure plate is attached to the flywheel which is attached to the back of the crankshaft that force is also trying to press the crankshaft towards the front of the car. Inside the block there are one or two (depending on the engine) thrust bearings preventing the crank from walking forward or backwards.
The stronger the pressure plate the more wear and tear the crankshaft thrustwashers will see especially when you first crank your engine and there is no oil pressure.

Another thought, if you end up getting a full face disk clutch that is made of kevlar you might not like it initially, they take longer than expected to break in,(bite hard at first). But eventually engagement will be much closer to normal and you will not mind it as much.

 

I would either buy a Spec stage one or two, Z1 street clutch or JWT after getting opinions from others. The pics of the JWT look like the spring retainers are much more heavy duty which is something I always look for as I have broken a few of those before with spirited driving. The Spec description lists it does not have springs for dual mass flywheels so be cautious of that. You might want the get the JWT or Z1 clutch flywheel combo. I do have the Z1 street clutch on my 300zx twin turbo and have no issues with it so far. I have had the Spec on the 1JZ supra for many years of brutal torture, even at the track which is why I like it alot also.

Spec stage one or two from MVP
http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/Templa...610&SearchYN=N

Good pics of the JWT, Z1 appears to have a better price on it though.
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/cus...asp?PartID=454

 

I've heard so many complaints about lightweight flywheel chatter that I'm not sure I want one. I have a hard time swallowing a loud clutch, especially a new one, on a luxury DD car.

If there were one that only shed a few lbs and didn't create chatter I'd be in, but half the OE weight is a little much IMO.

 

I'm curious what clutch they were using and how long they had used it before posting. I have not had a lightweight flywheel on the VQ so maybe others could chime in. Kevlar and non-full face discs will have chatter no matter what flywheel there on especially before breaking in which can take a while with the kevlar. The flywheel may have not been the reason for the chatter, you need to ask someone who has used a sprung streetch clutch with a lightweight flywheel if there's chatter.

 

^Good call. It seems the JWT users (full face hub & friction disc) with LW FW do commonly experience chatter under 1500 RPM. How bad it is seems to be a difference of opinoin, ranging from irritating to barely noticable. No complaints of it being unbearable.

In either case, I can't personally deal with a brand new, noisy clutch. Very good point about the split puck setup causing chatter, didn't even think of that. I'm definately going full face though for my application it seems silly to do more than that....?

OAN thanks or educating me about the PP/TOB actuation, I didn't know that!