So, to put it short, I need a new clutch soon and have found a couple on the internet. One is Exedy Brand (Stage 1 -- $449) and the other is this much cheaper brand, Clutch xperts (Stage 1 -- $289).

My question is: are clutches generally made the same (regarding which stage and if it's organic (in which case it would not be same material))? Would the cheaper one be just as good as the expensive brand name; or, would I just be setting myself up for failure by going with the cheaper one...?

I have a decent budget (no more than $500 for the kit) and if you have any suggestions for this project I would love hear them! Thanks.

I already have a stage one in my 05-G right now and I'm well aware of the clutch chatter and that it potentially can cause damage to my motor due to the shock of the chatter going straight into my motor... But I still want those fast revs
(I'm new to posting on here so please forgive me if I post with any formatting issues and what not)

 

I have not had a lot of experience with cheap vs expensive clutches but I will say this:
Exedy is a reputable clutch manufacturer good enough to supply OEMs with clutches which will last the life of the car if driven properly. Clutches involve a lot of R&D and material selection as well as proper manufacturing and quality control, and they're a pain to change if you don't have a lift.

The cheap clutch will probably work fine but it won't be as reliable as a part from a reputable brand like Exedy.

If your car is a "toy" you're going to be abusing and blowing out the clutch anyway, I would consider going cheap. If it's a car you don't ever want to do another clutch in and you generally don't do burnouts and launches, I'd go with the OEM replacement part.

 

Chatter isn't going to hurt your motor it's just annoying to listen to. On SOME motors that don't have a harmonic dampener and instead rely on the heavy flywheel to do dampening then yes you can damage the engine, the VQ doesn't have this problem though.

Personally I've never used a cheap clutch, I stay away from putting low grade parts into any vehicle because they typically don't last as long, are prone to failure/premature wear, and TIME SPENT DOING REPAIRS is going to cost you the same amount overall as if you had just bought the good part in the first place.

This isn't a cheap car to work on, it's a performance luxury car.

Performance = money
Luxury = money

You should be able to get the Exedy clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing kit for under $400.

Now, the CLUTCH is not what causes chatter, the FLYWHEEL is what does. You say you already have a different clutch on your vehicle, did you also replace the flywheel? If you still have the OEM DMFW you cannot resurface it and cannot reuse it (I mean I guess you could if you want to prematurely ruin your new clutch, and the stock springs are probably shot and it's got a ton of slack in it...) so you will also be looking at purchasing another flywheel. THAT is the expensive part btw, expect to spend more on the flywheel than you will on the clutch kit. If you have an aftermarket single mass flywheel then you can just get it resurfaced (hopefully).

Next, it's also STRONGLY recommended that you replace the clutch master cylinder/clutch slave cylinder and all the clutch fluid when you replace a clutch. If you don't then you risk one of those items going out and causing a substantial amount of premature wear on your new clutch.

Overall you should budget about $800-900 to do it right if you're doing the repair yourself.

 

If you're not pushing more power, I'd go OE for the clutch, and find an aftermarket SMF. Some people complain about the chatter created by the SMF, but I personally don't think it's bad at all, barely took any getting used to. I think the poly diff bushings caused more noise than the SMF did now that I think about it.

 

Factory Nissan clutch will last you in excess of 100K miles, unless you're going to track your ride, that's your best option!
Gary