Hello all. My apologies for a very long post...

The Tilton full street twin plate street assy and flywheel were the best performance modifications I have paid for. The assy came with a pressure plate, a 6 puck solid hub disc (with ceramic pads?), an organic solid hub circular disc and two metal disc inserts. The flywheel was ridiculously light one piece design that weighed 8 lbs. The whole clutch assy plus flywheel weighed a scant 16 lbs versus the stock clutch assy and flywheel that weighed 56 lbs. The clutch also came with an optional plate for the clutch pedal.

Here's a picture of the semi-street clutch assy and flywheel. The only exception from the semi in comparison to the full street is an extra 6 puck solid clutch. The full street replaces the 6 puck with one Raybestos organic disc.


The car was noticeably quicker compared to the stock sluggish acceleration. 2nd and 3rd gear accelerations were just as quick as 1st (experiences may vary between users). The sweet spot was close to an inch (or 1.5) from full disengagement with pedal plate, and the clutch was soft and forgiving enough to feather from a full stop. Additionally, the pedal effort was VERY LIGHT! On the street, the flywheel chattered below 2k rpm, like an e-tard's mouth in Antartica. The chattering can also be heard in idle, more prevalently in closed quarters like a drive-through lane of a fast food joint. The chattering is due to the lightweight flywheel and I am pretty sure the JWT and Nismo flywheels chattered as well just not as much as Tilton's. Annoying at first, but the growl from the exhaust and motor with the tunes of your favorite CD will eliminate this problem, although not girlfriend, mother or 'we need to talk' friendly. Least importantly, the optional pedal plate also provided a 'clinking' sound when the clutch pedal was mashed all the way in.

Personal notes with review of Performance Nissan:

At 50k, the clutch was soon about to go (for the 2nd time), so I decided on a clutch/flywheel combo instead of swapping out for another factory clutch. The car was rough/bumpy during acceleration and with the demonic notchiness of the B&M short shifter and slight gear grinding, I needed something smooth, quick, forgiving and ultimately streetable. I was looking into the JWT, however Performance Nissan of Duarte (special parts division, www.mynismo.com) was selling their Tilton full-street and semi-street for $1000. The JWT combo was a bit over $800, so why not go with a bit more for a whole lot more in the long run? Without hesitation, I drove there and bought the item on the spot.

I talked to Tony at the special parts division and asked him of any insight with the Tilton. He had either the full or semi Tilton on his crazy Mazoria 350z and provided his experiences with the clutch. Tony told me the clutch was actually streetable enough to feather, however the clutch can engage fully fairly quickly. Having prior experiences on a brother's s2k with an 'on and off switch' 6 puck solid hub clutch from ACT, I knew what was coming to me. He told me the optional plate was recommended for ease of driving due to clutch throw... however, the only trade off was that the plate permitted ignition WITHOUT a clutch disengagement. Next off was installation with a quote of $480, which was the same price of install onto a 350z. How many Nissan dealerships CAN service on g's? A good deal. I went home and lent the flywheel and clutch my bed for a night's rest. Good stuff.

Two days later, installation at 7:30am was best since install would take 'the whole day'. So I arrived at 8am and met Jeff the mechanic. Damn, this dude knows his **** and welcomed me to browse during install. Instead of watching boring morning TV at the dealership, I checked the installation out and chatted with Jeff. During the install, Jeff advised me to replace some sort of bearing... it was a small cylinderical sleeve that could cause rough acceleration and sound problems, so I had that replaced for $6. After 20 minutes of browsing and smoking, I had to go back into the service/parts housing due to business insurance. :T

At 12:00pm, my car was ready to crank again. A whole day job? nah... I guess I was lucky or Jeff installed the clutch and flywheel very efficiently. Performance Nissan threw in a complimentary car wash as well, and I was ready to drive off at 12:30pm. Ecstatic with a whole new g in front of me, I slipped into the car, ignited and got ****** I stalled within seconds. Throw was incredibly short while pedal effort was very very very light. Interestingly, the optional pedal plate was updated from the predecessor... I can only crank with the clutch fully disengaged. On the freeway, I roamed freely with constant 'oh ****'s' and stalled again during tight traffic. Also, I could brake easier and quicker while in gear. The car decelerated prominently therefore I had to keep the foot on the gas. Cruise control would be the best option during long drives. On the street, I stalled AGAIN! The sweet spot was something I needed to get used to as it was very close from full clutch depression. Surprisingly, the clutch was very soft and forgiving, unlike an 'on and off switch' clutch. I saved myself from imminent stalls in daytime streets however the revs quickly jumped close to 2+k rpm in the processes... I wasn't embarrassed... I was thrilled.

Next, I don't know what Jeff or the Tilton parts did... but the notchiness and slight grinding from the B&M has been diminished. Now that everything seems to be working together in order, I can now accelerate and shift quicker than before.

Lastly, the clutch was the fulcrum in my modification scheme. The clutch was robust enough for forced induction but was smooth enough for minimally modified cars like mine (JWT intake, RS*R exhaust and Kinetix plenum). I wanted to stay away from further modifications and the affliction of speed addiction, however I think I'll consider going FI from this point.


Thanks to Peformance Nissan of Duarte, Tony, Jeff, Javier, Ric and lastly to Tilton for building an exceptional product.

A+!

now... i am out for a drive.

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


BTW... congrats on your new toy.. i think ill stick with the jwt setup.. great write up none the less..