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Old 07-28-2016, 02:44 AM   #8 (permalink)
Gungrave
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Brandon, FL
Posts: 130
Drives: 2010 370Z
Rep Power: 1164
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Quote:
Originally Posted by birdman71 View Post
First Q- Installation difficulty depends on the brand of the clutch usually, but is not usually difficult. Installation is more time consuming. The only other physical difference you will literally see when you've installing the aftermarket one is that the stack height of the clutch, pressure plate and flywheel is bigger and there is less room to finagle things. I went with ACT which has the largest stack height of aftermarket clutches and the Z1 CSC Elim kit, Solid setup and love it. I have the RJM v3.1 clutch pedal and MSC ready to go in as well

Second Q- The benefits between Aftermarket and OEM are polar opposites.
Aftermarket clutches have stages of strength, pressure and resistance. The more those numbers go up, the stiffer the clutch. A low to moderate clutch feel/engagement is what you want to look for if you are a DD, street driver, or occasional track user. If you are going to track a lot and is a weekend car or are going Forced Induction go with a Moderate to Heavy Feel/engagement with a 6puck pressure plate. My first ACT clutch was the NZ2-XTSS and was a mistake with how stiff the moderate to heavy clutch engagement/feel is for a DD for me. I went with the HD pressure plate and lightweight flywheel.
With DD, going through canyons and having my spirited drives, it's lasted close to 7500 miles. The NZ2-XTSS is more of Forced Induction clutch. lol I went with the NZ2-HDSS and same pressure plate and flywheel from ACT for the next one and hoping to have it last closer to 15k-20k.
Aftermarket clutches give you the performance you want but not longevity. Definitely wont last 80k... lol

OEM benefits; doesn't void warrenty. Lasts long... like 80k miles long.. lol.. done


If you are going to re-do the whole clutch and make it feel as close to flawless as possible;
-Aftermarket clutch, pressure plate and lightweight flywheel
-Z1 CSC elim kit or HD CSC
-RJM v3.1 Clutch pedal assembly
-RJM MSC assembly
I don't have any issue with getting an OEM clutch and honestly I drive it like a grandma lol. Plus I rarely get to drive my own car anymore. But I'm looking more so at price vs quality.

I've looked around online and found all of the OEM parts since I plan on just replacing pretty much everything since I'll be there already. The cheapest I've found the OEM parts was $1600 total vs I found the Southbend Stage 2 kit with Zperformance for $1100. If the Southbend Stage 2 is better quality and give better performance as well and is cheaper than the OEM; I'd assume it's the better buy. Though if the Stage 2 kit will make the car essentially alot harder to drive then I'll just stick with OEM. Also if the Southbend one won't last another 80K or so miles then I'll probably go OEM.

But what are your thoughts of OEM vs the Southbend Stage 2 for more so a DD?
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