Its done. Oh man I love it.
Southbend Stage 4 Clutch with Fidanza Aluminum Flywheel:
I highly recommend everyone to get a lightened flywheel. Makes a big difference.
The clutch itself is heavier than the stock one, but I'm more or less used to it already after driving it for a few miles. It is definitely slippable and stop-go starts can be made smoothly. (whew!). I actually really like the engagement, its doesn't feel like a mystery like the stock clutch does. Sometimes you get this feeling with the stock clutch that you don't know whether the clutch is fully engaged or not, but not anymore, this thing just hooks up and you know its hooked up.
For those of you who are still wondering, the synchro rev match feature works and oh man does it match quickly. By the time I let my foot off the clutch pedal, the revs are already waiting for me. I don't think I can shift as fast as this thing can match revs unless maybe if I'm really really trying.
Have I released any power by freeing up the mass? Maybe a little, the car does feel like it wants to rev up quicker, like there is less holding it back. I can go back to the analogy I made when talking about the lightened crank pulley, where I said that getting one is like the difference between having the AC on or the AC off on a normal car. You feel that parasitic drag on the motor kinda dampen the revs a bit with the AC on, thats what the stock pulley feels like vs a lightened pulley. The flywheel is that same kinda feeling, just multiplied by 10. Everything becomes crisp and more exact, in fact I feel like the entire car got lighter by changing it out.
The combination of these two actually turns out to be quite livable for a daily driver. Its hard to believe this clutch is good for like 600tq+. Its fairly smooth and you can modulate it relatively easily even though the pedal is heavier and the engagement point shorter.
People wanted to know about flywheel chatter. There is some. My girlfriend even said "its really not bad" and I agree. I almost always drive with music on and I can't hear a thing then. There is a little more NVH transfer, but I actually really really like it because its there, but its not annoying. The car just feels even more solid and connected now than it did before.
Overall I am really happy with the clutch and would recommend it to folks who enjoy driving their cars spiritedly. All you guys who are into cruising around town and hollerin' not only do you not need a clutch, but this isn't the one for you. Lets be realistic too, when you are upgrading a clutch to something that can hold the power and will put up to as much abuse as this one does, you are bound to have to make at least a small sacrifice. Think of it like getting coilovers over the stock springs, it feels that much better, but there are always some comfort drawbacks with a more focused setup.
I gotta thank Jay (jnaut) again for doing an excellent job for an amazing price! Top notch guy to deal with, he even came to pick me up at the train station and then by the time I got to my car everything was packaged up nicely in the trunk and the car was ready to drive away. You really couldn't do anything better.
Lastly, if anyone is thinking about upgrading their clutch, I have a good deal with the forum vendor who sold this kit to me. Just PM me and I'll give you the details!
If anyone has any other questions, let me know. If you need to know anything about the installation, then jnaut will probably chime in.
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