Looking for honest/unbiased advise - Clutch/Flywheel/CSC Work
 

Hi everyone,

First, a little background info. I have a 2010 Touring+Sport 370Z. It currently has 25,000 miles. My Z is my daily driver.

I had my clutch pedal go all the way down on Tuesday night, felt extremely soft with almost no engagement. I was still able to shift through the gears when it happened but only had like 1 inch or less of pedal feel. Once I arrived home I put the car in Neutral position to park it. I attempted to shift gears again and I wasn't able to shift into any gear, even while fully pressing the clutch pedal.

I had it towed to the dealer the next day (Wednesday morning). The dealer called me today saying the issue is with the bearing/CSC. They have yet to confirm if the CSC will be covered under warranty (it should, but oh well..)

Even if warranty applies, I consider I should simply go ahead and get the ZSpeed HD CSC for peace of mind and, given the fact that tranny will need to be pulled, simply take the opportunity and upgrade clutch+flywheel.

I'd like to replace the clutch with something better than stock that will eventually handle a supercharger or TT kit pushing down 450-460whp. HOWEVER, I will NOT be going FI in a near future. It's in my plans for some day but not immediately or soon. This means, that, at the same time, I'd like something I could continue using with my N/A setup and for daily driving.

Also, I have no idea what to do with the flywheel. I've ruled out Fidanza or JWT because of the excessive chatter reviews I've read. I've also read that good choices that are less noisy could be flywheels from Z1, SouthBend, and Competition Clutch but still better performers than stock.

I was considering probably getting the Z1 Clutch+Flywheel combo? It's rated at handling up to 500 tq. Would this work for me?

Also, if I understand correclty, the ZSpeed HD CSC needs to be ordered according to the clutch kit I will be using, is this correct? So if I order an HD CSC for a stock OEM clutch I cannot use it with a Z1 clutch or a SouthBend clutch, is this right?

I appreciate all the help I can get to make the best decision for my current situation.

Thank you very much!

I've seen many forum members go with aftermarket clutches both in cases where they stayed completely stock and in cases to prepare for forced induction. The stock clutch and flywheel are fine, but the CSC is a common failure issue, as I'm sure you've seen around the forums. An OEM replacement will probably last a bit longer than your old CSC will, but I would go aftermarket, as I still don't trust a CSC that fails even once under normal driving.

My opinion is that you should go with a clutch and flywheel kit rated for 500 torque, and do the CSC replacement aftermarket as well. That way you can be confident that your kit will not fail until you start doing boosted miles. You might lose some gas mileage though.

Thanks for your advise.

Anyone else have any comments?

As I mentioned, my Z is my daily driver. I do some spirited driving every once in a while but I don't track my car.

I would really value your opinion so I can make an informed decision on what to get.

So many choices for clutch + flywheel: Z1, South Bend, SPEC, ClutchMasters, ACT, SZ, etc...

Please help..

:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused: :confused:

What is CSC?

I put in an aftermarket CFC and a JWT clutch.

My advise is since you will have the tranny off, might as well take the opportunity to put in a light weight flywheel as well. the OEM flywheel is beastly heavy and I have had no issues at all with my new setup. the heavy flywheel is meant to decrease vibrations and make clutch engagement smoother or something, but I'm liking the light weight setup better.

The massive OEM flywheel is a very strange design decision and I believe was put in to help granny get her Z in 1st without stalling.

Trust me you won't miss it or its Q destroying weight, your engine will rev much faster too and be able to better slow your car under engine braking conditions.

As for the clutch JWT street clutch, it is pretty nice and will see you well into some standard boost mods.

By the way, like you, I had very little idea about which brand clutch and flywheel to get so I went on the recommendation of Rob Fuller at Z-car-garage in san jose Ca. He has done hundreds of clutches on 370s. The guy knows his stuff and has a ton of experience on aftermarket mods. I went with JWT on his recommendation, but give him a call and I'm sure he could pro/con the different manufacturers. Also he recommended going aftermarket on the CSC. It like the flywheel are easily done (read "less labor expense") when the tranny is already off for the clutch.

He only works on datsun/nissan and it is mostly Z cars. His shop is amazing and so is he. The guy is a great Z resource.

Also there are some threads around here with a cheap and easy mod to the assist spring (on your pedal) that will help with clutch engagement feel which som thing is poor on the 370. you can easily do this one yourself. (I have not because i like my new JWT clutch like it is)

We've had good experiences with Comp clutch setups for n/a guys. But check with yourself (cause no one knows you any better) and really think if you are going the boosted route at some point... if that is the case, I'd go and do an OS Giken super single clutch, should be fine for a base s/c setup... But if you have funds, OS Giken Grand Touring twin disc clutch, this i promise you will never have to ever replace. Till you break the 550ish wtq range... which means you're all the way in with a built engine on top of a twin turbo setup ;)

and yes, you will need to specify your clutch setup before ordering the Zspeed CSC

that's my $0.02, hope that helped a little bit :)

^ God... wish it wasn't $2k

Anyone have any experience with the Southbend clutch/flywheel versus the Specialty Z kit?

Joe at Zspeed recommended Southbend Stage 3 daily clutch and their steel flywheel with new HD CSC for my soon to be turbo car with occasional road course track duty.

The specialty Z kit looks really nice as well - and includes a racing slave and lines that replaces the CSC and their flywheel is lightweight aluminum - supposedly it is still fine with the turbo and track weekends...

having done that clutch so far i agree. although it does take more time that alex will admit to get used to, its great very precise and helps the car pull

Aftermarket clutches are never as good as stock.

Not even close to being true.

That's a bold statement. In what way are they not as good as stock? If you're talking about drivability, you're probably right. Any other measure of performance, nowhere close to the neighborhood of correct.

I had an ACT 6-puck clutch, Fidanza flywheel, and ZSPeed HD CSC on my old Z. I had the same setup (minus the CSC) in my previous turbo G35. Yes, the chatter is more audible, but that's what happens when you use a lightened flywheel. I only had about 10k on the setup in the Z, but the ZSpeed HD CSC did nothing for me. The clutch would often get stuck on the floor. Other than that, I liked the way the 6-puck clutch felt and it never slipped on me with the 50k+ miles of abuse it went through on my G35.

I'm going for the SouthBend stage 2 daily kit. Almost oem like pedal feel, not heavy but is a bit stiffer as per what Joe@Zspeed told me.