Spec Clutch Stage 3+ installed!
 

Story, my Exedy clutch was failing on me horribly. Those clutches do not last long at all. I got a Spec Clutch to replace it. Haven't really had a chance to drive it yet so you can wait for my reviews later.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/...209be66d_b.jpg

Spec Clutch Stage 3+ install in comparison to Exedy Clutch Stage 2

On the lift
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...543317_n-1.jpg

Tranny pulled out with Exedy clutch in there
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Exedy Clutch is out. It ate up my flywheel with deep grooves.
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Spec clutch and Exedy clutch side by side. Never ever getting a 3 puck again!
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Spec clutch with resurfaced flywheel.
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Cleaned up the tranny while it was out. It was filthy.
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Flywheel is mounted. Nice and shiny.
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Spec Clutch Stage 3 is in!
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I haven't had a chance to drive it yet. I will let you all know. From what my friend told me, the clutch feel softer than the last clutch for sure and grabs at the very low point of the pedal. He said it was very easy to drive. I also had my clutch delay valve deleted. Lines cost me around 70 bucks with all the fittings.

Nice! Lookin good ;p

your brake setup looks soo smexy.

What kind of friction material is on that Spec clutch?

Surprised to see someone say Exedy clutches don't last long. I loved my last Exedy and it lasted a good long time. Then I saw the snail and "oooooh that explains it."

Stage 2 Exedy? It lasted me just about a year. I can understand the Stage 1 lasting longer but that 3 puck is just not meant to last.

The Spec clutch is made of Carbon Semi-metallic friction material. I talked to the Spec guys and they said they last quite a while. Since I can't just fast forward until my clutch dies again, I can't really say its going to.

Let me know how it works out! Also how much did it run?

where did you get it and how much did it cost?

i have a spec stage 3+ on my ptgt... i've had it on there for about 16 months now and it's great...

like you, i had a 4 puck metallic clutch on it before and it wasn't a good dd clutch... pucks are too aggressive for a regular drive and wear too quickly to boot... when i looked into getting a spec stage 3, the tech told me about the 3+ and said that a full face clutch would last far longer, and be easier to dd than a puck'd... and it holds a hell of a lot of torque...

at least as far in as i am with mine, i haven't regretted it...

I don't know how much it costs ;x Ya know?

MSRP is $629, but there are other options available that don't cost quite as much.

First Impressions:
I got in the car, not knowing what to expect. Actually, I stepped on the pedal and it felt like MUSH! That's just telling you how soft it is. My friend was right though, it was like a super light clutch with instant grab. It needs some getting used to. I'm glad I got my power back. That was the main reason for this clutch. More info later when I break it in properly and mash on it!

yeah pedal effort is low which is nice... but that means engagement can be tricky... but only really in the mornings or on cold days...

i still like mine!

Nice keep us updated!!... I was looking into a Stage 2+ for mine

That is a nice f*cking Fit! I have a couple questions as I have been contemplating doing this for a while now, though maybe with a sprung 6-puck which I have had luck with in the past...

How much does that flywheel weigh?

Have you re-bled the clutch to change the friction point or is the pivot point just that different on this pressure plate?

Speaking of which, what is the clamp force/torque rating on that plate?

I'm not sure how much the flywheel weighs, but having a lighter flywheel will cause you to rev higher so you don't stall or bog out. Clutch line was rebled for the new stainless lines. The pressure plate causes the low grab point. It's thicker than the exedy clutch for sure.

I'm not sure of the power rating on it. I know its more than enough for my car even if I wanted more power. I'll have to ask Spec on that.

The other nice bit is that it frees up torque that normally had to over come the original flywheels greater mass, allowing you to get through the rev range faster in general.

Keep us posted on how it works out! :)

i just purchased the exedy stage 2 clutch, i haven't install it as yet since i'm still waiting on the flywheel to arrive.

but after reading about 3 pucks for daily, should i really get one with full face clutch disc since my jazz is for daily duties? but then my stage 2 clutch is a waste :( i dunno what to do.

You probably will not enjoy a 3-puck. Especially if it is unsprung. With a pressure plate with a higher clamping load it will be an on-off switch and with the fits delay valve it would probably get pretty annoying.

Six puck sprung or a dual friction full face would be the way to go if they are even an option.

I have done it in the pass and didn't mind, but my idea of streetable is a little more flexible than most. :)

The 3 puck Exedy clutch rides almost close to stock, it's not hard to drive. It's only a tad harder because it is a sprung 3 puck. I only didn't like it because it was the fastest clutch I have ever been through. Let's say you'll have it for a year or less. The pads are thin and don't last long.

The Spec clutch stage 3+ is a sprung full face, well more like a full 8 puck if you look at the grooves. Anyways, I've driven on for it a while, there is a ton of grab, but is easier to drive than stock. All Spec is really known for is a more driveable clutch and is also rebuildable. Meaning it will cost less the next time you need your clutch replaced. That's the main reason I wanted it.

Hmm :o i'm getting alot of mixed opinion about this. so it really is worrying me alot. thinking if i should get another exedy stage 1 before i install this stage 2.

I want to make sure before installing the clutch because I'm investing spending quite a bit of money on the mF's LSD, and JUN flywheel and the labour cost ofcourse, so i want it get done the first time right. :(

spec clutch for ge8
 

where did you buy it? because my exedy also failed on me twice? and have u use it yet? any comments? how many horse power uve got there

Thanks for the positive review. I noticed a few statements and questions that needed answering so I thought I would join the discussion. I hope no one minds!

Engagement Point:
There seems to be some confusion about engagement point. As a clutch wears the diaphragm fingers raise which means that the engagement point will also raise. You have likely noticed that when you have a clutch that is worn out that the travel required to release and engage the clutch is reduced (occurring at the top of the pedal). When you install a new clutch the fingers are lower which means that the point of actuation will be lower too.

Stage 3+ Disc:
Stage 3+ is considered to be full-faced. The relief-slots cut into the surface are there to aide in de-gassing (associated with heat) and the elimination of dust from the surface. This disc is the smoothest engaging, high capacity options, available! It is truly fantastic to drive...

Clamp-Load:
Clamp-load is only part of the equation when it comes to clutch performance and capacity. Friction coefficient and swept area are also part of the equation. We normally have ratings for our kits on the site but for some reason the Kit units are not listing torque output. I will run the numbers and post them ASAP.

Pedal-Effort (effort for actuation):
As for the reference to our kits having light effort, this is relative to way the plate is built. Increased pedal effort does not equate to higher clamp-load. Ultimately effort is relative to the way that the pivot/fulcrum is modified and there are ways to increase clamp without adding to the effort required for actuation. This is something that we have become quite good at and something relative to our methods! It's a lot like the colonel's secret recipe...I'd tell you more but, if I did, I'd have to kill you!

Rebuild-ability:
As for rebuild-ability, this is relative to the kit and the options selected. Often times discs can be relined, and of course flywheels can be resurfaced, but in most instances the plate will need to be replaced after usage. This is relative to the amount of wear present and the subsequent machining of this surface and its affect on geometry. That being said, in most instances, the pressure-plate (the part that is blue and the components inside the cover) will need to be replaced.

I hope this info helps. Let me know if you have any further questions and I will be happy to assist you! Thanks!

Hey Jeremy, finally having the Stage 4 4puck installed this coming week. The final drive was delayed from MFactory so I wasn't able to install prior to my event over at Suzuka. Super overkill for the Fit, but in reality, I believe even the Stage1 is somewhat overkill with the Fit's power levels. :)

Do you have anything for the L15A1 that can consistently hold more than 300lb-ft?

DSM, their stage 3+ holds up to 1100lbs and the 4 and 5 are 1300lbs, at least this is the information David provided me.

Is that perhaps the pressure plate rating?

There's no way that 3+ BlueCell posted up could hold up to 1100lb-ft torque.. at the ground or the flywheel.

I've had clutches for my old truck and a triple disk setup for a race car that were rated for >1000lb-ft ...

I mean I would be delighted to be wrong on this one as I would never have to upgrade again lol

The stocker has seen almost 39k hard miles now, and want to leave it as a fuse for the compounds in order to save my gearset/diff/cv shafts.

But it can't have much life left. It already survived a couple track days and one turbo setup. But this one, on paper at least, has the ability to kick out a truly hard to believe amount of torque over a very wide rev range. Easily more than 500lb-ft peak and more than 350 over more than 5k of the total rev range once the big cam is in.

So until I have the funds for a solution for the rest of the drive train.. I think 300wtq will be my medium term limit.. and I'll have to roll into it as well.

Probably will not be doing any launching on this setup, at least not for a long time.

It very well could be. Hopefully Jeremy can chime in once again on this thread and set the record straight. That's why with the numbers he provided I said OVERKILL for a Fit. :) My ORC carbon single was only rated for like 300lb-ft and was a real pleasure. I asked ORC if they would consider making something for the GE, no interest. :( Really not many options for the Fit when it comes to clutches, I'm guessing because most of the ones purchased have that autotragic thing going on. So I'm thankful that SPEC at least has stepped up to take a few swings on the GD and GE.

555, I think you may be referencing clamp-load, not torque capacity. It would take one of our Super-Twin multi-discs to handle this kind of torque and that would never fit in your bell-housing. I will post capacities for both gens of the Fit shortly. Sorry for the delay. We have been covered up, which is great but it means that it takes more time to get things like this posted!

As for the Stage 4, it is great for a car that sees mostly track use (or for drivers that understand that it will be more on and off in terms of engagement and are ok with that). It is lighter (due to its pucked design and lack of a sprung-hub) which means it has less rotational mass and will allow the trans to shift more quickly. We can build this unit in both 4-puck and 3-puck variants.

Capacity Info
 

Our ratings are conservative but this is the safest way to go. We are currently working on some options that will be even stronger but I can't provide details at this time. Once available I will post more information here.

Torque Capacities by Generation.
First Gen Fit (GD) no Stage 3 is available for this application due to size limitations.
SH411 115lb.-ft
SH412 135lb.-ft
SH413H 150lb.-ft
SH413F 185lb.-ft
SH414 160lb.-ft
SH415 225lb.-ft

Second Gen Fit (GE)
SH411-2 150lb.-ft
SH412-2 170lb.-ft
SH413H-2 190lb.-ft
SH413-2 205lb.-ft
SH413F-2 235lb.-ft
SH414-2 205lb.-ft
SH415-2 290lb.-ft

225lb-ft is it huh? Damn.

Anyway you could fashion a smaller version of something Quartermaster's compact Twin disk v-drive for the GDs? Bonus difficulty: I need something that won't drag north of 10k rpm.

I don't really care about "streetability" which is subjective anyways. Ive had a dogbox/triple carbon-carbon DD before lol

I just need something that won't cry uncle the moment I roll into boost, let alone try to launch on a 24.5 or 26 inch slick.

What on earth possessed you guys to make a 290lb clutch for the GE? haha

We actually build 7.25" mini-twin assemblies of our own. But, how many of these cars will ever need a kit with a capacity of 800lb.-ft? Another option may be to use a single-disc version of the 7.25" mini, which will be even lighter but again how many folks will buy this? It becomes a questions of demand supporting supply.

Trust me, I totally understand the economics behind it when so few will ever even approach 225lb-ft

But I need something that can put up with it.

I have some time while I am figuring out how to make the gearset and diff survive it, but eventually I want to be able to get some full boost runs in after the switch to methanol sometime next year.

As I said I am using the stocker as a fuse right now. Its already been abused so I will be forced to change it out sooner or later, and I don't feel like doing it more than I have too

I was looking to give you guys the business because you seem to support the Fit community, but I can always go to SouthBend, ACT, QM, etc too if its not worth it to you for just one car.

Which again, I can appreciate. No hard feelings if that is the case.

SouthBend and QuarterMaster had made me a couple custom units for my DSM when ACT wouldn't, and they work closely with that community, so I support them for it. Just like I would be more than happy to work with you guys when the time comes and give you my business for the GD.

No rush, just want to plant the seed and get some preliminary feedback

DSM, I get the feeling that you may have missed my earlier post. As mentioned, we are working on a higher capacity unit that will actually surpass your torque requirements (and provide better drivability than a small diameter twin disc).

Additionally, in looking further at the dimensions associated with this application (specifically the room within the bellhousing) you would be limited to a 5.5" twin versus the 7.25". This would not be the most driver friendly of options...but as you stated, you are fine with more aggressive kits that lack the street-friendly nature that most folks hope to maintain in street driven cars.

Ah my misunderstanding, thanks for clarifying. Was the 800lb-ft capacity quoted the anticipated figure for this unit? The smaller diameter clutch pack would be acceptable to me, as you have noted.

Thanks again!

The 800lb.-ft reference was relative to the 7.25" mini-twin. The 5.5" unit would have a lower capacity but should still be over 500lb.-ft. As for the single-disc I didn't supply capacity info because it is not yet available. Once it is I will update the info posted here. Thanks!

This unsprung 4 puck is very easy. Just picked the car up and maybe it's just me, but I can't really tell a difference between the stocker and it as far as easibility goes. Diff break-in in 300km and the clutch an additional 500km.

Good to know!

Spec, any updates on this new application? Look at me acting like I'm going to make over 225 ft lbs...:rotfl: