Performance Clutch vs. Normal Clutch

[JT93]

So, I was watching an episode of how it's made and they asked why drag racing and road racing cars need a performance clutch. Their answer was because it added friction. I thought that the whole goal of speed was to reduce as much friction and air resistance as possible? If you're trying to add power to the pavement why would you want to add friction, does that slow the car at the beginning instead of aid it in accelerating off the line? Any answer will help, I'm just super confused. I've always known that I should put a performance clutch in the car but now I'm confused as to why I should.

[jmn444]

They mean more friction between the clutch disk and flywheel, less chance to slip, more power locking in and transferring to the transmission.

[twobjshelbys]

Increasing friction on the clutch reduces the amount of time to transfer the power from the engine to the transmission. The down side is that they are really hard to slip, like when trying to hold on a hill. The Cobra has a really good one.

 

Think about it the other direction. Go ahead and lube it up to reduce friction on the clutch and see how well it works

[JT93]

Thanks guys!

 

That makes so much more sense I can see my car on a hill with a lubed up clutch. So would a performance clutch make day-to-day that much more difficult or just the expected extra get up and go off of the line at green lights? If you're increasing the power from flywheel to clutch then would it also increase the length/power of burnouts? Having the performance clutch would increase horsepower and not torque, right? Or would it increase both?

[jmn444]

Nothing is increased technically, just less losses from slipping, more important as you get higher hp and tq out of your engine. The clutch has to have enough friction/clamping power to keep everything spinning at the same speed and that gets harder when the motor is trying to spin up extremely fast.

[ARMORINE]

Nothing is increased technically, just less losses from slipping, more important as you get higher hp and tq out of your engine. The clutch has to have enough friction/clamping power to keep everything spinning at the same speed and that gets harder when the motor is trying to spin up extremely fast.

 

 

 

im going to tack alittle something on to here just so its clear cause i see where he's going with this....

 

your not going to need a performance clutch until around 450hp that's when the stock clutch starts slipping. you wont reach that n/a unless you have ported and worked over heads, intake, cams, exhaust mods and a few other things. on the other hand you will reach that easily with a supercharger.

 

work on modding your engine before you think about digging into the rest of the drive train.

[kahmann]

^This.

[ARMORINE]

hah! i win! i got a pointer from the man himself

[ilmor]

If you're NA, I would think that the money would be better spent on lighter components, i.e., flywheel and driveshaft. The clutch should be fine unless you get an SC.

[SGT/SC2873]

^This.

 

 

did Ken just say something? Is it just me or what, but ever since he changed his pic in his sig, I don't ever read what he writes, I just admire that beautiful TOW HOOK! Craig

[clark17357]

The Cobra has a really good one.

 

 

What brand and model do you have in the Cobra?

 

My observation, with about 10k miles on my car is that the clutch issue is less of an issue for road racers than for drag racers. You can see I am at about 450 rwhp and, so far, everything is holding up well.

 

I would be interested in people's observations about road racing clutches. I suspect it's been discussed but must have missed it if it was.

 

Jim

[FordFan1]

No matter the HP you can still benefit from a performance clutch. The friction material used in a performance clutch is designed to increase the grab (less slip) the hotter it gets, the result is crisper upshifts and downshifts. An aluminum flywheel and driveline are also great additions to to complaiment this set up. These additions allow the engine to rev faster when accelarating and a must for those rev matched downshifts. All mods are all street friendly, I find myself needing to rev the RPM's a little more when engaging the clutch when leaving a stop light.

[ARMORINE]

No matter the HP you can still benefit from a performance clutch. The friction material used in a performance clutch is designed to increase the grab (less slip) the hotter it gets, the result is crisper upshifts and downshifts. An aluminum flywheel and driveline are also great additions to to complaiment this set up. These additions allow the engine to rev faster when accelarating and a must for those rev matched downshifts. All mods are all street friendly, I find myself needing to rev the RPM's a little more when engaging the clutch when leaving a stop light.

 

 

 

but cost performance wise its not the first thing that should be done. i think other things should be looked at before drive line.. personally for bankgfor the buck you can't beat 4:10's for N/A cars. CAI and a tune go a LONG way exhaust mods are a third, though honestly exhaust mods just make the car soooooo much fun to drive!!!!!!!!

[COBRA SCOTTY]

did Ken just say something? Is it just me or what, but ever since he changed his pic in his sig, I don't ever read what he writes, I just admire that beautiful TOW HOOK! Craig

 

 

Tow hook ? There is a tow hook in Ken's signature.

 

Scotty

[FordFan1]

but cost performance wise its not the first thing that should be done. i think other things should be looked at before drive line.. personally for bankgfor the buck you can't beat 4:10's for N/A cars. CAI and a tune go a LONG way exhaust mods are a third, though honestly exhaust mods just make the car soooooo much fun to drive!!!!!!!!

 

 

I thought this was a discussion about clutchs, sorry maybe I crossed the line by suggesting a few things if someone was to dive into a clutch change.

[ARMORINE]

I thought this was a discussion about clutchs, sorry maybe I crossed the line by suggesting a few things if someone was to dive into a clutch change.

 

no line crossed. my comment was actually unnecessary and a ways off topic. clutches is indeed the topic my bad

 

on a side question what clutch are you running?

[ilmor]

No matter the HP you can still benefit from a performance clutch. The friction material used in a performance clutch is designed to increase the grab (less slip) the hotter it gets, the result is crisper upshifts and downshifts. An aluminum flywheel and driveline are also great additions to to complaiment this set up. These additions allow the engine to rev faster when accelarating and a must for those rev matched downshifts. All mods are all street friendly, I find myself needing to rev the RPM's a little more when engaging the clutch when leaving a stop light.

 

 

You should be a clutch salesman, you do make it sound good!!!

[FordFan1]

on a side question what clutch are you running?

 

 

Fidanza 2.1 along with a Fidanza aluminum flywheel

http://www.fidanza.com/2Point1.aspx

http://www.fidanza.com/aluminum-flywheels.aspx

 

Track tested

[FordFan1]

You should be a clutch salesman, you do make it sound good!!!

 

 

I do sell but not car parts, but I do have experiance. I had a very similar setup years back behind my old 7300 rpm SHO, and found it very beneficial in embarrassing a lot of Mustangs during Open Track events.

[ARMORINE]

Fidanza 2.1 along with a Fidanza aluminum flywheel

http://www.fidanza.com/2Point1.aspx

http://www.fidanza.com/aluminum-flywheels.aspx

 

Track tested

 

 

 

hmmmm i do believe i know what im going to when its time for an upgrade!

[JT93]

If you're NA, I would think that the money would be better spent on lighter components, i.e., flywheel and driveshaft. The clutch should be fine unless you get an SC.

 

 

I am going to put a SC in car (550HP Whipple). What performance clutch do you guys recommend? The car is an everyday car now, but I'm gonna transform it in a track/burnout car, but mainly track.