Aftermarket Clutch Advice

edk

Addicted to Torque
Staff member
UPDATE: 07/03/2013 - Clutch upgrade found to be used with solid mass flywheel for Almera 2.2 DCi - See video for info

I've got zero experience when it comes to clutches, and certainly with aftermarket ones. As my stock one has started to slip (albeit on in top gear and up hill at full boost) how long might I have before the car becomes undrivable? When you buy uprated clutches what have you been looking for in the product?

To be honest I don't really know the right questions to ask, but I ultimately wonder if I need to be forking out on uprated clutches yet and if I can leave it a couple of months at least. I also wonder if I'm looking at the right one to buy, seeing as I do have oodles of torque to temper.

The clutch I'm looking at is an ACT one, full face disc, high clamp load plate, rated to 492lbft. So one thing is that specific clutch, and the other is clutches in general and if I need to change yet.

Cheers for any advice lads :)
 
If it slipped once, dont worry. It will have loads of life in it. When the clutch in the gx started going i had about 3 months use out of it before changing, even then it still had life and only slipped badly when it rained.

If you want a good read on clutches, motoiq has some good stuff, in particular a tour of the act factory which will easily set your mind at ease regarding using act for sure.

Basic rule of thumb that dbull taught me :

Pressure plate dictates your torque limit and pedal feel

Disc controls your engagement.

So a full face disc will engage smoothly, at the cost of heat dissipation, where a puck disc will have a harsher engagement, but perform better under heavy duty use as it dissipates the heat better and is less inclined to glaze.

Cheap uprated pp's will have bad pedal feel, as they use a stock ring with stiffer springs. And since the ring has the fulcrum point on it for the springs, you end up with a heavy pedal. Act machine this so you wind up with a stock pedal feel.

Ive had both xtd and act now. Id recommend act all the way. Well worth the extra cash money. I got mine from ebay us, came in at about £260 shipped. Sellers name escapes me.

Also, replacing a stock clutch with a stock clutch will give you better clamping force, cause 60k miles of wear on a disc means your pp is not clamping as efficiently as it could be. As the disc thins, the plate cant accomodate this.

Hope this all helps
 
Great reply Ross, thanks :)

Definitely staying with full face disc. Did read about what puck clutches do and don't think it's for me.

I thought about just getting stock again for the same reasons Ross, perhaps an Exedy one, but the stock design is a solid (unsprung) clutch disc, so would have to used with a DMF. As the clutch change has come up I figure I'd like to do away with the DMF. Especially as it's recommended you change it at the same time as the clutch and as the DMF costs like £500 I'd rather not... sp having an SMF and a sprung clutch would be the new setup I go for.

Also I've checked out ACT on US eBay and Ultrarev looks to be the cheapest. But I also contacted KTeller and GSpec for quotes and Greg has come up trumps, with the GTS-T ACT clutch I'm after coming in at £287 delivered. If you take that and what ever Joe's guy will want to charge for making my DMF a SMF it's a bit of a bargain.

Just on the point of whether an RB25DE / T clutch fits, I'm pretty sure it does because Exedy list the same pressure plate for both mine and that engine. But if it doesn't fit for some reason then I can at least sell it on to a GTS-T owner here in the UK, so no loss.
 
Out of three they're the more expensive

Gpec $449 delivered for 1.
KTeller $477 delivered for 1.
Ultrarev $531 delivered for 1.
 
Not long after I fitted my gspec clutch I made it slip going up a very steep hill on a motorway, changed down to 4th and floored it, its since done many thousand miles, drag events and general dickery in 2 cars.

You will be fine
 
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I used Ultrarev for my ACT, they marked it up as 'warranty replacement parts', paid fuck all duty.

I'd recommend em all day long.


I've often heard that a good dump can clear a bit of carbon.
 
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Anything under £135 means you don't get charged duty, only VAT. So Greg doesn't do this? I don't want to ask him to as it'll be in writing then...
 
I ask him to with every order, its just a risk you have to take if it goes missing.

But I'm yet to hear of that ever happening...
 
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Hi! I'm from Portugal and i'm looking for improved clutches "stage1" to make the instalation in 2013. The objective is to increase the power of my Almera 2.2dci from 136ps to 160/165ps, to have a little better performance and improve the power in low rotations due to the big lag, a problem as u already know. I want your opinion if i really have to change the cluctch or if that isnt necessary. I'm looking in "www.europerformance.co.uk" and "www.dcperformance.co.uk", do u have any feedback about this sites? Last question, i cant find the specific clutch for the 2.2dci 136ps, because there are 2 levels of power for this after 2003, 112ps and 136ps. I dont know if it's the same clutch or if it´s diferent. The Nissan Primera P12 2.2dci 136 had the same clutch but the reference it's diferent from the one that i find in these websites and that make me question if its due to diferent models or maybe diferent clutchs. If u go look in the net there is only one clutch available for the 2.2dci from 2003 and it's from "Black Diamond". Thanks
 
You won't need to change your clutch. The standard clutch is very strong! It's good for 190bhp, 320lbft. After that start thinking about an upgrade.

Oh and don't get the black diamond clutch anyway, if you ever get the engine over 200bhp buy an ACT clutch. I have the part numbers.
 
Thanks. I Dont want to make such improvement in the power. The fuel is not cheap... And tickets too, lol. Soon i will put the photos of my N16 II. It stills all original yet. Bye
 
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