I currently have around 3k miles on it and more being put on every day.

 

I know Tym quite likes the 2 disk coper ceramic, the 2 disk Carbon though is a different unit all together.

 

I agree, Some of the early RPS units had a ring gear that had the incorrect pitch diameter. I beleive it's wrong to ship a expensive clutch that has a incorrect ring gear. The current unit in our company car has a ring gear that has the same pitch diameter as stock and same tooth profile as stock and it is quiet. Their earlier units have teeth that are too thick making them quite noise when the starter engages.

 

I don't own a shop and I have never been a retail seller of any clutch, let alone any product for an EVO. All I do is the ecu tuning. I don't even sell the ems.

 

I stand corrected then, we have ONE un-biased review. There needs to be a lot more though, especially since I count up a whopping 9000 miles driven on RPS clutches mentioned in this thread. I'm certainly not trying to bash RPS, but this constant droning on about how great they are without any real proof isn't going to sell clutches. Give it some time.

 

Thanks

I think the feedback you are going to get will not be as rapid or in the numbers that will overwhelm you. This clutch is very expensive, as you know, and fewer people have the ability, or are willing to make this kind of purchase. There are alot of great RPS reviews, but they are on cars other than the evo since the evo application is so new.

 

I see 2 or 3 on here if you read the whole post.

 

This might be the most intelligent post in this whole thread.

I too have driven just about every clutch out there for the Evo's. Twins in and of themselves are a diferent animal than your traditional individual clutch/flywheel packages. I also cannot tell you how many people I have been with who simply could not drive worth a damn. No clutch, not a $3000 carbon, diamond, whatever, not a $500 ACT, will last if it's not 1. broken in properly and 2. driven properly.

I am not taking ANYTHING away from the RPS unit - from what I know, it's been well received. Problem I see is that few people actually need a clutch like this, and even fewer can afford the asking price. Given it's cost, I don't see what it does that makes it significantly more expensive than the other carbon units on the market, but that's just me.

 

I am absolutely amazed by this thread.

I think it is important to notice how many experienced and qualified individuals have endorsed the Exedy product line. Not simply individuals trying to sell parts, but those who are actually using these components under the most demanding conditions possible.

The fact is, there are more successful Evolutions out there running the Exedy series of clutches than any other. Why? Superior engineering, unrivaled finish quality, reliability, excellent product support, just to name a few. The most important aspect of what makes Exedy clutches so popular is the fact that they do what they are designed to do and they do this consistently. They have proven to be superior products time after time.

We have installed Exedy clutches in every single one of the Evo projects we have done at our facility and most every other make of vehicle as well (Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, etc.) - not limited to imports. I endorse their products based on their quality, performance and reliability. The Exedy carbon units do in fact generate more audible noise and I don't normally recommend them to customers who desire a quiet daily-driven clutch. I actually have one in my wife's Evo... she drives 90miles per day minimum. It is in fact noisey for her and I'm going to swap it out for an Exedy metallic twin.

As with most products, the carbon has its intended use. The ceramic metallic twin disk offering is hands down the finest clutch I have used in a daily-driven Evo application up to the 500whp range. Once you cross that threshold, you can move to the triple. Again... Exedy has produced product for that intended use. It is important to select (or count on an experienced shop to select) components for you that will fit your needs based on your use of the vehicle and any other modifications you may have.

It has been my experience that many things get pulled out of context or misconstrued on the internet. It is my intention with this post to make certain that everyone clearly understands my respect for, and endorsement of, the Exedy product line.

Take care everyone.

Tym Switzer
Switzer Performance Innovation, Ltd.
www.switzerperformanceinnovation.com

 

After receiving a telephone call this morning from one of my peers in this industry, I need to clarify a couple things. First thing. In my original post, I mentioned that I had purchased Exedy twice for my company car. This is the truth. I feel Exedy makes a world class clutch but for what *I* was looking for, *I* wanted something that *I* felt was more streetable (carbon based technology). The Exedy Carbon unit makes more noise that what *I* wanted in *my* development car. For me, a noise clutch means that I might not be able to hear something happening on the inside of the motor. This is where I do most of my development work, I didn't want to be confused by all the extra noise masking noise from the motor.

Second: My comments about Tym Switzer's experience with the 2 disk Exedy carbon were interpreted out of context. Tym is running the carbon unit in his wife’s daily driven EVO which makes a situation where the clutch is too noisy for his wife, The carbon unit is being replaced by a 2 disk Exedy copper.

Third: My peers that know my full RPS experience say that my post might be misleading to the public considering what I have gone though with RPS and that I need to give some more information. We did in fact get one of the first units available. The first unit I received was not a pre-production unit. I looked at this unit as an engineer would and I saw many things that were good. (As posted in my original post). What I didn't say is that the first unit we received was sent back to RPS to be updated with their latest release bearing retaining clip and to have some additional machine work done on the back side of the clutch because it didn't have enough tolerance on the back side of the flywheel to clear the Evo8 Block. RPS called us and asked us to ship it back letting us know that they found an issue. On the replacement unit, I was told that if the starter made noise then it should be shimmed. I then thought to my self, shimming a starter on a Mitsubishi will not fix whatever issue they are trying to fix. We did some measuring and found that the pitch diameter of what they shipped was incorrect making the flywheel teeth too thick. This is why some people have posted about noise when they start the car. This unit was again sent back to RPS. RPS kindly replaced the unit. As sheer dumb luck would have it someone there made a human error and shipped me someone else’s flywheel with a fresh clutch attached to it. This unit again went back to RPS a 3rd time. I was fed up. I told RPS that it was bogus to shim a mitsu starter and that I didn't wish to run anything that didn't recieve my stamp of approval. I told them I wanted a refund and that my intent was to purchase Exedy for my company car as I knew it was machined correctly.

JT and Rob(the owner) ask me to give them one last chance to make this right with me. Because I wanted carbon/carbon technology and I had seen how sexy this cutch was in previous attempts, I decided to give them a 4th try. They shipped me a unit that has a ring gear that matches stock dimension (I don't know if this is what they are currently shipping to the public) and I immediately installed it in the car as I needed something to drive while my truck is getting repaired by the dealer.

If anyone has a right to talk bad about RPS's clutch, I feel I do. But notice that in my previous posts I am recommending it. At this point in time I feel the configuration that they sent me is *that* good! I do wish to clarify that what I am running might be different than what they are currently shipping. The unit that I have is quiet, it starts quiet, It is predictable when it drives and it has held all that I have thrown at it. This clutch is so good that I can't believe that I almost threw in the towel and went with someone else's clutch. At this point in time, I can't imagine running anything else but RPS in this car after driving the corrected unit.

Last Item: As stated in earlier posts, I have no real dyno numbers on how much power I am testing this RPS clutch with. The car is not in its final testing configuration which at that time it will be run on the rollers. Also, as stated in previous posts, I only have around 3000 miles on the RPS clutch and I do not know how this will behave at 6000, 9000, 15000 miles.

Thanks for the space to clarify my feelings on this subject.

Quinn Whipple
Innovative Development, L.L.C
Concept Racing

 

Quinn,

Not sure when you got the last clutch for you car that the starter doesn't drag in but I would guess it was before we received the one we just installed in this customers car. When we asked about the noise, after knowing about before we even installed it and being told it was fixed, they said start the car 20-30 times and it will break in. No acceptable. The customer called them with the concern and they have given them a lifetime warranty on the flywheel and starter, to me, still not acceptable.

David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com

 

I remember speaking with Quinn when he recieved shipment of his clutch and he actually measured the ring gear on the clutch vs. the factory ring gear and he found almost .030" difference between the ring gear teeth.

Wear in? I guess that means since the ring gear is probably hardened, that you need 20 or 30 starts to grind away the drive gear on your starter for clearance. That would be like setting up a ring and pinion out of spec and hoping that it grinds itself into position. I wouldn't find that to be acceptable either.

 

That wear in method would allow for very little backlash/slop in the gear tooth engagement though. Just kidding!!

Sounds like the center to center distance is off slightly on the two mating gears. They must have gotten the flywheel diameter slightly off. That is a very fundamental design, they shouldn't have messed that one up... Hopefully they have corrected it...

Brian

 

Exedy rules all. Except it and move on!!

 

Dave,

We received it the 2nd week of January