I wrote this at the bottom of the Exedy vs ACT thread, but I thought it should be brought to the forefront, so here you go. I tried to send a PM to ACTman, because I thought he'd appreciate me doing that first, but he doesn't receive PMs, so here goes...

I WOULD LIKE TO RECANT THIS STATEMENT - PLEASE READ!!

So, I've had my ACT in for a few months and have loved it. The daily driving is exactly like stock, and the extra pedal pressure is not even noticeable to me anymore. I've done 10+ autocross launches that were awesome, and I've been to the drag strip 2 times and have had little-to-no problem with shifting. I had missed a few in those 2 trips, but nothing that would indicate the clutch being a problem. I even hit my best of 12.15 (twice) in an extremely hot summer afternoon at 1pm just 2 weeks ago, so I thought things were fine and dandy.

Well, last night, myself and a few other Evos went to a local track that doesn't normally have Friday night test'n'tune, because the temps were going to drop into the low 70s after sunset. Way better than 95 in midday, right? Well, unfortunately, things did not work out at all for me, and here's why...

I showed up with a hot car and went right onto the track for some pump gas runs to see if my TBE was good for a 12.4-12.5 run on 93oct. I launched with some wheel hop (ugh, that's new), then completely missed the 2-3. I didn't grind or go to 5th, but simply got locked out of 3rd. Ok, no big deal, it happens sometimes, right? So, I hotlap around and go again. The launch was only semi-decent (1.78), but not good for me (mostly 1.70s 2 weeks ago), but I hit my shifts and had a 12.68, though at only 105.9 (slower than when I just had an s-afc), so maybe it's just hot and the car is heatsoaked.

I then put in 3 gals of 116, which is good, except that I still had 5 gals of 93 left (dammit). I line up again and launch (1.78 again, wtf), but miss 2nd. Again, I get locked out completely...didn't grind or miss or slip my hand off the shifter. I accelerate in 2nd then miss 3rd...same thing...complete lockout. Ok, now I'm worried. What the hell is going on, and why can't I shift? Well, I go on to get ONE clean pass, which only nets me a 12.44 at 110.24. I bounced off the rev limiter, so I know I was making my normal power, but I wasn't able to get any 60's worth a damn, and I was really struggling to shift at my normal speed. Well, the rest of the night, I didn't get a single pass without missing a gear, so I was really pissed. My very last pass, I altered my shifting just to ensure I didn't miss a gear and only ran a 12.67 at 107!!! Now, this is crap I ran on pump gas with a damn cat-back in the heat several months ago. This time, I had the full TBE, fuel pump, race gas, and 24psi in 70 degrees after sunset and only got 107 after a crappy 1.85 60'??? Well, this told me 2 things: 1) Something is locking me out of my fast shifts (ACT?) and 2) I never realized how much of a difference fast shifting made.

So, after discussing it with my local Evo brethren and a few others on the board, I have come to the conclusion that it's the ACT locking me out above 7k rpm. I don't know why it didn't do it the first few months, but it's definitely doing it now. I went out and practiced 3 straight 1-2 shifts at 7k+, and each time I got locked out. I try to slam it in, but nothing happens, not even a grind. So, now, I have to either let the revs fall slightly, or just do it much more slowly, which is ridiculous. I may have to look into replacing a clutch that hasn't gone bad, else I won't be doing any drag racing for a while...

 

i have the same clutch in my car and have only been locked out of 4th 1 time and thats the only problem ive had so far....maybe its an adjustment issue. ive also had the clutch before and after a turbo upgrade so its seen 2 entirely different power ranges and still no problem with it.

 

Wow. Just when I was leaning toward geting the ACT I hear another bad review
Now I don't know what to do. It must be a problem with the disc warping or something...I don't know any other reason it would do it all the sudden when it was fine before. Or maybe it just needs re-adjusted.
What are you going to replace it with?

 

Do you have a factory flywheel or a prostreet

 

New, factory flywheel.

Woodside, do you race it frequently?

Broeli, I don't know. IT's so expensive to purchase and install that I don't plan on changing it anytime soon.

 

that depends on what you mean by race it frequently lol. at the track i havent gotten a ton of launch on it yet.....still havent worked out some kinks with breaking up yet....sometime after the 9th ill be making more runs. but just about every day the car gets its beating. the day after the install it got about 8 launches on it. i also have the stock flywheel.

 

i probably have close to 6k on the clutch too since this will be the 6th month that its been in and i put alot of miles on the car just in normal driving.

 

man that sux clayton and you were launching great at the auto-x'es

maybe if you adjust it or get the short (or long i don remember)rod(slave)

my clutch started feeling differnt after the few auto-x we went to maybe its broke in more and needs to be adjusted

good luck

 

quick question too when uve missed second was it a hard miss? i doubt uve missed gears enough or hard enough to possibly bend a shift fork or something silly like that but it just might be another thing to consider. id say definitly try to readjust it before ya rip that thing out tho.

 

The bottom line is that the ACT street style clutch is way too heavy and has a terrible disnengagment. The puck style racing units they sell are much better shifting but IMHO the street style set up just wears the crap out of your syncros.

The japanese twin disc clutches are more money but they are vastly superior in shifft speed and feel.

Keep in mind for those who dont know Exedy makes the OEM clutch, supplies ACT with the clutch cover which it uses for its clutch which is a modified exedy pressure plate and makes a whole range of clutch offerings for the aftermarket.

 

funny how when other people have had this problem shifting you tell them its just bad shifting. I've had the same problem with the stock clutch.

 

Yeah, no question on that. I won't be taking it apart for a long time unless someone donates me a clutch and provides very cheap installation service, neither of which are likely. The clutch is absolutely fine on regular driving, so it's not like my car is all screwed up. It's ONLY when doing my drag shifting, which is NOTHING like driving it hard on the street. I know you said you give it its beating on the street, but that is NOTHING like rapping through the gears on a drag run. Also, with only 8 launches or whatever, you're nowhere in the realm of where I am as far as finding out what this clutch can do. After 8 or even 15 launches, I would have told you that the ACT was God's gift to clutches, but now at 20+, although I can still launch fine, I absolutely cannot shift whatsoever if I shift the way I normally do, which is extremely fast and with no hesitation. My stock clutch never behaved like this and worked like a charm, so I may go BACK to stock, despite knowing it won't last a LONG time. At least I know it will launch AND shift flawlessly while it's still alive...

 

I didn't tell them it was bad shifting; I just said I had no such problems with my ACT. This was true until last night, and I don't know what changed. Maybe it got worn down quickly or something, I don't know...

 

The stock clutch has the same problem - its MASS (weight of the disk which is on the tranmission input shaft) and the design of the pressure plate and how it disengages when you shift.

This is why the carbon clutches shift so fast - almost like a dog box

I personally never liked the ACT heavy pedal feel and slow shifting action on the street units. A lot of the cars with ACT units I have driven have had weak syncros

 

Maybe your syncros are worn down - also check your trans oil