i am bhuying my evo in july but i am worried about the clutch. i hear that the clutch will go after a couple of launches. is the stock clutch good and if not is there an aftermarket clutch that can handle the launches and still be daily driven.

 

I've launched many times with the clutch still holding 100%. Mostly dumps or quick roll offs. All high rpm. I hate to say this but I think most of the people with clutch problems don't know how to launch. Or got unlucky with a bad part. I tend to think it's the driver. I'm not saying the clutch isn't the culprit. Just that I've driven it pretty hard with very hard launches and haven't had a problem yet. I also never smell burning clutch. Taking the clutch a part people will notice the clutch plate is actually pretty strong.
I would stick with the stock clutch until it actually starts to go out on you. If you do mods really quick you might need one sooner than later. If you stay stock I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I must say that I am not the world's greatest launcher and still have not figured it out. I have smelled burning clutch a time or two. My question would be how can you tell a clutch needs to be replaced? I have never needed to replace a clutch on any vehicle I have owned but I have also never owned a 271hp turbo-charged AWD vehicle before.

 

The subjective way to know if your clutch needs replacing is when it starts to take a longer distance then normal to disengage clutch pedal for the car to start moving/reacting to the engine. Since the clutch plates slowly wear with time (under normal driving conditions), it is hard for a person who drives the car all time to know when this is happening because as the plates slowly wear, the daily driver of the car does not feel the small amount of difference in distance in engaging the clutch from day to day.

The objective way is to pull out the clutch plates and measure their thickness. Then, compare the thickness with the manufactures specified minimum thickness.

However, I can tell you if you fry the crap out of the clutch from one hard launch too many in a row you should notice the difference immediately. You will rev the engine while in gear and instead of the car accelerating it will just continue to poke along. The best suggestion I can give you is that if you plan on doing multiple hard launches let the clutch cool off a little while between launches. The hotter the clutch is the better chance you are going to burn the clutch to hell on the spot.

 

The clutch is the week point of the car. There are aftermarket clutches and Buschur Racing has installed one in their car. It sounds like changing it is difficult. Not sure how the aftermarkets ones drive?

 

thanks for ur help. how is everyone launching the car. i have a civic and come off the clutch slow at 3000 rpm's. the evo is gonna be tatally diff. what rpm should i bring it to and how do i release the clutch slow, fast, just dump it or what?

 

There seem to be many different methods on the board. My personal method is by no means the best out there but it got me a best 60' of 1.813 bone stock. It also gets me consistent 1.8's with low 1.9 being the slowest. THere's some out there with 1.7 60's so there method may serve you better. Those were also done with modified cars so that may be the difference.

For me I start to feather the throttle to 4500-5000rpms. When I'm ready to launch I hold the throttle down a little to increase the rpms slightly then let off the clutch about 10-15%. This is just enough to let it engage with minimal slip occuring. Once it engages which takes about a few tenths of a second I let it out the rest of the way. It could be considered a fast roll off the clutch or a minimal slip until engaged then dump it. I get no wheel spin, no hop, and massive head snapping G-Force when it launches. Your timing from the slight lift to dump will determine your 60' If you let it slip too long you'll get a slower time.

 

Thanks Kam. My clutch seems to engage pretty high as is but I will keep my eye on it. The car still takes off like a banshee so I guess my clutch is holding on.

 

Hey Wiz, adjust the clutch pedal. I think all Evo's are set pretty high. I'd say a good 50% travel before it engages. Maybe a little less than that but you get my drift. I just recently changed mine so it engages a few inches from the floor. This will also help reduce clutch wear from drops.

 

OK, not to sound too much like a dumbass and not being at my car at this particular moment, how do you adjust the clutch pedal? I would definitely benefit from it engaging lower.

 

The hydraulic clutch system on the Evo is self adjusting, so there will be no discernable change in the grab position as the clutch wears.

I chance my clutch when it will no longer hold well on a drag race launch. It has never gotten bad enough that it won't hold when flooring it in gear.

 

Stock clutch should hold fine,..but even if you replace,..then you'll have the "popping" out effect of an Aftermarket clutch,..no smooth roll's from full stops.It just wants to engage and can';t be done smoothly espically if you get a really hard Stage2 and up type clutch.

You wil know when the Clutch goes out no doubt--it will "burn" into gears like your letting the clutch pedal out real slow.
Plus you'll probbaly hear that Throw out bearing as well,..that I'm not 100% sure about but my old GSR Clutch after about a 1yr the damn Throw out started rattling when your not engaged.

I'm hoping this EVO's clucth can handle the abuse its cabable of or I'm gonna be dissapointed

<-----Buying my Weightless White EVO in a few weeks!

 

Not sure if this will work for the evo, but a guy on the 300ZX forum told me to get going about 30 or so in 3rd gear then shift to 5th and put the gas pedal to the floor. If the revs jump up immediately, the clutch is slipping, if not, you are ok.

I am not really srue if this is true or not, but it sounds good to me

 

Sorry, been away awhile. To adjust the pedal look underneath where the clutch is. You'll see the shaft that holds the pedal leads to an assembly where there's an adjustable gold rod. There's a 12mm nut that needs to be loosened. Then you can turn the rod to tighten or loosen. Tighten will bring the clutch pedal closer to the floor. It only takes like 2 turns and it will engage pretty close to the floor. If you still can't find it let me know and I'll post a pic.

 

Thanks for the info Evil. I will probably look for it tomorrow or saturday if I get a chance. I am actually leaving for vacation tomorrow (west texas and then colorado on sunday, road trip in the Evo) so I am not sure if I will get a chance to give it a try but we'll see. Sounds simple enough though.