You can purchase the Daikin version of Exedy clutches. I was able to but one for my Eclipse GT about $100 cheaper than the Exedy that way, and it was the exact same clutch as the OEM one.

 

Exedy = Daikin No difference
The major differences are not from the name on the box but from whether the parts were produced for Mitsubishi or for the aftermarket. Although sometimes the parts are exactly the same, the standards for OEM parts are different and they save costs by not meeting those standards on parts produced for the aftermarket.
Exedy is the corporation and Daikin is the brand name they are known for. They have steered away from using Daikin name as much in order to strengthen the Exedy name recognition in the marketplace, but still use the Daikin logo on the parts. They closed down their clutch manufacturing plant in the USA about three years ago and formed Exedy Globalparts USA maybe a year ago, importing all of their clutch parts from Exedy Japan.
From their website:
EXEDY Globalparts Corporation (USA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the EXEDY Corporation of Japan. EXEDY (Japan) was founded in 1923 and its clutch manufacturing business and prominent brand name Daikin Clutch are known throughout the world for supplying quality powertrain products.

 

after reading through this thread, i've come up with a few questions specific to this post.. first, (and this is a dumb one) the coffee grinder sound described... could that possibly relate also to an '03 lancer, non-evo? the reason i ask, i had my clutch replaced a few months ago in my completely stock '03 OZ edition with just over 120k miles. i didn't really pay much attention to wether or not it was making a sound when i got it back. shortly after getting it back, maybe a week or two, i started noticing the same noise described here. acted exactly alike... makes no sound whatsoever with the pedal depressed, but when i let off it makes a grinding sound. it is VERY noticable in 1st gear at all times, barely noticable in 2nd. above 3rd gear i can't hear it (not sure if that's due to outside noise or not) i took it back to the guy who replaced my clutch and had him look at it. he listened to it for a few minutes, depressed the pedal, listened to it, released it, etc.. after a few minutes of listening, he said it sounded like a bearing in the transmission going out..worse case a gear. i asked him to call me when he found something so he could give me an estimate on both price and amount of time to fix it. i took the car in over a week ago and still have not received a call. what i'm wondering... could his diagnosis be correct (a bearing in the tranny), or should i really expect it to be either the flywheel coming loose, or just normal noise from torsional vibrations?

 

I have the ACT HDSS and I have the same decel noises. It typically starts at around 4k on down to 2.5k when slowing down in any gear. 3 Shops have all told me this noise is normal with ACT clutches.

 

I have the same noise with my Works Stage 2 clutch w/ alum flywheel... I spoke with Jon Shepard from Shep trans (thinking the noise was related to my freshly rebuilt tranny), and he said that the noise is a common problem w/ the evo & DSM's. Claiming that the lightened flywheel & stiffer clutch springs are transmitting more engine "noise" throughout the car. This is pretty much the same thing that ACTMAN said.

I guess its just something we'll have to deal with

 

The only complaint I have with my hdss w/sprung 6-puck is the fact the clutch engages sooo high up. If I try and adjust the stroke down some it drives normally but will lock out at the 7k shift rpm. The only way to make it happy is to have it adjusted way up and just deal with the really long stroke . Is this normal?

 

My clutch engages really high as well, and very quickly I might add. Seems pretty normal to me.

 

is this your daily? 4/6 puck are terrible for daily use, and ive heard they are notorious for engaging really high up as you've already stated

 

Yes it is my daily driver and whatever you have heard about how horrible they are is just people talking. Just like when people say don't run a vta bov on a stock ecu car or it will stall...WRONG! The car drives like stock with a slightly stiffer pedal. The engagement is pretty short but not hard to get use to at all. And of course it hooks like crazy when you launch so people who are use to stock clutches shouldn't get one because if you aren't careful you can snap a transfer case like nothing. I can see my release being higher than others because of the different disc design but can someone please elaborate...

 

ill tell you why they are terrible for daily use, because you will be replacing yours soon, that clutch wasnt designed for daily driving, its for strip mostly some track use

 

Ah wrong again. I am going to assume at this point you have never driven with one of these clutches. I had one in my daily driven 500whp mustang for 2 1/2 years. A friend of mine had the same clutch setup except his was a solid 6-puck in a 10sec daily driven dsm for almost three years and he had to replace it because the rivets came out, not because it was slipping.

 

I find that you get a lot of decel noises when running aluminum flywheels. I tend to stick with stock or billet steel flywheels to avoid that problem.
I ran a ACT clutch on my old WRX with the stock flywheel w/o any problems. My buddy Ali ran a Spec clutch with aluminum flywheel on his WRX and had all kinds of noises.

 

yes i have never owned one w/ a 6/4 puck but i have driven them, im not saying it will slip, but i also wouldnt compare a mustang clutch w/ that of an evo

 

Oh so you wouldn't compare a single disc, cable operated clutch with a 38lb pressure plate to a dual friction, hydraulic operated clutch with a far less than 38lb pressure plate? You are right, the mustang was much worse and drove it every day because it was my only car and the pressure was much worse. Just don't go around spreading facts of which you know nothing about to people. Driving one car than had a 6 puck in it does not make you knowledgeable and you are just putting out useless information to people who are trying to learn about the subject.

 

Update:

I have pulled the Clutch and Flywheel out and have installed the factory flywheel and clutch. The coffee grinder noise is gone, I couldn't stand it anymore!! While the clutch and flywheel performed great, the noise just got to me. Now I have a ACT 2900 lbs clutch kit (MB7-HDSS) and an ACT Streetlite flywheel (#600205) sitting in a box on the shelf of my garage with 8k miles on it.

Thanks for the help from ACTman and the people that responded to this post!

:-)