Competition Clutch review
i think this might be my next clutch whenever my ACT HDSS goes out or whenever i decide to rebuild the tranny and TC. whichever comes first. i have some power upgrades coming real soon so i am anticipating to be around 420hp and 400tq on a dynojet hopefully. we'll see but i know i do not want to go with ACT again. although the clutch holds well but i have had issues with noise and some lockouts as well. but nothing to major since i rarely track the car anymore.
which would be better for my projected HP/TQ the stage 3 or the stage 4?
which would be better for my projected HP/TQ the stage 3 or the stage 4?
anyways i was talkin to Dan at MAPerformance and he pointed out somthing that makes lots of sense about the longitivity of "aftermarket" clutchs.
an after market 6-puck clutches probably last just as long as a stock oem clutch if you drive it like its oem. the only reason that they tend to have shorter lifespans is because you are upgrading your clutch to a 6-puck because you most likly have a built evo. And everyone knows if you have a modded evo you are going to beat on it or drive it like its stolen lol. im going to be honest, if i pull up next to a 5.0 pony or have absolutly no traffic infront of me im going WOT haha.
Any other reviews on these clutches. I have a stage 2 rated up to 350whp i believe. not sure what tq its rated to, but i currently have 425whp/360tq and am still running the stage 2 clutch that was installed in 2010. it slips like silly when i launch it but it does hold when i do moving pulls. Anyway to the point, which clutch would be best for me now
CC # 5152-1620 (Sprung)
CC # 5153-0620 (Rigid)
I do drive it daily at times, not a lot but some. about 3-5k miles a year.
***Also i have a free clutch voucher from them, thats the main reason im going thru them***
CC # 5152-1620 (Sprung)
CC # 5153-0620 (Rigid)
I do drive it daily at times, not a lot but some. about 3-5k miles a year.
***Also i have a free clutch voucher from them, thats the main reason im going thru them***
Evolved Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 591
Likes: 0
From: Mesa, Az
i know this is an old thread, but i just bought a competition stage 4 sprung 6-puck clutch kit and lightweight flywheel, it will be here friday so i can throw it in this weenend. i was looking up reviews and thats how i ran into this thread
anyways i was talkin to Dan at MAPerformance and he pointed out somthing that makes lots of sense about the longitivity of "aftermarket" clutchs.
an after market 6-puck clutches probably last just as long as a stock oem clutch if you drive it like its oem. the only reason that they tend to have shorter lifespans is because you are upgrading your clutch to a 6-puck because you most likly have a built evo. And everyone knows if you have a modded evo you are going to beat on it or drive it like its stolen lol. im going to be honest, if i pull up next to a 5.0 pony or have absolutly no traffic infront of me im going WOT haha.
anyways i was talkin to Dan at MAPerformance and he pointed out somthing that makes lots of sense about the longitivity of "aftermarket" clutchs.
an after market 6-puck clutches probably last just as long as a stock oem clutch if you drive it like its oem. the only reason that they tend to have shorter lifespans is because you are upgrading your clutch to a 6-puck because you most likly have a built evo. And everyone knows if you have a modded evo you are going to beat on it or drive it like its stolen lol. im going to be honest, if i pull up next to a 5.0 pony or have absolutly no traffic infront of me im going WOT haha.
Lucas @ English Racing runs it in his 500wtq 2.4L and he has nothing but good things to say about it. as long as you're not launching at every second light, the new style stage 2 HD will hold your target power and last you for a long long time.
p.s i absolutely love my stage 3.5/5152-2600
Competition released their new stage 2 HD (5152-2100) at the end of last year. from what i gather, the new one is leaps and bounds better than the old one, which isn't a whole lot better than stock - the new stage 2 HD is rated for 450wtq.
Lucas @ English Racing runs it in his 500wtq 2.4L and he has nothing but good things to say about it. as long as you're not launching at every second light, the new style stage 2 HD will hold your target power and last you for a long long time.
p.s i absolutely love my stage 3.5/5152-2600
Lucas @ English Racing runs it in his 500wtq 2.4L and he has nothing but good things to say about it. as long as you're not launching at every second light, the new style stage 2 HD will hold your target power and last you for a long long time.
p.s i absolutely love my stage 3.5/5152-2600
Competition released their new stage 2 HD (5152-2100) at the end of last year. from what i gather, the new one is leaps and bounds better than the old one, which isn't a whole lot better than stock - the new stage 2 HD is rated for 450wtq.
Lucas @ English Racing runs it in his 500wtq 2.4L and he has nothing but good things to say about it. as long as you're not launching at every second light, the new style stage 2 HD will hold your target power and last you for a long long time.
p.s i absolutely love my stage 3.5/5152-2600
Lucas @ English Racing runs it in his 500wtq 2.4L and he has nothing but good things to say about it. as long as you're not launching at every second light, the new style stage 2 HD will hold your target power and last you for a long long time.
p.s i absolutely love my stage 3.5/5152-2600
ps muslimevoguy - sorry was hammed last night browsing the forums
heres my review guys 
Originally Posted by fightex
first off, a huge thanks to Tom (TSCOMPUSA) for hooking me up with the new Competition stage 3.5 + ultralight flywheel. i messaged about a handful of vendors and Tom gave me by far the best price. i'd messaged him early tuesday, the package shipped the same day, and it arrived in Canada on thursday (with reasonable shipping rates). Tom is definitely one of the best vendors i've delt with on here.
a quick history:
- my RS came with an ACT XTSS + Prolite - loved the service life, hated the shifting no matter the adjustment
- swapped it for a QM 6 leg - loved how it shifted, indifferent about the lack of "refinement" for daily driving, hated the service life of the disks (13k miles on the last rebuild)
- my requirement then became something that gives a good compromise of shifting, holding power, price and service life for a summer DD/weekend road racer.
here is what i installed:
- Competition stage 3.5 segmented ceramic clutch (5152-2600)
- Competition Ultralight flywheel
- BG Syncroshift II for the tranny (i used it with the QM, felt it gave me the best shifting compared to the other fluids i've run in the past, saw that there was very little shavings on the drain plug when it came out at 12k miles so decided to use it again)
- Diamond ATF SP-III for the ACD
- Amsoil severe gear for the T-case
my car is a bolt-on stockblock 2.0 so i'll be limiting myself to around 390-400wtq. so far i've broken it in, put on a few hundred street miles and took it to a trackday at my local roadcourse and i'm confident to say that it is everything i wanted in a clutch.
pedal feel: absolutely love it. i've always thought the QM 6 leg's pedal effort was too light. i'd say the stage 3.5 is a little stiffer than the ACT HDSS and more or less similar to the XTSS.
take off: a little grabby, but nothing like the QM where it forces you to use more rev off the line because of the clutch's lack of inertia, yet chatters like a MF'er. it's a little more grabby than my previous XTSS as far as i can remember.
shifting: at last weeks trackday when i was dialing in my car for the upcoming time attack, i was shifting swiftly at 7,500rpm and didn't experience any sort of reluctance going into gears - that is to say it shifts like butter. i can't say for people who drag race, but this clutch allows me to shift plenty fast with no high rpm lockouts whatsoever. in fact i haven't missed a single shift with it yet, something that can't be said of my XTSS.
noise/vibration/harshness: dead quiet at any speed compared to the QM (decel, idle etc), no noises from the TOB when disengaged either. only a slight bit of chatter if you try to ride it out off the line at 2k+ rpm (which i'm used to not doing from the QM days)
response: for a road racer, downshifting is very important too. i'd say this clutch+flywheel combo is very close to the QM twin in terms of rev matching. it took some adjustments of the master cylinder and Tilton clutch pedal stop to get the shifting right, but i'm serious when i say it feels every bit as good as the QM at my shift point. i know a few people recommend using the stock flywheel but as someone from the N/A Honda world, i'd like even better response than what the QM twin plate offers, so going with a lightened flywheel makes sense for me.
launching: not applicable at the moment. will update the thread if and when i do head out to the strip.
which brings me to a very important point - i am using this clutch in conjunction with a Tilton clutch pedal stop and i find that it works GREAT. i currently have it set on the shortest adjustment. i've looked to make sure the clutch fork is able to disengage fully and that there is no trace of clutch drag. if you feel that clutch pedal has too much travel or that your clutch is not engaging till half way up (with proper adjustment), i'd highly recommend getting a clutch pedal stop. it literally feels like you've cut the pedal travel in half and it inspires great confidence when shifting because you no longer have to second guess where it engages, not to mention the shorter stroke allows you to shift much faster as well.
a quick history:
- my RS came with an ACT XTSS + Prolite - loved the service life, hated the shifting no matter the adjustment
- swapped it for a QM 6 leg - loved how it shifted, indifferent about the lack of "refinement" for daily driving, hated the service life of the disks (13k miles on the last rebuild)
- my requirement then became something that gives a good compromise of shifting, holding power, price and service life for a summer DD/weekend road racer.
here is what i installed:
- Competition stage 3.5 segmented ceramic clutch (5152-2600)
- Competition Ultralight flywheel
- BG Syncroshift II for the tranny (i used it with the QM, felt it gave me the best shifting compared to the other fluids i've run in the past, saw that there was very little shavings on the drain plug when it came out at 12k miles so decided to use it again)
- Diamond ATF SP-III for the ACD
- Amsoil severe gear for the T-case
my car is a bolt-on stockblock 2.0 so i'll be limiting myself to around 390-400wtq. so far i've broken it in, put on a few hundred street miles and took it to a trackday at my local roadcourse and i'm confident to say that it is everything i wanted in a clutch.
pedal feel: absolutely love it. i've always thought the QM 6 leg's pedal effort was too light. i'd say the stage 3.5 is a little stiffer than the ACT HDSS and more or less similar to the XTSS.
take off: a little grabby, but nothing like the QM where it forces you to use more rev off the line because of the clutch's lack of inertia, yet chatters like a MF'er. it's a little more grabby than my previous XTSS as far as i can remember.
shifting: at last weeks trackday when i was dialing in my car for the upcoming time attack, i was shifting swiftly at 7,500rpm and didn't experience any sort of reluctance going into gears - that is to say it shifts like butter. i can't say for people who drag race, but this clutch allows me to shift plenty fast with no high rpm lockouts whatsoever. in fact i haven't missed a single shift with it yet, something that can't be said of my XTSS.
noise/vibration/harshness: dead quiet at any speed compared to the QM (decel, idle etc), no noises from the TOB when disengaged either. only a slight bit of chatter if you try to ride it out off the line at 2k+ rpm (which i'm used to not doing from the QM days)
response: for a road racer, downshifting is very important too. i'd say this clutch+flywheel combo is very close to the QM twin in terms of rev matching. it took some adjustments of the master cylinder and Tilton clutch pedal stop to get the shifting right, but i'm serious when i say it feels every bit as good as the QM at my shift point. i know a few people recommend using the stock flywheel but as someone from the N/A Honda world, i'd like even better response than what the QM twin plate offers, so going with a lightened flywheel makes sense for me.
launching: not applicable at the moment. will update the thread if and when i do head out to the strip.
which brings me to a very important point - i am using this clutch in conjunction with a Tilton clutch pedal stop and i find that it works GREAT. i currently have it set on the shortest adjustment. i've looked to make sure the clutch fork is able to disengage fully and that there is no trace of clutch drag. if you feel that clutch pedal has too much travel or that your clutch is not engaging till half way up (with proper adjustment), i'd highly recommend getting a clutch pedal stop. it literally feels like you've cut the pedal travel in half and it inspires great confidence when shifting because you no longer have to second guess where it engages, not to mention the shorter stroke allows you to shift much faster as well.
I have the Comp Twin and I drive my car daily. It takes some getting used to but it HOLDS so well. You can see the power I'm making in my sig. Still on stock turbo so torque comes in quick. I'm happy with this clutch. Plus the newer version is FAR superior to the old version I had before. Competition did a great job redesigning their clutches. I'll never use another brand.
BTW...I have the "B" pressure plate. There are three different top hats you can choose from and they are all the same price for the whole clutch kit. You can choose A, B, or C top hats. I believe "A" is the strongest top hat. Mine is rate for 600lb/tq.
I have considered going with the stage 2 HD because I do drive my car daily but I just love the twin so much.
BTW...I have the "B" pressure plate. There are three different top hats you can choose from and they are all the same price for the whole clutch kit. You can choose A, B, or C top hats. I believe "A" is the strongest top hat. Mine is rate for 600lb/tq.
I have considered going with the stage 2 HD because I do drive my car daily but I just love the twin so much.
^Well! I have the same CC twin with 600 lbs plate as you as well. In my experience, it's an on/off clutch, very aggressive for daily drive which I'm doing. Basically from a stop, if your pedals manipulation is not perfect, the car will shake like a mini wheel hop before moving smoothly. So basically I'll do fast take off in order to avoid it (so I need to leave enough room from the car in front of me to avoid accidentally hitting it). Also, when downshift you'll have to make sure the rev match as well or you'll feel bad for the transmission.
The good thing about this clutch is the shifting. It shifts butter smooth even at high rpm (for my case up to 7800). Due to the pull to push conversion, it may take a while to get used to the pedal feel. I don't know which version new or old that I have but I got it from MAP. I like it but will try a different one because I spend lot of time on the famous 405 freeway here in So Cal.
The good thing about this clutch is the shifting. It shifts butter smooth even at high rpm (for my case up to 7800). Due to the pull to push conversion, it may take a while to get used to the pedal feel. I don't know which version new or old that I have but I got it from MAP. I like it but will try a different one because I spend lot of time on the famous 405 freeway here in So Cal.
I just recently installed my comp stage 2 a month ago and love every single bit of it. My car went 65000 miles on the stock clutch but started to go after I had it tuned. The comp is incredible. Very streetable and holds a launch very nicely. English Racing themselves recommend this clutch to anyone who comes in the shop with less than 550whp.
Newbie
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 45
Likes: 1
From: NYC
i have the segmented ceramic (it was stage 3.5 but now its known as stage 3) along with cc ultra light fly wheel on a evo 9. i have had many different type of clutches before (different cars), but this clutch is so god damn smooth! the flywheel combo with this clutch made my evo feel much smoother reving. engagement is same if not better then stock. i don't feel its ruff or "biting". its perfect (it could be just me). off course different people have different definitions on what ruff is. i personally hate noises , bucking , chattering etc. i had a front roll stopper but took it off because i felt it was too ruff. so far from what i hear from the shops is that this clutch will hold 450-500 torque. there are people running 400 f/lb torque for more than 35k miles and still going strong. again people drive differently.
Last edited by NoobSybot; Sep 10, 2013 at 05:03 PM.