Hey,

First time posting here, looks like a great forum. I just bought an Evo VIII last week. My friend decides to take it for a spin and fries the clutch. I'm not with the car right now (I'm in Colorado, car's in Maryland). I'm coming home 19 Mar. and I'm only going to be there for a week. I would love to drive my new car, but I have to replace the clutch. Mechanic tells me he wants 1600 bucks to replace the stock clutch for the disc clutch, bearing, cover assembly, and flywheel (apparently my "friend" really jacked it up). I said screw that; I can get a stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel for only a little more than that (since his labor cost was around 700 bucks).

Anyway, I'll try and get to the point: I need advice on a good clutch that is tough and can handle a lot of HP (I'm going to try and get the car up to about 500+ whp). I also want something that operates well not just for racing, but also for street conditions. I was thinking of getting the Clutch Master's Stage 4 kit and Fidanza Flywheel. I found good prices for them here:

http://www.lancershop.com/clutch.htm

I was hoping you could point me in the right direction as far as picking a good clutch and flywheel, letting me know if I need to order anything else, and give me some pointers on installation (around how much I should look to pay). I've never installed a clutch by myself before, and I don't know anyone who could help me so I think I would need to get a mechanic to do it this time around. Thanks for the help.


P.S. I'm new to the whole car scene so take it easy on me

 

find someone in the springs area. i'm sure someone will be down to help you out. it's not that bad. check out the hks, or cusco kits. they are about the same price as your mechanic was going to charge, but great clutches/flywheels w/ good driveability.
peace,
jeremy

 

Phew! One week and you killed the clutch?

 

I have the Exedy Twin disk and love it. It's the same as the cusco but, the Cusco has carbon disk which are a little better.
I have heard bad things about Clutch Master, but i'm no expert.

 

Okay thanks I'll look into the Cusco kits. I did some searching and they seem to be pretty popular on this board. I would try and get in touch with some one in the Bel Air area to help me out, but it's pretty short notice and I'll only be home for a week so I think I will just get a mechanic to do it.

About having the car for a week: I know, it's pretty rough. Needless to say I'm going to have a few choice words for the so-called friend of mine who did the damage. And in return he had better have a few choice dollars to help cover the cost.