Don't buy from Clutch Master... period...

I have a 2015 FE with 14k miles on it rotting way because of the clutch I purchased from Clutch Master. I purchased the car from TX about two years ago with 7,600 miles drove it home, it was practically brand new. The guy before tinned the windows, put a cai, test pipe and cutback on it then parked it in his garage. Loved the car. Last summer I was able to take it out to a Porsche HPDE and went to the drag strip once. The car and I worked some 911s on the road course and made a few LS guys **** themselves at the strip and that's were things went south. Mitsu said that car would run 13.4 in the 1/4 and it did, unfortunately the stock clutch limped us home. Started looking around at clutches, clutch technology and what modern high HP factory cars were using. After doing some research, I settled on Clutch Master. They didn't seem to have a bad reputation and were American made so I gave them a call. After talking with Adam and telling him my needs (daily driver, heavy stop & go traffic, 400whp, drag strip, eventually slicks, HPDE and autocross) and talking about the different clutches he said I "had to have the fx850". I would burn up the other clutch disc in season or two with drag racing. Then we discussed the other options race clutch and push vs pull. Went with the pull conversion because of the high rpm decoupling that can happen and both agreed on the street version. The difference between the race and street is the race is two full face ceramic disc one sprung and one unsprung. The street is one unsprung full face ceramic and one sprung heavy duty organic. Got the clutch installed and holy **** was it a nightmare, in those first hundred miles I had to turn off the traction control. There was no slipping the clutch aside from it being very digital engagement it was so harsh. It would brake the tire loose every time activating the traction control and then killing the engine (at low speeds and rpms) FML. It turns out they sent me the race clutch instead of the street clutch. Ok no big deal, I'll call them and explained what happened any company worth their salt would make it right. Well... after talking with Adam, somebody called an audible and never notified me. That phone call ended up "have you installed the clutch?"... "then there is nothing we can do." After two weeks of calling Clutch Masters and Adam ducking my phone calls he tell me "you need the flow control valve and I can sell it to you at a discount." A whole 10% off, honestly I would have paid full price when I bought the clutch. What's $180 when you're spending $2,010. To their credit they comped me the FCV. Installed it and it made very little difference. Fast forward 60 days from time of purchase and approx. 1k mile, the clutch is slipping at WOT... FML Called up Clutch Masters once again and spoke with Kevin, "Send it in and we'll take a look at it". After one week, $80 in shipping and not having my daily driver I get, "Had the unit inspected from top to bottom and everything is within specifications. Disc thickness, plate load, balance, and release are all in good shape. The disc only have 0.005” ware each, which is not much and the clamp load is good as new. None of the plates are warped either. As is there is no reason why that unit should not be handling 800 ft.lbs of tq." Nope reason it should be handling 305 ft-lbs, but it isn't. My fear is that ceramic clutch pads are glazed from stop and go driving and they aren't smart enough to see it or don't want to see it.

Thank you for listening to me vent... this was not proof read.

 

So you bought a clutch that is way over rated for your setup. Didn't verify what you received before installing it, even though the different discs should have been glaringly obvious. And just like how you smoked your stock clutch in short order, you managed to hurt the new clutch. And this is all somehow Clutchmasters fault?

 

“So you bought a clutch that is way over rated for your setup.”
— I call Clutch Masters and spoke with their sales guy, he was the one who recommended that clutch. Also they were the ones who switch the friction material.

“Didn't verify what you received before installing it, even though the different discs should have been glaringly obvious.”
— I wasn’t the installer, but I should have opened everything up when I picked up the package. It also seems responsible that Clutch Master could have called or at the very least sent an email notifying me of the product change.

“And just like how you smoked your stock clutch in short order, you managed to hurt the new clutch. And this is all somehow Clutchmasters fault?”
— After reading about how weak the factory clutch was I knew what the outcome was going to be and started saving for a new clutch. While ceramic clutches are better at handling heat (good for drag racing) but can’t tolerate slipping (bad for daily driving). When I asked the about why the race version was sent, they stated it because for drag racing. Even though they knew it was only going to the strip 3 or 4 times a year.

”And this is all somehow Clutchmasters fault?”
— I called them to make sure I purchased the right clutch for my needs. I expected the salesman to be knowledgeable about the product they’re selling and be able to select a clutch based on my needs. Kind of the purpose of a salesman. Right? Or tell me that they don’t offer a clutch that meets my needs and discus option. Kind of the point of an ethical salesman. Right? I purchased the clutch they recommended.

 

First, need paragraphs.

Secondly. Get ACT HDSS and call it a day.

 

Clutch Master’s offers a 90 day warranty so I’m waiting to see what happens. They’ve currently had it for a week and have stated that the clutch is fine since it’s thick, not warped and the springs are fine. My only rational is that the clutch is glazed. As soon as I can figure out how to reduce the size of the images, I’ll post them.

 

850 SERIES: 05110-TD8R-SHV flywheel clutch side

 

850 SERIES: 05110-TD8R-SHV Pressure plate clutch

 

That looks horrible, it's like somebody took a hammer to it. It looks like it got waaaay too hot.