harryk387

All my performance mods will be up and running in about a month or so and I'm looking to be just around 450rwhp. I know the stock clutch won't be able to hold that power for too long after its all said and done.

I've been doing some searching for a clutch upgrade and trying to come to a final decision.

So far from doing my research, it sounds like the LS7 clutch still has the same clutch pedal sticking issue

A lot of the aftermarket clutches aren't very daily driver friendly and are more like an on/off switch

Biggest priority for me is a clutch that I can drive everyday without hating it. I live in Los Angeles where traffic is unavoidable, so theres going to be a lot of clutch slipping/riding the clutch in bumper to bumper traffic. Want to hear what you guys would recommend

Quickshift_C5

Do you drag race the car?

I've never heard of the clutch sticking unless someone was doing multiple high RPM launches at the dragstrip.

I've owned 2 C5's spanning the past 10 years and I've never had a clutch stick on me when they had stock clutches, even with autocross, street, track, and drag racing. Proper clutch maintenance helps.

However, you should be fine with an LS7 clutch as an upgrade. If you feel you need more than that, but still stock manners, check out the McLeod RST.

harryk387

I will probably do 1 run down a drag strip a year and maybe a couple autocross days, if that. Other than that, just spirited driving on a daily basis when the road permits.

TGO

I have an LS7 clutch and I've never had a problem with it.

Anyway...anything is gonna feel pretty normal to drive unless you go with something like a ceramic puck disc...

The only thing I've driven that was a bitch was a car with a tick master cylinder. I'd shoot myself if I had to drive that car on a regular basis.

Naaman

I have a heads/cam LS1 with around 360-ish at the wheels. I'm running the LS7 clutch and it feels just like an OEM clutch should. I have never had, nor heard of any "sticking" with this clutch. I have about 21,000 miles on it so far and no problems.

TGO

I have seen guys with other LS based cars and clutch pedals sticking to the floor...but those were all slave cylinder problems. Which is a separate issue.

harryk387

I had a tick master cylinder on my 04 GTO with a spec stage 1 clutch. I didnt do any research on the Tick MC beforehand, so it was definitely an unwanted surprise when I picked up my car from the shop and pressed the clutch in for the 1st time. I got used to the stiffness after a while, and in bumper to bumper traffic it didnt bother me too much, but that was also 5 years ago. Today, I'd much rather not have to fight the clutch on a daily basis.

neutron82

you can get a tick master with a stock bore master cylinder so the pedal effort isn't affected but you still have the adjustment if you need it... I could daily my act twin but it is noticeably stiffer than stock, it's really going to vary from person to person whether they can deal with it

Evilash

My LS7 clutch and tick master seem just fine behind my ls2 after they broke in. At first I was a bit worried about the stiffness but not any more.

danh52

I have 430 WHP and had to replace the LS7 clutch as I was getting the "sticking pedal" when doing high RPM shifts (above 5000 rpm).

The PO did the clutch and engine mods and it was supposed to have about 3k-3.5k miles on it. I did the fluid bleed first (already had remote bleeder installed) which had no affect. Then I replaced the master cyl as the PO didn't do that when the clutch was replaced but that also didn't fix the problem.

I ended up replacing the clutch with a Monster LT1 twin disk clutch (GM, used on the new C7) with their flywheel which adapts the clutch to the LS3. The pedal is light and the high RPM shifts are no issue now.

One issue with this clutch is noise at idle when in neutral and the clutch out. Not everyone experiences this but I did. It sounds like the splines in the twin disks "rattle" when spinning the D/L without load. So this clutch isn't perfect either but I'd rather have the noise than the sticking pedal I had before.

I had heard of chatter issues with McLeod twin disk clutch's when street driving so I was reluctant to use those. I do plan on doing track days with my car so I knew it would be driven hard and I only wanted to do the clutch one time so I went with more clutch capacity than I needed (overkill).

Most people on the forum claim the LS7 clutch should be fine for 430 WHP but in my case it wasn't.

stratsRR

Mcleod RXT!!!!

0HorsePowerAddicts

I would go with a LS7 clutch with your power. Drives stock and holds decent power. For 550+rwhp we always run the Mcleod RXT twin disk.

Make sure to replace slave and clutch master if your getting a sticking pedal. As well as run good quality fluid.

Quickshift_C5

I had absolutely no clutch chatter with the McLeod RST used for a couple years, and have absolutely no clutch chatter whatsoever with the McLeod RXT I've been using for a year now.

sean.b

how do you use the car? i have the LS7 clutch and within 5rwhp of where you are. ive beaten the hell out of it on tracks.. think I've had the LS7 clutch on tracks 14 or so days. didnt even bleed the fluid yet - planned on doing it this winter with everything apart. just curious if im rolling dice or if you were really beating on it?

i now live in Colorado, so my RWHP sunk to 340! i guess any clutch will do up here

Naaman

You lost ~90 whp due to elevation change???????

sean.b

yea... its a trip. i dyno the same thing here or at sea level, but if you look at the dynos from up here, they say there's a 1.22 adjustment factor

so yea, 425 / 1.22 = 348hp

its funny when locals tell me "oh this is fast!" and im thinking "for a Miata with an intake.."

Naaman

Damn... I know I can feel a difference with ~1000 foot elevation change relative to sea level... but... guh!


I had an old 88 Volvo 4 cyl that I drove through death valley (below sea level) once in January and was quite surprised when I stepped on the go pedal and the thing actually moved!


I kinda want to take the V8 down there and see what difference it makes.

racebum

what tires and what master? 430whp should work but it also won't work long with slicks

430whp is around stock c6z power so minor sticking doesn't surprise me. stock c6z guys have the same complaints if they rail on it

danh52

Here's some more detail.

The PO has a large hotrod shop and was the builder/modifier of most of my car. It's a 2002 ZO6 with an LS3 crate motor installed that also has a mild cam (224/228/116 with .608" lift), long tube headers and coolers for trans, engine oil and rear end. Emphasis was on HPDE track days so some suspension mods also. The new engine install included a rebuilt trans and resealed diff, the LS7 clutch with new slave but original master (44 k miles). It had worn NT05 tires on it when I purchased which were his track setup and a second set for the street.

I suspect his business partner might have drag raced the car at some point but no conclusive proof. When I test drove I didn't have a stuck pedal but I also didn't do a high RPM shift. A couple of weeks of street driving didn't show any issues but on my first track day I got the sticking pedal after about 3 warm up laps. At the track I flushed the clutch fluid using the remote bleed but that didn't have any affect (bled 3 times). I thought it might have been heat related (since I only saw this on the track at temp) but I was able to reproduce the stuck pedal when only at normal temp on the street. After some research on this site I replaced the clutch master cylinder but still had the stuck pedal any time I tried to shift at 5500 RPM or higher so I knew I had to replace the clutch.

My understanding is the factory LS7 clutch has a mechanism that is intended to compensate for clutch disk wear. This mechanism can hang up when the pedal is compressed due to the forces seen at high RPM's and not let the clutch release. As designed, the pressure plate spring is what returns the clutch pedal (through the slave cyl) and the stuck pedal is either air in the slave or the pressure plate hung up. Bleeding the slave will fix the air issue but not the pressure plate issue.

The newer design used on the C7 LT1 engine still has a feature that is designed to compensate for the disk wear but is not supposed to be susceptible to high RPM shift issues. Since I did the labor myself I wanted all new parts installed to give me the best chance to not have issues in the future.

The LT1 clutch is overkill for 430 WHP (rated at 600 hp I think) so I hope it lasts.

harryk387

Now that my engine performance mods are complete ( for now) my next step is to upgrade my stock clutch. With my cam and heads package, I ended up putting down 450rwhp and 430rwtq.

The car is my daily driver so I definitely need a clutch I can live with in bumper to bumper trafffic but also be able to launch it on the occasional drag strip visit without any issues. I've been looking at twin disks - specifically this http://www.eastcoastsupercharging.co...tegory_id=1369

While the transmission is out I'm also going to install http://www.eastcoastsupercharging.co...&product_id=67

Any more suggestions on other clutches that would meet my needs and any other parts I should change or add while doing the clutch replacement?