First LS9X clutch in a C5
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From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
First LS9X clutch in a C5
Katech has been hard at work expanding the LS9X and LS9R clutch lines to other models. After starting with the C6 Corvette, we now have applications for 2010+ Camaro, Pontiac G8, Cadillac CTS-V, F-body, and GTO. C5 Corvette has always been a very important application for us, but has proven to be the most difficult. Many changes were required to fit the package in the C5 bellhousing's limited space, but the prototype has been successful. The prototype car drives like a dream, as does all LS9X/LS9R applications.
Price: TBD
Availability: Late summer
Price: TBD
Availability: Late summer
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
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From: Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed.
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Good to see you guys finally getting the C5 dimension problem resolved on these. You folks have been front-runners in engineering for quite awhile. Kudos! 
If this had been available back when I was looking for a clutch, I would definitely have given it consideration, but it wasn't; for the reasons you mentioned.
Tip: ask the bean-counters to not bend us C5 owners over too far come time to set the price.
If this had been available back when I was looking for a clutch, I would definitely have given it consideration, but it wasn't; for the reasons you mentioned.
Tip: ask the bean-counters to not bend us C5 owners over too far come time to set the price.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Good to see you guys finally getting the C5 dimension problem resolved on these. You folks have been front-runners in engineering for quite awhile. Kudos!
If this had been available back when I was looking for a clutch, I would definitely have given it consideration, but it wasn't; for the reasons you mentioned.
Tip: ask the bean-counters to not bend us C5 owners over too far come time to set the price.
If this had been available back when I was looking for a clutch, I would definitely have given it consideration, but it wasn't; for the reasons you mentioned.
Tip: ask the bean-counters to not bend us C5 owners over too far come time to set the price.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 36,836
Likes: 243
From: Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed.
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
That is what we are working on right now - trying to figure out how to mass produce them and keep the price reasonable. That is why we're saying late summer availability. There were a lot of custom parts that needed to be manufactured to overcome the limited space. The prototype slave cylinder costs about $1000. As you can see we need to figure out how to produce them efficiently to keep the kit cost within a reasonable level.
What's a little unique here though may be the fact that the C5 production run is over and therefore the overall market is more limited than say, the C6, CTS-V, or Gen5 Camaro, etc which are still being produced. As I see it, if the price is too high, an already limited C5 market may decide to pass.
It's a real balancing act between low-enough price and high enough volume to recoup R&D/production costs and make a profit.
Thread Starter
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From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
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Thread Starter
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From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
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From: Pasco WA
Congratulations on engineering a tough problem. With all the clutches available on the market already, why did you choose to spend the R&D just to make a GM part work where it's not intended to? Is the design, weight, or some other factor that makes this clutch worth extra money, in an area that's already pretty spendy? Sorry if my questions sound a bit negative, but I'm just curious.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Congratulations on engineering a tough problem. With all the clutches available on the market already, why did you choose to spend the R&D just to make a GM part work where it's not intended to? Is the design, weight, or some other factor that makes this clutch worth extra money, in an area that's already pretty spendy? Sorry if my questions sound a bit negative, but I'm just curious.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,060
Likes: 290
From: Pasco WA
Our LS9X and LS9R clutches have been a home run. The sales have been better than we ever anticipated so it only makes sense to expand it to more applications. The clutch drives like a stock car and has 800 or 960 ft-lbs torque capacity respectively. It's perfectly quiet with no neutral noise. It's the combination of the torque capacity and drivability/silent operation that makes it different than everything else in the market today. We've expanded to 2010+ Camaro, G8, CTS-V, F-body and GTO. We've had a lot of request for a C5 application so it is something there is definitely a market for.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Melbourne FL
Good to see a new product in this much needed area. Hope you will be able to keep the price competitive with others out there. Lots of folks looking for quality clutch that will hold good power w/o chatter or the neutral noise issue and doesn't have a heavy pedal for a reasonable price.
Last edited by Z06ufgrad2002; May 10, 2011 at 09:19 PM.
Thread Starter
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Thread Starter
Premium Supporting Vendor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 13,975
Likes: 980
From: Clinton Township MI
C7 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Yes. Good things will come to those who wait. We could make it right now if I ordered these parts through another source, but it will add about $150 to the cost of the kit. These are already going to be the highest cost LS9X clutch kit we sell, so I'm trying to keep the price as reasonable as possible.
