98, LS1, slightly modified. Thinking about upgrading to a Z06, but wanted the forums opinion first. Thanks in advance!

 

I use the LUK pro gold stage 2 with lightened flywheel. VERY streetable.

One tuner here (sorry I forgot who) also recommends this one for <650 HP cars.

However, people have reported issues with vibration as well as slippage.

 

My brother recently got the Cartek clutch, strong enough to hold in a very high powered/sticky tired racing application yet still extremely streetable for daily use, he LOVES it.
www.cartek.net

 

I have tried a couple of clutches and I recommend the Ram. You can choose the desired disc to suit your needs, reliability has never been an issue, its inexpensive(no corvette tax), and it has proven to work with the brittle driveline of the C5. A full season of drag racing with 60's ranging from 1.41 to 1.55 and no breakage. Would I try another...probably not.

 

GI Bob (& Dale too ),

If you want to know how mine turns out (Fidanza aluminum flywheel, SPEC clutch and a custom Kevlar disc; to be installed by www.MTIRacing.com; pretty much the same job as detailed at http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/0407vet...eel/index.html ), give me a buzz or catch me at the next club mtg.

Current & Future Ops Environment: mostly daily driving with a heavy dose of HPDE/track-days/driving-schools topped off by very few drag racing events.

 

Mccloud...just a solid clutch and will handle some heavy duty driving on it, however, it isn't extactly the most streetable clutch though.

My opnion.

 

How do you like the aluminum flywheel for the street? Is it quite a bit different? I'm not trying to hijack the thread, but I'm getting ready to get a new clutch and I'm leading toward the Luk Pro Gold. I want to keep a light pedal pressure (stock or lighter, so my wife can still drive the car) and I want something that will hold when I take it to the drag strip once or twice a year. The rest of the time, it will just see about 6000 miles a year of very spirited street driving and occasional road racing (track). I'm hoping someone can sway me one way or the other on this clutch. My next choice would probably be the Exedy single disc, but it is a little more money.

 

This is the clutch that I'm looking at also. Phil can you PM me and tell me which series your clutch is and how streetable. Not looking for the on-off type

and now back to our regular programmed thread

 

I have the LUK stage II (pro gold) and it's been interesting. At first I thought I had a balance issue, but after extensive research I'm learning that the much ligher aluminum flywheel doesn't dampen the motor as well and all mechanical movements will be amplefied, my shifter just vibrates more. Apparently an unbalanced drivetrain will violently shake the car, but my shifter just vibrates a bit more all through the reve range.

My main problem is the clutch won't hold any power over 5500 rpms. Turns out in some cases you must adjust the pressure plate self adjuster to provide the max clamping load. Mine is misadjusted and needs to be fixed. Problem is that it's not in ANY insturctions anywhere and normally doens't need to be done. My clutch is easier to push in than my stocker and it should be harder.

I'd get the LUK stage II, but make sure you do two things...

1. have the new assembly match balanced to your old one, because in some cases LS1's are slighlty exterally balacned at final inspection to make it perfect by adding weights to the stock flywheel. Match balancing insures no abnormal vibration.

2. Make sure the pressurplate is fully/properly adjusted... this wil save you all the headaches I've had. Call Mark at MSI for instruction on what/how to adjust it.

Good luck w/ your choice.

 

Thanks for the feedback. How is the aluminum flywheel for normal driving?

Not holding power over 5500 rpms is a big concern for me, since that is where my car makes the most power. Please keep us posted on whether or not you get this situation corrected. I won't feel comfortable buying this clutch until I know your problem is resolved. Thanks!

 

The alum. flywheel is great for the street. My car is 95% street driven, but I do hit the drag strip when its open. Never done road racing although I'd love to try. I find now that the car seems to have slightly more power at the lower RPMs. It is a different feeling. The revs do drop off faster. It takes some getting used to at first but after that its great. No chatter problems to report either.

The pedal pressure is like stock, if not a little bit lighter. I've only got 400 or so miles on the clutch so far but it seems to hold its power OK. I cant say if it can hold its claimed 600 HP though as my car is near stock.

Edit: About match balancing, I had my assembly match balanced to the old one. I was VERY careful, I even marked the bolts to keep them the same. The machine shop drilled 3 small holes in the back of the flywheel and then added a weight welded to the pressure plate to balance it. I installed the clutch and started the car open header and found that I got vibration around 1800 RPM. That is THE worst place to have vibration cause intersate cruising in 6th gear hovers RIGHT there. I wound up cutting off that weight and grinding the weld with a dremel and now I have ZERO vibration. Not sure what happened here, maybe the machine shop screwed up. Im just glad that the solution was only to cut the weight off.

 

My clutch not holding power is becuase the pressure plate is not correctly adjusted... not because of the LUK unit as a whole.

 

I guess it's time I shared my experences. I went with the Luk Pro Gold. I had one installed around 250 miles ago. So far it's holding the power. I'm not heavly modded though. Pedal effort is definately less than stock wich makes me think it's not adjusted right according to Coba4B. Again not the fault of the clutch but of the installation. I would HIGHLY suggest getting your clutch (what ever you buy) spin balanced before installation. If for no other reason than piece of mind. Just reading the archives on clutch problems will scare the crap out of you. I didn't read the archives before and now I think I may have a balance problem. I'm hoping Coba4B is right when he said a unbalanced clutch would violently shake the car. Mine just feels and sounds strange when I accelerate to around 3-4k and then let off. Sort of like it's not perfectly smooth but a slight fluttering sound and feel is the only way to describe it. It doesn't violently shake for sure. The aluminum flywheel takes alittle getting use to in stop and go driving but it's a nice addition I would recommend. Hope this helps!

 

I also have Luk Pro Gold in my 99. I had the flywheel and pressure balanced before I installed it. I have about four hundred miles on it since I installed it and have no vibiration problems or slipping. It really has light pedal pressure, I'm happy with this setup for a daily driven street car.

 

Thanks for the feedback. How much power are you putting down?

 

putting down 370 rear wheel.

 

I have the Z06 clutch with about 440 plus rear wheel. No real problems to speak of with 30+ drag passes to date. I'm going to go with a Cartek Clutch when this one goes....they can take incredable abuse from what I've seen.