I bolted my charger on at 13k miles and i have almost 20k now and my clutch is starting to slip.I ordered an ACT clutch and will be installing next week.



Peace
David

 

Ya, I haven't taken it to the track yet. Its on my "to do" list now that I have the 4.57's installed.

Tracking the car regularly is a different story. Lots of shifts, high temps, slipping the clutch, that's almost guaranteed to wear it down.

 

Even when tracking the car I think one's driving style (not to be confused with skill level) has more to do with clutch life than anything else. Even in Formula V and spec racing, some drivers wear out tires, clutches, and/or other parts, far faster than others. I think it is impossible to say for sure whether a particular driver will need a clutch upgrade, and the driver himself is probably in the best position to make the call. Because of that I think the best we can do is to try to get some feel for how tough the stock clutch is. Given that, and a knowledge of one's own driving style, one is in a position to make an informed choice.

The question is, how do we determine how much the stock clutch can handle? XViper has racked up lots of miles on his SCed S2000 with a stock clutch, but I don't know whether he tracks the car or how he drives it, so I don't know how much weight to give to his experience. The same can be said of everyone else who has posted their positive experiences with SC and the stock clutch.

One of the reasons I stayed with the stock clutch is because I believe I'm one of those drivers who puts minimal wear on a vehicle no matter what I'm doing with it, and I wanted to see if the stock clutch would stand up to the kind of treatment it would get in my car. I believe that my clutch receives as much "abuse" as anyone else's, because I'm not the only one who drives the car. Some of the things that have been done to my car make me cringe, but the car keeps proving itself to be a heck of a lot tougher than most of the people here on S2kI seem to think.

I don't have enough time with the SC to know how things are going to work out long term (though XViper and others do), but my poor stock clutch has had it HARD since the SC was installed. Not long after the SC was installed, Ryan did three "burnouts" with the brakes applied, spinning the back tires while the front tires slid. I *DO NOT* approve of this, and after our talk I know it won't happen again, but I know Ryan put more wear on the clutch in three stupid brake/burnouts than I'd put on it in two or three years (including track days and autocrosses), and my clutch still holds as well as it did when the motor was stock (which is to say that it doesn't slip at all). I've enjoyed lighting the tires way too much since the SC was installed (but not with the brakes applied ) and the car gets run up through the gears to redline at least a few times every time I take it out. I also tried to do a burnout one day without realizing that the parking brake was set. The clutch did slip after the dump, but the instant the tires didn't spin the clutch went back in and even that on top of Ryan's antics have done NO damage to my clutch. I have NO DOUBT that there has been additional wear, but there is absolutely no good reason for me to consider an upgrade, unless I up the power some more. Even with the abuse, my stock clutch still has more grip than the rear tires, in any gear at any speed, and it doesn't slip at all, unless you dump with the emergency brake pulled up really hard (and hopefully I'm the only one stupid enough to pull a stunt like that).

Anyway, driving styles vary so results will vary, but the stock clutch has WAY more grip than the OEM tires, so IF your driving style is like mine it will always be the back tires, rather than the clutch, that slips, and if that is the case then upgrading the clutch because it's weak just doesn't make sense.

That said, I have to add that a new clutch system is coming for my car, but not because the stock clutch is weak. I want a lighter flywheel and pressure plate so the motor will rev more quickly (should be a very good match for the RPSS). I'm trying to justify the expense of a dual-plate setup, but absolutely NOT because I need a stronger clutch. I don't, and I find it very hard to believe that most drivers will.

My clutch has been put through this abuse, and survived. Can I say the same will be true for every car and every driver? No, absolutely not. With my wife and I driving the cars, stock clutches on street driven cars usually last over 100,000 miles. I never had to replace the clutch on my FV in three years of autocrossing and tracking. I've never had to replace a clutch on any of my dual-purpose (street & competition) cars even when the engines were modified, and some of those cars racked up 60,000 miles or more. For whatever reason some people wear out clutches in 24,000 miles on the street, a couple seasons of autocrossing, or a few track days, but I don't *typically* have that kind of problem. Only time will tell how long my stock clutch will last, especially considering some of the abuse it has seen, but I have every reason to believe that it will still be working perfectly when we replace it with something lighter.

It seems to me that the best way to decide whether or not you need a heavier clutch with a supercharger is to consider how long clutches normally last in your cars. If you get six-digit mileage from your street car clutches then it is highly likely that you'll find the stock S2000 clutch more than sufficient for a stock Comptech SC/AC, but it isn't certain. I go through back tires like crazy (3,000 - 4,000 miles on a set of S02's) and my clutch is up to the task, but your mileage may vary.