Fidanza or SPEC clutch & FW
03-05-2012, 05:05 AM
#1
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Fidanza or SPEC clutch & FW
I need to replace my clutch, and am considering also replacing my stock flywheel. What are your opinions regarding a Stage 3 Fidanza clutch/FW pair vs. a Stage 3 SPEC clutch/FW pair?
Thanks!
Thanks!
03-05-2012, 11:38 AM
#2
Safety Car
SPEC makes a good clutch. I have a STAGE 3 in my 92. It's alot of clutch and you better have ALOT of HP (over 450RW) to be running it. It's not alot of fun in traffic once it gets hot.
Will
03-05-2012, 01:37 PM
#3
Race Director
You want stage 3+ clutch from SPEC.
Not stage 3. Stage 3 is a 'puck' type clutch (looks like a fan blade). Street manners, backing up up a hill ex. is dicey.
Stage 3+ is more forgiving on the street.
Im very happy with my stage 3+ / lightweight alum flywheel on my 93 lt1.
I busted out the center of my stage 2 'kevlar' SPEC clutch back in 06 after 11k miles and at 353 rwhp level.
Though I did like the stage 2 clutch a lot right up until that point (I liked it because no matter how much I beat on it, the release point still felt like a new clutch).
Not stage 3. Stage 3 is a 'puck' type clutch (looks like a fan blade). Street manners, backing up up a hill ex. is dicey.
Stage 3+ is more forgiving on the street.
Im very happy with my stage 3+ / lightweight alum flywheel on my 93 lt1.
I busted out the center of my stage 2 'kevlar' SPEC clutch back in 06 after 11k miles and at 353 rwhp level.
Though I did like the stage 2 clutch a lot right up until that point (I liked it because no matter how much I beat on it, the release point still felt like a new clutch).
03-05-2012, 06:52 PM
#4
Drifting
I have a spec 2+ and alum flywheel at 441RWHP.Drives fine but you do have to get used to the engagement.
Depending on your power level and usage it may/may not be right for you.
I do miss my DM flywheel in traffic.
Depending on your power level and usage it may/may not be right for you.
I do miss my DM flywheel in traffic.
03-06-2012, 11:02 PM
#5
Le Mans Master
I installed a Spec Stage 2 clutch kit with Spec extra-weight SMF in my '94 ragtop. I'm pleased with it. There's only the slightest trace of gear rattle that's really only audible with the ragtop up. The clutch engagement is only marginally more grabby than stock. Street manners are quite good. I expect it to last a long time behind my stock LT1.
Can't comment on Fidanza because I have no personal expericence with their products. If you go with an aluminum SMF, be prepared for some pretty horrible gear rattle, because the odds are you'll get it.
Live well,
SJW
Can't comment on Fidanza because I have no personal expericence with their products. If you go with an aluminum SMF, be prepared for some pretty horrible gear rattle, because the odds are you'll get it.
Live well,
SJW
03-06-2012, 11:09 PM
#6
Le Mans Master
I've had a SPEC Stage 3, SPEC Stage 3+, and McLeod Twin-disc installed at one point or another, all with aluminum flywheels. I like the McLeod the best, but the SPEC Stage 3+ is a close second, the SPEC Stage 3 is a distant third.
04-19-2012, 09:45 AM
#7
Seems you were happy with SPEC Stage 3+, but not so much with the Stage 3. Why the big difference?
What kind of pwr are you running? I have around 560 foot pounds.
11-07-2012, 11:18 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
The SPEC Stage 3 is a "puck" style clutch disc which makes it VERY jumpy. The engagement point on it is narrow and hill starts on it are difficult to do without spinning the wheels or rolling back a bit. This is not a clutch I would recommend for a lot of street driving.
The Stage 3+ is a full friction disc. The modulation and engagement point feels just like a stock clutch. Around-town drivability is leaps and bounds better than the Stage 3.
I had the Stage 3 on my heads/cam LT4 which made about 360-370 RWHP.
I had the Stage 3+ on my 383 LT4 which makes 466 RWHP and 436 RWTQ
The Stage 3+ is a full friction disc. The modulation and engagement point feels just like a stock clutch. Around-town drivability is leaps and bounds better than the Stage 3.
I had the Stage 3 on my heads/cam LT4 which made about 360-370 RWHP.
I had the Stage 3+ on my 383 LT4 which makes 466 RWHP and 436 RWTQ
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C4ProjectCar (03-14-2021)
11-07-2012, 11:56 PM
#9
The SPEC Stage 3 is a "puck" style clutch disc which makes it VERY jumpy. The engagement point on it is narrow and hill starts on it are difficult to do without spinning the wheels or rolling back a bit. This is not a clutch I would recommend for a lot of street driving.
The Stage 3+ is a full friction disc. The modulation and engagement point feels just like a stock clutch. Around-town drivability is leaps and bounds better than the Stage 3.
I had the Stage 3 on my heads/cam LT4 which made about 360-370 RWHP.
I had the Stage 3+ on my 383 LT4 which makes 466 RWHP and 436 RWTQ
The Stage 3+ is a full friction disc. The modulation and engagement point feels just like a stock clutch. Around-town drivability is leaps and bounds better than the Stage 3.
I had the Stage 3 on my heads/cam LT4 which made about 360-370 RWHP.
I had the Stage 3+ on my 383 LT4 which makes 466 RWHP and 436 RWTQ
Say thanks alot!!
My 421 will be in the 460-470rwhp and 470-480 rwtq so Stage 3+ it is for me.....
Take care!
11-08-2012, 07:28 PM
#11
Le Mans Master
11-08-2012, 09:45 PM
#12
Melting Slicks
I have a SPEC stage three plus clutch with a SPEC light weight billet steel flywheel in my 96 LT4 and I am absolutely enamored with it.
But I'm partial to metallic clutch disc's anyway since:
the hotter they get the higher their coefficient of friction becomes; in other words, the harder you hammer on them, the harder they hold...just the opposite of organic clutch discs;
they are not affected by oil or grease;
and (believe me I speak from experience), they outlast any other style clutch.
I have zero experience with aluminum flywheels which typically weigh 12 to 14 pounds, but a SPEC light weight billet steel flywheel with a shipping weight of 22 pounds is significantly lighter than a stock flywheel weighing 30 plus pounds.
Both Stage 3 and Stage 3 plus discs have sprung hubs (a necessity on the street). Stage 3 paddle style discs are used when weight savings is of the essence; and I have run paddle style discs made by RAM in other cars; but I went with the stage 3 plus, because it is a full face disc, with that much more surface area, and in addition to having a sprung hub, (as I recall) it also had a marcel spring which is a thin wavy peice of metal that fits between the clutch disc friction material and the body of the disc; long story short, marcels are designed to absorb some of the shock of engagement . And with the light flywheel, the extra weight was not a factor for me.
I did not have the clutch "matched balanced" to the old unit, I mounted it on my LT4 stock lower end and had no balancing issues. If your lower end is not stock, there may be an an issue.
and yes, these clutches do engage, and they engage right now, which everything else aside, is one of the reasons I like them so much. Your driving style might change, but there is nothing that makes these clutches objectionable for the street, and that includes stop and go, parallel parking , backing up, starting on hills, etc. They do demand a bit more of your attention; but even my wife drives it without complaint.
is there a "rocks in the can noise"? honestly, there was some noise at first, but as I broke it in (while religiously following the initial 500 mile period of self restraint), everything quieted down. It'll never be as silent as stock (that's why the factory used dual mass flywheels in the first place), but what noise there is (think a 60's chevy or GMC truck with a granny gear 4 speed) I find entirely in character with the car (and yes, I think GM went way overboard trying to "civilize" the C4s to broaden their market appeal). But if oem style driving is what you want, SPEC also makes a heavy flywheel, which is said to dampen out more (or most) of the noise; plus being heavier, with their extra inertia, starting out is more inline with stock (as in heavy) flywheel and clutch.
But I'm partial to metallic clutch disc's anyway since:
the hotter they get the higher their coefficient of friction becomes; in other words, the harder you hammer on them, the harder they hold...just the opposite of organic clutch discs;
they are not affected by oil or grease;
and (believe me I speak from experience), they outlast any other style clutch.
I have zero experience with aluminum flywheels which typically weigh 12 to 14 pounds, but a SPEC light weight billet steel flywheel with a shipping weight of 22 pounds is significantly lighter than a stock flywheel weighing 30 plus pounds.
Both Stage 3 and Stage 3 plus discs have sprung hubs (a necessity on the street). Stage 3 paddle style discs are used when weight savings is of the essence; and I have run paddle style discs made by RAM in other cars; but I went with the stage 3 plus, because it is a full face disc, with that much more surface area, and in addition to having a sprung hub, (as I recall) it also had a marcel spring which is a thin wavy peice of metal that fits between the clutch disc friction material and the body of the disc; long story short, marcels are designed to absorb some of the shock of engagement . And with the light flywheel, the extra weight was not a factor for me.
I did not have the clutch "matched balanced" to the old unit, I mounted it on my LT4 stock lower end and had no balancing issues. If your lower end is not stock, there may be an an issue.
and yes, these clutches do engage, and they engage right now, which everything else aside, is one of the reasons I like them so much. Your driving style might change, but there is nothing that makes these clutches objectionable for the street, and that includes stop and go, parallel parking , backing up, starting on hills, etc. They do demand a bit more of your attention; but even my wife drives it without complaint.
is there a "rocks in the can noise"? honestly, there was some noise at first, but as I broke it in (while religiously following the initial 500 mile period of self restraint), everything quieted down. It'll never be as silent as stock (that's why the factory used dual mass flywheels in the first place), but what noise there is (think a 60's chevy or GMC truck with a granny gear 4 speed) I find entirely in character with the car (and yes, I think GM went way overboard trying to "civilize" the C4s to broaden their market appeal). But if oem style driving is what you want, SPEC also makes a heavy flywheel, which is said to dampen out more (or most) of the noise; plus being heavier, with their extra inertia, starting out is more inline with stock (as in heavy) flywheel and clutch.
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C4ProjectCar (03-14-2021)
12-02-2012, 12:15 PM
#15
Melting Slicks
I know I am a little late but I just wanted to throw in my comments in case others look at this thread later trying to make a similar decision.
My clutch and flywheel finally died at around 194K miles (Yes they were both original) and I have some boltons done to the car but nothing really extreme and dont plan on heavily modding it until further down the road because currently i is my only vehicle.
I obviously did not want to pay $2K+ IF i could even find another dual mass flywheel and mine was beyond any kind of repair so because I have never seen anyone on the boards go the route I decided to go, I will tell you exactly what I did to get OEM level streetability with a small percentage in performance for the best price possible.
I ended up going with the lightweight steel single mass flywheel from SPEC. it weighs around 5lbs less than the stock dual mass. I also got a Valeo clutch that I believe was the stock unit in most 4th Generation F-bodys. I cant remember the part number off the top of my head.
The result you ask? For the first few hundred miles YES I DID hear a little gear rattle. Nothing that was enough to bother me but it was still there. I have an extremely loud exhaust system so perhaps it would appear as a louder rattle in other cars. However, after a few hundred miles the rattle went away completely from what I can tell. And NO I didnt just get used to it. I had a couple friends that rode in the car when I first redid the clutch and when they ride in it now they say they cant hear any kind of rattle anymore either.
The setup drives like stock in my opinion. Well, a NEW stock setup. Given that mine had almost 200K miles, it was a bit mushy. But this setup felt exactly like what mine did when I bought the car with less than 100K miles. It may even feel a little bit better.
Now, TECHNICALLY the flywheel should rev a little quicker due to it being a tad lighter. I don think it will ever be enough to feel with it only being a couple pounds or so. To me it feels like it revs as fast as it probably did from the factory. I also replaced most of the ignition system a the same time. (I also replaced quite a bit of other stuff at the same time. Dont ask what my final bill was) so it probably felt a bit peppier and a bit faster/quicker revving than it did before but It did not feel any harder to drive on the street, start on hills, backing up ect.
Last time I had my car on a dynojet, I ran about 320RWHP and have done a couple small mods since then. I figure I am still a hair under 400 at the flywheel and do not plan on going over that for quite some time.
I guess my point for this longwinded post is that if you need to replace your flywheel and are not sure you want to lose streetability, do NOT be afraid of the Steel single mass flywheel from SPEC. I absolutely love it. I can promise from experience that it will not make any issue of street driving anymore difficult. If anything, mine became a little MORE FUN to drive!
12-05-2012, 01:19 PM
#16
Hope it works out well for you!
I know I am a little late but I just wanted to throw in my comments in case others look at this thread later trying to make a similar decision.
My clutch and flywheel finally died at around 194K miles (Yes they were both original) and I have some boltons done to the car but nothing really extreme and dont plan on heavily modding it until further down the road because currently i is my only vehicle.
I obviously did not want to pay $2K+ IF i could even find another dual mass flywheel and mine was beyond any kind of repair so because I have never seen anyone on the boards go the route I decided to go, I will tell you exactly what I did to get OEM level streetability with a small percentage in performance for the best price possible.
I ended up going with the lightweight steel single mass flywheel from SPEC. it weighs around 5lbs less than the stock dual mass. I also got a Valeo clutch that I believe was the stock unit in most 4th Generation F-bodys. I cant remember the part number off the top of my head.
The result you ask? For the first few hundred miles YES I DID hear a little gear rattle. Nothing that was enough to bother me but it was still there. I have an extremely loud exhaust system so perhaps it would appear as a louder rattle in other cars. However, after a few hundred miles the rattle went away completely from what I can tell. And NO I didnt just get used to it. I had a couple friends that rode in the car when I first redid the clutch and when they ride in it now they say they cant hear any kind of rattle anymore either.
The setup drives like stock in my opinion. Well, a NEW stock setup. Given that mine had almost 200K miles, it was a bit mushy. But this setup felt exactly like what mine did when I bought the car with less than 100K miles. It may even feel a little bit better.
Now, TECHNICALLY the flywheel should rev a little quicker due to it being a tad lighter. I don think it will ever be enough to feel with it only being a couple pounds or so. To me it feels like it revs as fast as it probably did from the factory. I also replaced most of the ignition system a the same time. (I also replaced quite a bit of other stuff at the same time. Dont ask what my final bill was) so it probably felt a bit peppier and a bit faster/quicker revving than it did before but It did not feel any harder to drive on the street, start on hills, backing up ect.
Last time I had my car on a dynojet, I ran about 320RWHP and have done a couple small mods since then. I figure I am still a hair under 400 at the flywheel and do not plan on going over that for quite some time.
I guess my point for this longwinded post is that if you need to replace your flywheel and are not sure you want to lose streetability, do NOT be afraid of the Steel single mass flywheel from SPEC. I absolutely love it. I can promise from experience that it will not make any issue of street driving anymore difficult. If anything, mine became a little MORE FUN to drive!
I know I am a little late but I just wanted to throw in my comments in case others look at this thread later trying to make a similar decision.
My clutch and flywheel finally died at around 194K miles (Yes they were both original) and I have some boltons done to the car but nothing really extreme and dont plan on heavily modding it until further down the road because currently i is my only vehicle.
I obviously did not want to pay $2K+ IF i could even find another dual mass flywheel and mine was beyond any kind of repair so because I have never seen anyone on the boards go the route I decided to go, I will tell you exactly what I did to get OEM level streetability with a small percentage in performance for the best price possible.
I ended up going with the lightweight steel single mass flywheel from SPEC. it weighs around 5lbs less than the stock dual mass. I also got a Valeo clutch that I believe was the stock unit in most 4th Generation F-bodys. I cant remember the part number off the top of my head.
The result you ask? For the first few hundred miles YES I DID hear a little gear rattle. Nothing that was enough to bother me but it was still there. I have an extremely loud exhaust system so perhaps it would appear as a louder rattle in other cars. However, after a few hundred miles the rattle went away completely from what I can tell. And NO I didnt just get used to it. I had a couple friends that rode in the car when I first redid the clutch and when they ride in it now they say they cant hear any kind of rattle anymore either.
The setup drives like stock in my opinion. Well, a NEW stock setup. Given that mine had almost 200K miles, it was a bit mushy. But this setup felt exactly like what mine did when I bought the car with less than 100K miles. It may even feel a little bit better.
Now, TECHNICALLY the flywheel should rev a little quicker due to it being a tad lighter. I don think it will ever be enough to feel with it only being a couple pounds or so. To me it feels like it revs as fast as it probably did from the factory. I also replaced most of the ignition system a the same time. (I also replaced quite a bit of other stuff at the same time. Dont ask what my final bill was) so it probably felt a bit peppier and a bit faster/quicker revving than it did before but It did not feel any harder to drive on the street, start on hills, backing up ect.
Last time I had my car on a dynojet, I ran about 320RWHP and have done a couple small mods since then. I figure I am still a hair under 400 at the flywheel and do not plan on going over that for quite some time.
I guess my point for this longwinded post is that if you need to replace your flywheel and are not sure you want to lose streetability, do NOT be afraid of the Steel single mass flywheel from SPEC. I absolutely love it. I can promise from experience that it will not make any issue of street driving anymore difficult. If anything, mine became a little MORE FUN to drive!
yeah i hear you. i went with the steel flywheel. too many un-answered questions about the alum plus it cost more.
12-07-2012, 08:29 PM
#17
Burning Brakes
I have a built 355 LT4, somewhere in the range of 500 CHP. I am running spec stage 3+ with spec lightened aluminum flywheel. I have the rocks in a can sound for sure. Its very irritating. The engine revs extremely fast (the engine was built to rev fast). The engagement is a breeze. I like the combo minus the noise. I am going to change trans fluid to see if thicker oil helps. Right now I am running Royal Purple 5w-30 motor oil and it really improved the feel of the shifting, but made the noise worse.
