How does the SPEC Stage 3 ceramic feel when its been broken in? I've driven mine about 200 miles so far and it jars the crap outta my car when i ease off the clutch. I'm not sure if this is totally normal, but sometimes it does engage cleanly. I dunno if this is part of the break in process or not, but i just hope i'm not tearing anything up. Anyway, just wondering how it feels when the clutch has finally broken in, and how smooth the clutch engages, and if it ever jars the hell out of the car or not for you, or how you guys let off the clutch exactly.... thanks!

 

What did you expect from a StageIII Ceramic clutch?

My StageIII Carbon chattered a lot at first but now it's nice.

 

I mean, i really dont have a lot of complaints, but i didnt know engagement was supposed to rattle the whole car. I was expecting an atleast somewhat smooth clutch engagement, but not for the whole car to shake like that ... idunno, maybe the thing needs time to seat itself... hehe, its no big deal

later

 

Kevlar and carbon pads are smoother for engagement. Ceramic is for racing.. ment to hold a lot of power. My Carbon Spec III rattled a fair amount before it blew up.

 

Mine is a stage 3 Carbon and it still "jars" and shakes the whole car most of the time... chatters too... dont bother me much...
btw i gave it the proper 400 mile proper breakin the thing asked for

 

My stage III ceramic chattered pretty good for the first little while. Its calmed down alot now but it still does chatter. If you revv the motor up to about 1,400rpm then it should engage smooth. If you just try to ride the clutch out with little or no gas it will chatter and shake. But yea, what else can you expect from this clutch? Its made to be grabby.

 

I've gotten better with it - I've just had to adopt a new driving style, no big deal. I can't ride the clutch in traffic very much. I have to wait 'til there's sufficient room between the car in front of me, then give it about a 1500 rpm let off. The clutch is absolutely awesome, and i know when i get to the 500 mile mark for break-in, it'll be even better. I would have gotten a street twin, but that's well over $1,000 for no more than 400rwhp AT VERY MOST. I paid little over 700 for everything including installation and flywheel resurfacing, for a clutch that'll handle loads of power. In the future (when i make more money - I'll prolly go with the street twin, but for now I'm happy with the SPEC. For anyone who drives in a lot of traffic and has a new one of these, be prepared to adopt new driving habits and styles, while this clutch grabs like crazy and holds loads of power, the clutch is either engaged or disengaged, there's very little grey area ... Just how i like it!

later

 

Maybe the Centerforce DF is a better choice for me then?

 

ive heard nothing but bad things about centerforce clutches; however, if you do choose to get one, make sure you get THEIR flywheel with it, and basically use all of their hardware that accompanies the clutch.

 

How many people have I heard saying that their spec disc exploded though? I had a DF on my third-gen and loved it no problems whatsoever. I have never heard of a DF exploding.

 

For the first like 700 miles (the recommended break in from spec) it will chatter really bad, but dont try to make it not chatter, new clutches will burn up extremely easily, dont rev it up to engage it, just deal with it, just go to about 1000 and drop it, its a pain in the *** but you have to deal with it.

 

the paper i got with my Spec stage 3 Carbon clutch from Spec was 300 mile breakin before doing WOT or powershifting... i went ahead and did 400 mile breakend before it was on the dyno for the first WOT

 

Oh, maybe 700 was what I told myself I would to as to not lose $529 just incase the recommended breakin wasnt long engouh, but the other statement I made I still hold up.

 

I've got an old style stage III carbon - supposed to be more grabby/chattery than the new version. After driving my gf's new v6 mustang (she wanted a firebird btw ) I like my grabby clutch better than hers. The engagement is short, very short, and harsh. Just don't try to slip it. If you learn how to drive it right it doesn't chatter and I like the feel of it better than the other manual cars I drive on a reuglar basis - we only buy manual trans cars if we can help it .

Again, mine doesn't chatter at all in the forward moving gears, it's just about knowing how to drive it right. It seems like it chatters when I slip it. If I just rev it up to 1200 or so and drop it it engages pretty smooth and not jerky. Others have a real hard time driving it though. You just have to take a little time to learn and adjust to the short engagement...

Boy does that sucker hold

 

My Stage 3 is the same way, I got about 500 miles on it. It was very chatterey at first, but seems to have settled in somewhat. You really do need to re-learn driving it with this clutch. I ride mine out around 1700 RPM, and make sure the RPM's stay there as I ride it out. If the RPM's drop too low, thats when the thing chatters like a ****. I put about 100 miles on it before I started beating on it, to help it seat faster. In not so many words, the tech at Star told me I could since I have basically a 300 HP car with a 700 HP clutch behind it, and being a little aggressive with it so early wouldnt hurt it. I think once I do my head and cam swap in the next few weeks, the extra HP will help considerably with breaking it in.


Nick