New Option Twin Disc Clutch N54 and other Clutch experience

[frontside0815]

Hey guys,

because i tested my set quite a lot now and i am 100% satisfied, i would like to introduce a new clutch Option for N54 (N55 soon) which i think is one of the best Solutions out there:

Since i had my car i had too much different Options of flywheels and clutches which all didnt worked as advertised:

- 3 335is/550i Clutches with 2 Oem DMFW and 1 SMFW: 1 335is clutch slipped with stock turbos, the DMFW was renewed when i didnt thought about upgrade Turbos but started to make noises again after around 5.000KM with full maxed out stock Turbos (750NM approx.)....

After that i went with a SMFW and a new 335is clutch and because i did an Turbo swap in winter 2016 i decided to install a new IS clutch once again (didnt want to cut costs and then have to do the Job again). 5.000KM later the new IS clutch slipped....

So i wanted to install a bulletproof Option. I got an 6 pad sinter clutch from a german shop which "upgraded" IS Pressure Plate.

Unfortunately after pulling the Transmission i saw that my SMFW was in a really bad condition: The spigot was destroyed and the flywheel had a lot of hotspots from the slipping clutch.

I spoke to PTB (Producer of the flywheel) and we agreed on my buying an upgrade DMFW with 6 Pad Sinter Clutch and the same Pressure plate.

3.000KM after install the clutch slipped again and i had misfires on higher rpms which came from the flywheel.


That´s how i got to the new Option i want to tell you about:

It is a Custom SMFW with "external" Spigot (hardened and other material than the flywheel), 2 organic clutch discs (Little bigger Diameter than s55) and sachs Pressure Plate without SAC (because SAC is shit imo).

3 different Options:
- 1.000NM Version with "normal" Sachs Pressure Plate
- 1.400NM Version with Sachs Performance Pressure Plate (harder Pedal)
- 1.800NM Version with Sachs Performance Pressure Plate and 2 4 Pad Sinter Clutch Discs (not for daily/street driving recommended!)

Advantages are:
- Fully balanced (not only the flywheel)
- moving off is as good as it can be because of the two organic clutch discs
- with the 1.000NM Version, which i have at my car atm, the pedal Feeling is a Little bit harder than oem but imo perfect. Also the clutch seperates very early on the pedal, so shifting without bog is easier than ever.
- "Standard" wear parts: Clutch Discs and the Pressure Plate are Standard items which you can get on almost every 0815 spare part store.

I am located in Germany so if anybody is interested we have to see, how we could do that with shipping. But i would love to hear another Feedback here on the Forum, because i am sure that this clutch is one of the best if not the best Option for high powered N54 cars!

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

 

[rac]

So was the custom smfw also made by ptb?

 

[ShocknAwe]

First question before I get interested... Idle/neutral gear chatter or NVH/buzzing in mid-range?

 

[frontside0815]

So was the custom smfw also made by ptb?

No, the whole Clutch set with the Flywheel is made by a friend of mine. After i had 2 Flywheels and 1 Clutch from PTB and all of that didn´t work i didnt want to try PTB again. These guys were totally cool and have a really good support, sadly their products didn´t work in my car....

First question before I get interested... Idle/neutral gear chatter or NVH/buzzing in mid-range?

No matter what SMFW you will run, you will have both of that. It is a lie, if somebody says its not present. What is right is that it depends on how the set is balanced and how heavy it is, also it is often different from car to car.
What i can say is that my chatter in neutral was really really loud with IS Clutch and PTB SMFW. Also the buzzing was present on every throttle input unter 3.000RPM.
Now with the twin disc the rattle in neutral with 900RPM idle rpm is almost non noticeable, only when the transmission is really hot and air condition is on. And i have to add i run a RTD Short Shifter which makes the noises coming into the cabin even more. I would think with a normal shifter you wont hear it (altough its there). Should be because of the good balancing.

The buzz is now only when acclerating under 2.000RPM and much less than with the PTB/ IS combination.
But still it is there, it cant be avoided because of the design: Vibration from engine will get the transmission gears rattling.

For me the noise level as it is is 100% fine. with the PTB stuff on the other hand i was thinking: what can i do to stop this fucking noise all the time....

 

[DR-JEKL]

how much is it?

 

[frontside0815]

how much is it?

The 1.000NM Version is 1.500€ (1.770 Dollar) + Shipment. If anybody here is interested we have to see how we can organize shipping.

 

[kayzrx82]

This looks like a promising setup. What is the weight of the flywheel compared to stock?

 

[frontside0815]

Sorry for the late answer, but i finally have numbers concerning weight:
The full set is 21KG, the flywheel alone is 8,6kg.

 

[kayzrx82]

Really interested in this. Been looking for a dual plate setup. Just a few question on the replacement wear items. I am in the US. Where could I get the plates and friction disk from if I needed replacements. And what are the cost of those parts?

 

[tisdrew]

How many different cars has this setup been run on?

Why should I run this over other twin-disc options like mfactory, motiv, spec, or ACT?

 

[frontside0815]

The Setup runs in Europe in around 50 cars +. Mainly in drift cars, which get used really really hard. We also have a Adapter Plate for our N54 Manual Transmission so it can be used in 2JZ Cars/Swaps with our clutch!

We sold around 15 sets ourself and all of them are 100% satisfied! You see how much Problems i had with clutches, so for me it is 100% important that the things i sell work 100%!

Advantages are as written above:

- fully balanced, not only Flywheel balanced, which helps with noises.

- flywheel weighs 8,6KG, so it is lighter than DMFW but not as light as the really lightweight SMFW which helps prevent noises as well.

- The spigot is another harder material than the flywheel, which for us is really important, because i saw at least 10 flywheels with spigot Problems! All of them were from a german manufacturer, so i cant say if there is the same Problem with US flywheels.

- genuine 240mm organic discs and genuine sachs perssure plate. The discs are as far as i know the biggest discs you can get in a twin disc for n54 and you can easily buy new discs and a pressure plate for a cheap price(These are genuine LUK discs!).

- The design ensures, that both discs are fully seated on the Transmission shaft. Of course we didnt measure every clutch on the market, but a german Twin Disc Option also has what we call a 'design flaw', because the second clutch disc only sits about 5-10mm on the transmission shaft, whereas the clutch in total is 25mm big.... This can lead to Problems!

- i think the biggest Advantage is, that i am a N54 owner myself and i have the clutch in my own car. So you can expect 100% Support for any questions, which i heard isn´t the case when it Comes to Spec Clutches for example.

Tell me if you have any other questions!

 

[The Banshee]

Very nice offering and explanation of advantages. If my spec 3+ slips this has my attention. Are you near Cologne by chance?

 

[frontside0815]

Cologne is around 300KM away. But since it is near nordschleife (where i am driving very often) we surely could arrange a meetup!

 

[The Banshee]

Cologne is around 300KM away. But since it is near nordschleife (where i am driving very often) we surely could arrange a meetup!

I will be Cologne for 2 days next week. I visit Frankfurt and Munich often. I would love to check the clutch out to compare.

 

[Blaster3500]

The Setup runs in Europe in around 50 cars +. Mainly in drift cars, which get used really really hard. We also have a Adapter Plate for our N54 Manual Transmission so it can be used in 2JZ Cars/Swaps with our clutch!

We sold around 15 sets ourself and all of them are 100% satisfied! You see how much Problems i had with clutches, so for me it is 100% important that the things i sell work 100%!

Advantages are as written above:

- fully balanced, not only Flywheel balanced, which helps with noises.

- flywheel weighs 8,6KG, so it is lighter than DMFW but not as light as the really lightweight SMFW which helps prevent noises as well.

- The spigot is another harder material than the flywheel, which for us is really important, because i saw at least 10 flywheels with spigot Problems! All of them were from a german manufacturer, so i cant say if there is the same Problem with US flywheels.

- genuine 240mm organic discs and genuine sachs perssure plate. The discs are as far as i know the biggest discs you can get in a twin disc for n54 and you can easily buy new discs and a pressure plate for a cheap price(These are genuine LUK discs!).

- The design ensures, that both discs are fully seated on the Transmission shaft. Of course we didnt measure every clutch on the market, but a german Twin Disc Option also has what we call a 'design flaw', because the second clutch disc only sits about 5-10mm on the transmission shaft, whereas the clutch in total is 25mm big.... This can lead to Problems!

- i think the biggest Advantage is, that i am a N54 owner myself and i have the clutch in my own car. So you can expect 100% Support for any questions, which i heard isn´t the case when it Comes to Spec Clutches for example.

Tell me if you have any other questions!

How much are the discs and pressure plate if the unit does need to be refreshed down the road?

 

[frontside0815]

I will be Cologne for 2 days next week. I visit Frankfurt and Munich often. I would love to check the clutch out to compare.

You can hit me up, although I am not around cologne next week.

Frankfurt is nearby- around 150km. If you want to you can come to my place have a coffee and try my car with the clutch in it!

 

[frontside0815]

How much are the discs and pressure plate if the unit does need to be refreshed down the road?

I will get you prices in the next days.
If the pressure plate, the spacer or the smfw needs to be replaced it needs to be shipped to us, because it’s balanced as a whole!

But I am very sure the clutch will last a really long time!

I attached pictures of a set which was installed in April 2014 in a drift car. With this clutch a 650whp car burned down 280 sets of tires during around 70 drift events. The clutch discs still had 40% left after this use!

 

[fmorelli]

^^^^ that's good product feedback!

Filippo

 

[frontside0815]

Guys,

had a talk with my Producer today and i have some News concerning the wear items:

Sadly i misunderstood him, because the discs are "OTS" Material, but still reworked with stainless steel base and 3,5mm thick kevlar. So they can only be bought from us.

But i think our Price for them is really good: We can sell the 2 Discs for $230, when you send back the old ones as a "core".

But like said above, best would be to ship out the whole clutch so we can remanufacturer and Balance everything and you get basically a new clutch.

Besides 50+ N54 Sets around Europe we have this disc with individual parts for different platforms. In the last 4 Years we had 4 Sets per year which needed to be renewed because of wear- all of them were in drift cars! So the percentage is next to nothing and you will have a really, really long time of fun before any wear! Keep in Mind, that we use OEM Kevlar Material which is built to last, whereas Sintered clutch discs are usually not built for longterm use!

We cannot provide a certain time for guarantee, because each clutch gets used different. But like stated earlier, we will ensure that our customers are 100% satisfied !

Feel free to write if you have any other questions!

 

[kayzrx82]

Do you have a website I can order from?