Okay... I've been sitting on a clutch and flywheel upgrade for almost a year now. There have been numerous excuses and delays, but this week the deed was finally done and the parts are in the car.

First, I'd like to thank CPRacing for doing an awesome job on this for me. Normally, my car goes to another shop in town (CHL Motorsports) for mechanical work and I use CPRacing for tuning. Since CHL is essentially a one-man shop, it makes it difficult to pull off any tranny job. So, CPRacing was tapped for the clutch & flywheel. At this point, I'm relieved to know I have two excellent shops in town to turn to! :thumbsup:

The Parts
JUN Flywheel - I decided I wanted a lighter flywheel, but not one that would compromise around town driveability much. So, the 8lb Tilton was out of the question. I elected to go with the 14lb JUN. Another contender was the JWT, but I liked the design of the JUN much better and the fact that it is a one piece part instead of a two-piece part like the JWT.
Clutch Masters FX300 Clutch - This unit had 3 big things going for it. #1 - it was more than adequate for the level of power I'm pushing. If I went with upgraded internals and more power, I would have jumped up to their higher level offerings. As it is, the FX300 will meet my needs.
#2 - More than double the clamping power of the stock clutch.
#3 - Sharif just happened to have one on hand that he decided not to use in his car and I was able to pick it for significantly less than ordering on line! :biggrin:

The Install
As mentioned, CPRacing did this for me. I've only had the car back for 24 hours, but every indication is they did an awesome job. The car was dropped off on my way into work yesterday (Matt was even kind enough to drive me from CPRacing to my job. Thanks, Matt!) and was in the parking lot waiting on my when I got back to CPRacing at 4pm. Reasonable price for the job and it includes a return visit later to get a new dyno run to tweak my tune (Eric suggested waiting until the new clutch had some use before re-dynoing or it would have been done yesterday). Only minor complaint I have is the shift gates feel a little different now for 5th & 6th. Nothing I cannot adjust to, but noticeably different 4-5 and 5-6 movement. Eric and I could not reason out why this would be since the shifter mount should not have been affected by a clutch/flywheel swap.

The Results
All I can say is .... WOW! :OMG:

Okay, I can say a little more.... my car has been transformed. You'd think after full exhaust, cams, Vortech, and other upgrades like suspension, etc., it would be hard to "WOW" me. But, this upgrade makes a very noticeable difference in the feel and performance of the car.

The throttle is so much more responsive. A simple blip of the throttle winds the motor so much higher and quicker now. The revs come up faster... enough faster that there is no mistaking there is a huge benefit to the weight difference of the JUN. In fact, 1st and 2nd wind so quickly, I've had to adjust my shifting technique to avoid hitting redline. Literally, 4000rpm to 6600rpm is a blur.

The clutch took a little more getting used to. My previous stock clutch let out very high in the peddle range of motion. The CMIII lets out quickly at the bottom of the peddle. I'd say total play from starting to grab to full grab is less than 1/2" of motion. It's almost like an on/off switch. Still, it's not fussy... I could ease into gear just enough so city driving is not a task and with a quick shift it obvious how much more rapidly the clutch grabs. So far, no stalls.

Rev matching is no more difficult with this clutch, IMO, than it is with the stock clutch. In fact, I found the downshifts to be much easier as the motor revs more freely to the higher rpm of the lower gear.

Flywheel noise? I have barely any. Sharif had suggested getting my flywheel balanced before install to help reduce any low rpm noise, but I never got around to it. With it now in the car, I get almost none of the 'flywheel noise' I've heard others describe with other flywheels. At an idle, before the car has warmed up, there is a little bit of rattle. After the car is warm and any time above 1000 revs, the flywheel actually makes less noise than my old stock unit.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this upgrade and hate that I waited so long to put it in. IMO, the lightweight flywheel upgrades is one of the few upgrades I've done that individually had an immediate, huge, positive improvement to the cars performance and feel (the only other two things I can say fall into this category are my Crawford Headers and the Vortech SC).

For those on a budget, I think this is probably the single, best upgrade you can make. The car **FEELS** some much more responsive now, that as soon as the streets dried yesterday, I hopped back in the Z and basically went joyriding for several hours. Like when I first bought the car, I literally did not want to get out of it because it is so much fun to drive.

 

Sweet, and great review... When I get my upgraded clutch and fly I was planning on using them again (CPRacing and Sharif@Forged)

 

What is the holding power of that clutch. I'm looking at getting one and I am already dead set on the Jun flywheel. Just looking for a decent clutch at a decent price. But it needs to hold me over at least until next summer when I put in the built motor and ATS unit...

 

My baby has been at CPRacing for almost two weeks now and I love hearing that people are very satisfied with this shop (not that I'm not already, but it's still good to see )

After all the N/A mods I did to my car, when I switched to a heavier flywheel (went away from the tilton), it felt like someone had robbed all of my power gains. Lightweight flywheel / clutches are some of the best mods you can do on this car (i'm getting the ATS installed right now )

 

I was trying to find the exact spec earlier and could not. The Clutch Masters website bills the FX300 as designed for cars with medium boost or up to 100hp NO2 shots. I think it would work for you until you get the ATS unit.

 

I loved my JUN flywheel..... but due to my s-tune engine cannot idle properly with this flywheel, I gotta swapped it out for a heavier nismo piece.... I really miss the JUN flywheel.... simply love it!

Enjoy it mate!

richie

 

Noice!

How much was the JUN flywheel?

 

i was in market for flywheel, clutch and header.

do you mind if i ask you individual components price and intallation cost?
if you don't want to post it, please pm me. thank you.

 

The last trackday (16 July) in Monza circuit (35° °C temperature) was fatal for my stock clutch and flywheel ; i replaced , by Performancenissanparts , with the Nismo Clutch (Disc & Cover) and JWT flywheel.
The car runs very well , but the transmission noise under 2100 rpm , in particular in 4 - 5 - 6 (gear) , is intrusive....
It's normal with this setup ????
Any suggestions...??
Thanks for your reply...

 

You know... it's been so long since I bought it I forget the exact price. I ordered it through Z1Auto and I think it was around $450. I'll try to find the invoice when I get home tonight.

 

As just mentioned, I don't recall the exact price on the flywheel. These numbers are approximate and will vary depending on where you buy.

JUN flywheel = $450 (approx)
CM FX300 Clutch = $500 (approx)
Crawford Headers = $1200

Rather than list install prices, I'll put times since labor rates can vary.
Headers = 6-9 hours
Clutch & Flywheel = 3-4 hours

 

I've seen lots of posts about clutch/flywheel rattle with the JWT and Tilton flywheels. Not so much with the JUN, but then not as many people have them. Based on this, I'm guessing its pretty normal. Only solution I've heard is you can actually have the clutch plate/flywheel balanced before install and this will eliminate most if not all of the rattle. Props to JUN for making one that does not require balancing prior to install!

 

Glad to hear a good review of the JUN flywheel, I'm thinking about this as a performance upgrade to hold over until I can do some more serious engine work (read: until I get out of college and get a good paying job). Is the throttle response worth it?

 

most people who talk about noise have a nismo clutch; i think that could b the culprit.

 

I think the throttle response changes the performance dynamic of the car entirely. As I said above, had i known how much more fun the car would be with the light flywheel, it would have gone in a looooooooong time ago!

 

BTW, where is CPRacing in Charlotte? Are they closer to Mooresville b/c I have had to drive there a couple times and would feel much better about using that shop than one in NoVA. There really aren't many reputable shops in southwestern VA.

 

It was great having your car here Andy very glad to hear your happy with everything

 

Do you know if the JUN flywheel would work with Nismo clutch? I know that the JWT one will.

I have the Nismo/Nismo combo right now, but I think I may want my flywheel to be even lighter.

 

Nope JWT rattles also..

 

I don't think there would be a problem. The Nismo, Tilton, JWT, and JUN flywheels are all pretty much interchangeable (as far as bolting them on). Beyond that I couldn't comment.