sentry65

iTrader: (11)

I'm actually in love with this clutch now. I had periods where I've not liked it so much at times, but I've been driving it for about 10 months now and here's a quick list of stuff I've done that really seems to help it's drivability - at least IMO

I raised the idle to close to 1400-1500 rpms.
This absolutely gets rid of ALL cement truck chatter at idle and also makes it harder to stall because the stall point is now way under where the idle is instead of just under it. So when you go to take off from a stop and were previously at a low (normal) idle, you don't HAVE to nail the take off just right. You now have a little play room with the rpms


I got wider sticker tires.
This helped the car hook up easier which for some reason made the clutch easier to use because you could give it more gas (raises the rpm's) and not worry as much about doing a mini burnout/tire screaching. I have the 3.9 gears. In theory that helps to raise the rpm's faster to get away from the stall point, but it can also worsen the traction issue if you have stock tires. At least it made me a little more timid with using the gas pedal as hard and therefore being more likely to stall.

new stiffer suspension
I have an 03 which has the worst suspension as far as bounciness on the Z. When going over bumps or whatever, the whole car would bob - therefore make me bounce around. Any bouncing around will throw your feet off. The gas pedal is a little more sensitive than normal so any little bump will cause your feet to jump slightly and will give the gas a bump of more or less gas, throwing off the car's smoothness because of how responsive it is.

Harness or CG lock
Being strapped in hard lets you feel the car more - therefore feeling what the clutch is doing. More importantly, it prevents your body from moving around as much when you go over bumps. Most drivers like the feel of it too because you don't have to spend energy keeping your body planted in place.

I ended up going with CG locks. http://www.cg-lock.com/ They're cheap, they're removable, and damn they work. You can actually use 2 per person or 1. The instructions show people using it on their lap belt right where the seatbelt buckles in. I decided to use one there AND on the shoulder attatchment.The shoulder attachment by FAR does the most. You actually don't even really need the lap belt one - just for that extra bit of lock down. Putting the CG lock on the shoulder section is a little harder than the lap one. You need a 2nd person to do it while you sit in the seat so the tightness can be properly adjusted to fit you. While driving the only downside I've seen is if you are backing up in reverse, you can't put your arm around the passenger seat and really twist your body around. I have a lot of neck range so I can just turn my head to look back and can see where I'm going anyway.

I think you'd still be able to hit the airbag some with them beacause your body kinda can rotate over the chest strap whereas in a full harness you're pinned totally. This also gives your head some movement because in a harness your neck will take the brunt of all the force. With the CG locks, your body can still pivot over the chest strap a little helping to ease your neck during an impact.


little background on me with this:
I sooooo wanted to go with a harness. But atlas I've been finding out all my local car insurance companies would have a cow if they found out I had "race equipment" on my Z and wrecked it. They would even fight me hard probably on not paying for my medical expenses should I get in a wreck. Not only that, but since I'm a size 36, I just haven't found any aftermarket seats that appear that I'll fit in. I swear I'm pretty thin, oh well. Anyway I was going to do a rollbar and everything, but again - insurance companies were having a cow with that and wasn't nuts about just taking the risk and hope they'll pay for everything if I did get in a wreck.

ok, back on subject...

a good tune
Something else that I dunno, but I could swear helped is getting a good tune. I'm not sure what - maybe the timing at lower rpm's or A/F or what, but when I had my car tuned with the emanage ultimate to get a drastically better tune, I could swear the car is quite a bit easier to drive than before.

barefoot or racing shoes
you can feel the clutch better. I often wear flip flops or sandles and kick them off as soon as I get in the car cause I like how much better you can feel what the clutch is doing. I have a pair of racing shoes and because they're thinner than normal shoes - same thing. Not comfortable for a lot of walking though, so really more of a track thing


idle stablizer fix
Something else that might be for just my own case is I have JWT cams and when I have to push the clutch in really fast as in to stop in rush hour or whatever, the engine does a sorta ghost secondary rev or two. It's like an echo with the reving. So if you push the clutch in really fast when stopping, it'll slightly rev and normally that'd be it, but on my car it'll end up reving again or even a 3rd time - each one being much less intensity. This might be because of the cams and the idle vaccum then because the tilton is so light, it just gets amplified. So anyway, I have Performance Nissan's idle fix (like $60 or so, sorry too lazy to do a link) I haven't installed it yet, but I'm hoping it'll get rid of that "ghost rev echo" which has struck a few people who've driven my car as being a little odd.



Anyway, there you go. I must be bored. The clutch is still a bit harder to drive than normal, but it's not too horrible and can be a lot of fun

Enzo Driver

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for the tips man!! Im getting mine installed on Tuesday, and was going to have the idle raised. Where'd you get it raised at?

sentry65

iTrader: (11)

you can have nissan raise your idle with their consult II or if you have an ECU flash or a standalone EMS those can do it too

03Screamer

iTrader: (2)

A 1500rpm idle is awfully high for a street driven v6 lol. Whatever works though.

sentry65

iTrader: (11)

yeah it sounds crazy on paper, but when driving my car I almost get the impression that 650 rpms is rediculously low. At least it's a distant memory. Everything on my car is set higher in the rpm's. The tilton clutch makes noise below 2500 if you're in too high of a gear, so I basically always drive around town in the 2-4k range. I had to raise my rev limiter to at LEAST 850 because of my cams anyway.

Chebosto

iTrader: (43)

if you raise the idle that high.. can you still stall the car?

sentry65

iTrader: (11)

i've done it a few times - yeah with the tilton you can stall it still. The clutch reacts faster than the ECU can keep up with to rev it up to idle rpms

sakred

iTrader: (4)

hey guys i just got the full street clutch installed and had some questions about how long it might last me. i track my car fairly often so if someone here has done so with the full street tilton their input would be greatly appreciated. seeing as how the clutch is only 7.25 inches in diameter and the discs it comes with looked to be pretty thin it kind of has me worried that il run through it fairly quickly. also doing launches say from 3k rpm to get the wheels to spin has me worried seeing as how the unit might not have enough clamping force and just slip instead of spining my tires.

Hammad

leatherface_ca

iTrader: (9)

How long have you had the Tilton Full Street? Is the clutch still good? I am thinking of upgrading to this in the future. Normally how long will the Tilton full street clutch disc last??

charlie_rdstr_Z

iTrader: (2)

Not to go off topic but my freaking CG lock slips off the seatbelt and I can't get it on any more. Any suggestions?

overZealous1

iTrader: (27)

ya i run the tilton semi street dual disk set up. one thing that doesn't help drivability is solid motor mounts, lol. i made a set for my motor and so now i don't even have any give in the motor bushings to help the shock of engagement. i can drive it pretty well now, but i know i could never let anyone else drive it. i just do a couple big quick revs to about 4500rpm or so and slowly let the clutch out, once the car starts to move i hold at about 2500rpm and just dump it the rest of the way. pretty awesome though as the whole car shakes while it is engaging. just tough to get used to doing smooth shifts also.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

I've had the Tilton flywheel/street setup on my car for almost three months now. Purchased it from Machupo, who had it on his Z for another few months before that. I've used it in both daily driving and at several road racing track days. It's proven to pretty durable to date, but there is a "learning curve" to driving it well.

Having driven several race cars with Tilton clutches, the dual disc setup offers quite a bit of engagement area and significant advantages over a single disc. One area I'm concerned about is trying to launch the Z from 3K (or higher). This can create a lot of heat and possibly "glaze" the driven discs. I've found that holding revs at 2100 RPM and feathering the clutch out works perfectly every time for a mild, clean launch.

I've considered writing a Sport Z technical article about a long-term assessment of the Tilton setup and other lightweight clutch/flywheel options- including drivability and longevity. Think there'd be any interest in the subject among the NA crowd?

David Muramoto
Sport Z Magazine Motorsports Editor

Enzo Driver

iTrader: (11)

Ya, do the Article!

sentry65

iTrader: (11)

overZealous1, this is slightly off topic, but how have your solid motor mounts been as far as performance goes?

overZealous1

iTrader: (27)

i have only done it on one other of my cars and it makes for extremely sharp responce on both accel and decel. main reason i did it on the Z was for the fact all the turbo piping is so close to, and even touching in some areas, the engine bay. i didn't want to have my piping wiggle loose from hitting the engine bay. besides, with as much torque as this thing has, i didn't want to have a problem later down the road with a broken mount.
for performance, i believe it to be a very good mod and pretty dam cheap also. mostly would just be the cost of labor to put them in. i made mine for about $15 in materials and less than a half hour to make. i have the plans and pics of them if you think it is something you want to do. if i can remember you track your car quite a bit, if thats the case you will be surprised at how much more responsive to throttle input the car is.