Review: JWT clutch and flywheel
 

Background: As some of the SoCal folk know, my 04 coupe clutch felt exceptionally worse than most stock clutches. It engaged higher than normal and had a very “spongy” feeling when you steep on it. After talking to Dru (meechin) and taking his sexy ride for a spin, I decided I needed a new clutch for sure. Dru is rocking the JWT clutch and UR flywheel. I loved it; however the chatter at low RPMs bothered me, so I decided to go with just a new clutch with stock flywheel.

Install: As stated above, I took my car to Street Image for just a clutch install. However, after dropping my tranny, they concluded that I would need a new flywheel to pair with the new clutch since my stock fly had a lot of wear on it. I blame Ed (G35lin) for abusing my poor car (just kidding ed haha). Anyways, since the UR flywheel is quite rare and takes a while to come in, I went with the JWT flywheel since Street Image could get it that day.

Impressions: As expected the car is a dream to drive now. It feels like the front of the car shed off 150 pounds. Gears 1 through 3 pass a lot faster. As expected, it is more of a “weight reduction” feeling than a “more horsepower” feeling. Engine breaking is less severe and it’s smoother now. The clutch engagement point is extremely low, but I am told it will rise a bit as the clutch gets broken in. As the clutch pedal is released, it feels very linear and is way lighter than before, but still not as light as Dru’s clutch pedal (no clue why). Rev matching is much easier with the lighter flywheel, and mismatches are much less violent. On the bad side, I get chatter when in gear and giving it gas under 2200 RPM. With some music on at a reasonable level, you can’t even hear it from within the cabin. Very little chatter at idle. So little that idle chatter is a non issue. No chatter in reverse.

Stuff you should know:
I am VERY picky about squeaks and rattles in my car. The flywheel doesn’t really bother me since I expected it to be a little noisy, and I accept it as the price to pay to play. A light weight flywheel is NOT for people who are very picky about noise.

For those who do want a new combo, but want to minimize chatter, go with a JWT clutch and UR flywheel. The UR rattles under the same conditions as my JWT flywheel, however the chatter ends much sooner at around 1600 RPM. The UR piece is more expensive, however it is better made, and rattles a bit less. Most of the guys with the JWT flywheel complain about noise at idle, and don’t really mention chatter under acceleration under 2200 rpm.

Overall: GREAT mod, and definitely one of my favorites. The chatter sucks, but that is the ONLY downside. Somebody REALLY needs to build something to keep the throw out bearing from rattling against the flywheel!!!!

A big thanks to ed, Street Image Eric and Mondo for their flawless work, Dru for letting me try out his setup and for dealing with my flip flopping, and everybody else who gave me their input on their setups. If you have any questions regarding any of my mods, feel free to PM me or catch me on AIM.

Nice write up, especially since you said you're picky. This will help when my clutch needs replacing.

@how many miles did you change out your clutch?

at almost exactly 30,000. keep in mind i did not swap it out because of wear. the stock clutch and flywheel should last WAY longer.

Yeah They are a good set up. I enjoy this set up a lot. Coming from a previous experience with Tilton I think this is the best performance you can get while keeping driveability. Unlike Tilton were its all performance and no easy street driveability.

I would have to agree with jmcmorante. I went from an ATS Dual Carbon clutch to a JWT setup...and I'm loving the drivability. And even though it's a lot easier to drive with, one might think that it wouldn't hold as much power. But it does. It's holding my 500+rwhp perfectly, and it's also holding Marin's 715+rwhp perfectly as well.

Great clutch, especially for the money.

Putting my second JWT clutch and pressure plate in along with a new JWT flywheel friction surface replacement.

Looks like the old one held up well but the friction surface on the flywheel was shot.

I have used this setup with heavy nitrous use and it held well until just recently.

My stock clutch and flywheel just went completely out on me @ 53420 miles on the damn middle of the florida keys bridges, so now Im towed to miami rented a car to drive home and now in search of clutch and flywheel since they want $992 for stock flywheel and $292 for stock clucth. Im going to go with the UR flywheel and I guess the jwt clutch. anyone have any other suggestions

Also My mods are Nismo headers, kinetix hi flo cats and nismo exhaust, aem cai, thinks thats it for go but also have tein coilovers, seibon hood 19" staggered racingharts j8 pros and carbon creation wing with carbon fiber engine, battery and resivor covers, and jic custom carbon strutbar

dang that sounds like it died pretty dang early!

yeah its sucks, no warning either, just a little smell right b4 it went out completely

couple of days late but just wanted to say thanks for the write up. i'll probably go ahead and get the jwt clutch, not sure which flywheel, i dont care about noise and would like more performance so the UR seems to be right up my alley. thanks again.

::goes shopping for clutch/flywheel comco:: :)

anybody get the ur with jwt clutch?

Adding another review to this thread:

Had my JWT clutch/flywheel installed today. Drove it around a little, not to hard as I want to break it in a little. My initial impressions is that it does grab a little harder and quicker and the clutch engagment point is closer to the floor.

I do not or at least can't hear any rattling of the flywheel while driving except if I am at a low speed in a high gear. t idle I can definetly hear more rattling come from the engine. I have not yet pushed the car to hard with the new setup, but I do notice that the RPMs come up a lot quicker after 2800 RPM.

I will post again after I have broken it in fully with my full opinion of it.