TheCajunStyle

iTrader: (6)

I've had my Tilton clutch and flywheel setup in my car for about 4 weeks now, and I'd like to share my impressions with those who are considering upgrading their components in the future.

I initially purchased the FULL-STREET setup from Performance Nissan. This comes with the 8 lb. flywheel, flywheel bolts, clutch housing, pressure plate, cerametallic disc, organic disc, throwout bearing and adapter, and clutch bolts. (I made sure to get a new pilot bushing from my local Nissan dealership. This was all when I decided to stay NA. Plans changed, and I found that I'd need something a little bit better to complement the JWT TT kit. I wasn't sure what my options were, so I called Tilton.

Let me first say, the Tilton engineers are very knowledgeable. They deal with drivetrain racing components all day long, so they were eager to help answer my questions. I was given a couple of part numbers: one for a second cerametallic disc, and the other for an ultra high ratio pressure plate. This setup was calculated to provide me with the ability to hold 480 flywheel HP. Tilton informed me that they rate ALL of their clutches to 2/3 of their full potential. Effectively, this double-plated, six puck setup will hold 716 flywheel HP. Plenty of holding ability for my application. The engineer provided me with a contact at Titan Motorsports in FL so that I could order these parts--I ended up having to get the parts drop shipped (overnight) from Tilton because my install would begin in two days!

I also opted for a kevlar, heat shielded, stainless steel clutch line from Mossy Performance. This would be key for preventing the clutch fluid boiling due to the amount of heat produced by the turbos.

Performance Motorsports installed both the JWT TT kit and also the Tilton clutch and flywheel setup. They found (from the directions) that the inner diameter of the adapter needed to be machined down 10mm. No big deal, just took an extra day as their machine shop is off site.

My initial impressions of the clutch and flywheel were "WOW!" The car revs like a Ferrari. The clutch bites hard--at any RPM. If I rev to about 3500rpms and quickly feather the clutch out, you can hear the cerametallic discs bite. Sounds like a very quick "HAUUM". The stock cats are still on the car so the flywheel could rev a little bit faster. But it's very obvious that the 8 lb. flywheel makes a world of difference. The clutch is not heavy at all on the foot. In fact, it requires about the same amount of force to depress as the stock clutch. The only thing that is hard to get used to is that the "sweet spot" on the clutch isn't one specific point that you can feel. It's more like a range of about 1" or so where the clutch starts to increasingly grab harder--but you can't feel it on your foot. You can tell that it's starting to grab by observing the rpms drop, slightly. I initially found that that under normal street driving conditions, it's tough to *****-foot the clutch. When my girlfriend is with me, I find revving to 2000 rpms and quickly feathering out the clutch works perfectly fine--she doesn't complain about her head jarring all over the place. When I mean "quickly feathering the clutch" I mean dropping it about twice as fast as the stock clutch in similar driving conditions. If my girlfriend is not with me, I find myself feathering the clutch even more quickly at 2500rpms. The key to this clutch is making most use of the available torque--that means when pushing my car hard, I'll ride the clutch almost the entire way through 1st gear--this ensures that every last bit of torque is transferred to the rear wheels.

Honestly, the clutch took me about 14 days to get used to. It was tough at first, but driveable. After those two weeks passed, I found myself saying, "Gee, I wish this is how the car drove from day one." I can't see myself ever liking the stock setup again. You'll hear a lot of people say, "The Tilton clutch gets real old, real fast," (meaning it's a PITA). I'd have to disagree 100%. It's very streetable and performs VERY well. I cannot get the clutch to slip at all. I know there are some members out there who have managed to slip their clutch during a 1st to 2nd gear shift at high rpms. This does not happen--even with 364+ ft lbs tq. There is flywheel chatter during idle and acceleration up to 2500 rpms. Of course, I'm barely under 3000rpms, so I don't notice it that much.

Sorry I don't have any videos at the moment, I'll be sure to get some and post them up here showing just how fast it revs, how to roll from a light like a Grandma, and how to launch it hard.

I'm 100% happy with my setup and I encourage others out there looking for a new setup to seriously consider Tilton.

They are a proven and reliable in the aftermarket racing business. If you have any questions about my Tilton setup, please ask!

--John

Vamos_Rafael

iTrader: (18)

so how fast does it rev compared to stock?

Audible Mayhem

iTrader: (48)

i am about to do a tilton/ ACT setup here very soon, (next week) i will be installing it so i will take it to the track and see how it helped in the quarter mile.


nice man, let us know if you get it dynoed and see how much hp you picked up...

TheCajunStyle

iTrader: (6)

I'll record some video tomorrow evening (Thursday) and post it up here. Let's just say that it takes <0.5s to go from idle to redline.

TheCajunStyle

iTrader: (6)

The clutch and flywheel were installed at the same time as the TT kit, so I there's no way I can get you a good comparison. You don't get any more "peak" HP from a lightweight flywheel, but you do get improvements on the acceration. Remember, lightweight flywheels are easier to rotate (lower moment of inertia, requires less energy to rotate), therefore the power not needed to spin the flywheel will go straight to the wheels.

This is my dyno after the install of everything:

TheCajunStyle

iTrader: (6)

Also, here's my depiction of what a lightweight v. stock flywheel will do for performance. Notice that the lightweight flywheel doesn't provide more peak power, but it yields more area under the curve. This should help everyone's understanding of what this performance mod will do for them.

(sorry for the ghetto pic)

Armitage

iTrader: (15)

Glad to see you like and another says its streetable. I think the Tilton may be the combo I go with.