Okay, I had my tilton twin plate carbon/carbon bits installed last Friday. Since then, my car has done a little over 1000 miles, so I'd say its pretty much bedded in and time for a little review. I've given this clutch DEATH, for a week!

My tuner brought the car to me, after stating that the car revved like a motorbike and raving about how insane it sounded. He sat outside my place of work, blipping the throttle, for a few seconds to give me the full effect. It IS rather impressive. If you press the accelerator to the floor and release, you'll hit redline and back to idle in a little under 2 seconds.

First thing I did when I got in the car was stall. I've done that a LOT, since. If you've never driven a car with a 'performance' clutch and flywheel, you'll be in the same situation as I am. However, my tuner SHOULD have installed a pedal stop, or at least let me know that I wasn't meant to press the clutch pedal all the way down. That would've meant I didn't need to take 10 seconds bringing the clutch all the way up and I wouldn't have made an *** out of myself for the first 2 days.

In stop/go traffic, its actually quite easy to drive. If you let the clutch up too fast, you'll stall but you can keep it rolling pretty easily. It DOES slip, if you want it to but the burning smell you get is enough to make you not to want that. Stop, out of gear and handbrake on is the best option. If the traffic is crawling, anyway, what's an extra few seconds to set off?

I've found that ~1200 revs is needed to set off, without the car stalling out when the clutch bites. If you're really careful at juggling the throttle you can keep the car steady on a hill but once again, the smell makes you worry so much that the handbrake goes back on. Hill starts are still a bit of an issue for me. The accelerator peddle is seriously sensitive. I can hit 3-4k before I get the car to move on a hill, if there's angry people around me. I'm finding that its easier not to stop. I'm sure I'll get used to it, as the weeks pass, though.

The clutch is probably a little heavier than my OEM clutch was. My peddle did get pretty heavy towards the end of its life, though and this is slightly heavier. That's mostly because I'm balancing the car on the top 1.5", though and a pedal stop (as suggested in the instructions and ignored by my tuner) would help a LOT, with that.

Once you're driving, the car is shockingly fast. I know lightening the drivetrain isn't meant to increase power but the car certainly feels as though the torque has gone through the roof. On a stretch of road that I hit, daily, I can reach 100mph a good 300 metres before the point I would've reached it previously. That's how much faster the car is. Downshifts are sublime. When you get it right, its so much more satisfying than the OEM clutch. Perfectly smooth pickup and instant throttle response have made my car a dream to drive. I even gave a decatted 360 spider a good run, 'til he started to pull away, slightly, when I hit 6th. He seemed very impressed.

There is some noise from the clutch, at idle. Its louder when the car is warm. Also, noise as you accelerate from 1800-2200 revs, which is quite loud but in proportion with the amount of gas you're giving it. If you're barely on the throttle, there's very little noise. There's a tiny bit of noise, during engine braking from 4000-2800 revs. I'm not sure if that's just me listening too hard, though. The noise certainly isn't enough to make me not want the clutch. Most people who hear it are amazed.

I'm finding that when the car is cold, shifting into second is REALLY hard, unless you're quite a way up the revs. It eases off and becomes perfectly smooth, again, when the car warms up.

I love this clutch. My car drives a lot better with it and I like the challenge of having to learn to use a clutch in a precise manner, rather than the sloppy way I could get away with using the OEM clutch. It makes sure I'm concentrating on my driving and that in turn means I enjoy myself a lot more.

I think I've covered just about everything, now. If you have any further questions, ask and I'll try to answer.

I'd also like to thank Jason @ Performance for putting up with my lame questions and going out of his way to make sure my stuff arrived when I needed it.

 

This is definitely one of the first mods I would make if I had a 6MT.

God, thinking about a 8lb flywheel + 3.917 final drive makes me want to trade in..

 

Yeah, I started reading the first posts about the 3.9, just after I'd ordered my tilton. It'd be a devastating combination. I guess I'll have to save up a little.

 

How much was the clutch and flywheel?

 

nice review

 

$3569.95 + Shipping

 

Oi Pete, you didn't give me a ride in yr car on Monday night!

but I did witness how fast it revves up!

 

It was an open offer. :P

 

Excellent review. Don't think I could muster up the motivation to fork out that much money for a clutch / flywheel combo though.

 

Pete, sorry we didn't have a chance to play with it @ Earls Court

Will have to have some serious investigation time @ Billing

 

I have this clutch/flywheel on the AF 350Z Project Car and I am as impressed and pleased with it as you are.
It performs great on the race tracks!
The only drawback of course is the necessity to disassemble the clutch to add spacer plates every now and then.

 

Is there any reason you got the carbon-carbon clutch instead of the $1400 "semi-street" flywheel + clutch? Are the revving characteristics different, or are you looking to put down more than 300rwhp?

A 8lb flywheel, 3.917 gears, UR crank pulley, and twin turbos make me too scared to trade in

 

The "semi-street" Tilton can handle more power than the Z is pumping out with FI. Jason at performance said that the Carbon Tilton revs a little faster. It also free's up 30 hp compared to 20 hp from the "semi-street". Plus the carbon clutch slips some, where the "semi-street" has basicly NO slip.

Hey pyroteknix, What does the Carbon tilton smell like when you slip it? Is it real strong and is it getting less as it wears?

 

I've never gotten any kind of smell from my Tilton carbon clutch....

 

I think the 3.9 ratio gearing would be a little OTT with a turbo setup. First gear would last just a fraction of a second.

I got the clutch because I wanted the lightest weight flywheel and needed a clutch, as well. I have a habit of buying the best things I can find for my car so the tilton was the logical way to go. Part of the plan is to go FI in the future, some time, so I thought I'd get the clutch in and myself used to it, before I did anything crazy. I was also advised that the tilton was a lot more durable than the standard squishy OEM thing for the type of driving I do (hard road, 1/4 mile).

I presume the carbon/carbon revs slightly more freely than the semi-street package, too but you've all seen Jason's car rev...there isn't much in it, at all. Not that you'd genuinely notice, anyway. Less than a second is less than a second.

I didn't go for the semi-street, as lovetoclown says. This clutch is much more forgiving. It bites hard, sure but you can set off, smoothly, with a tiny bit of slip, which is something you can't do, with the semi-street, or so I've been told.

How often to you check the clutch for alignment and spacer plates, though? I have no real idea how often I should check this. I've heard its required more often with the triple plate, though, which is part of the reason I didn't opt for that.

The carbon/carbon doesn't smell much, at all. Its only when you're slipping it that you notice it and you shouldn't really slip it, for any amount of time. However, circumstances exist where you don't really get a choice, especially on some of the steeper hills I drive over and have to pause to let traffic pass.
It smells expensive, really You're thinking, "Hmm..what's that? Ooh, that's what burning carbon smells like. Oh sh*t!"
Its much less strong than if you badly slip the OEM and doesn't linger. Its happening less, now, yeah but I think its because I'm not driving as badly as I was, the first few days. Even now, when I'm stuck on a steep hill and having to balance the car at about 1500-1600 revs, when you eventually set off, it slips a little and there's a faint whiff.

Edit: I've still got the UR pulleys and decats to go on, so the car should probably rev even faster, after that. Could be crazy.

 

Great review thanks. I'm looking at doing this mod too. I had never hear that you have to check the clutch for alignment and add spacers? How does it come out of alignment?

 

how does the car start out? Are you stalling alot?

 

When the car is cold, it revs higher, at around 1250, with the A/C on. At that point, you can release the clutch slowly and it'll start off without using the accelerator.

When it warms up, it idles ~700 and you have to take the revs to 1250 with the accelerator, otherwise, it'll stall.

I stall a couple of times but its because I release the clutch too fast.

 

So you're not supposed to slip the clutch? Some of the best RWD launches involve slipping the clutch (as opposed to droping it). Seems to me like an expensive combo like that is supposed to handle slipping.

 

It does! Jeff@Performance told me how carbon bites harder as they warm up. It lets you slip it a bit and if you can dance on the pedals, you can slip it for a good launch.