Sorry, I'm not interested in being the test mule. But thanks anyway!

 

Performance clutch is built and the 2-piece lightened flywheel is on it's way to completion:




Should save about 28 lbs of rotating mass.

 

That is a thing of beauty. That's so exciting.

So it's quicker revs up and down. Does it impact torque (or if torque and horsepower are proportionate, is it inertia that is impacted?? <--- way over my paygrade, and likely sounds like a stupid question).

I assume it's better for quick shifters, and not so great in traffic? What's the real noticeable impact on the experience?

 

Expected benefits:
1. Faster upshifts
2. Faster rev matching on the down-shift
3. Less hp wasted on building rotational inertia (similar to reducing rotor weight).
4. Real cool engine revving at the stop light.
Down sides:
1. Much easier engine stalling from a standstill
2. Possible rough idling or engine surging at idle.

This is definitely not a setup I would recommend for the occasional or weekend MT driver. All of my race cars were built this way as well as two of my street cars (Sunbeam Tiger and C4 Vette)

 

Just an aside on one of Unhingd's earlier posts in this thread:

The gen 4 clutch feels a bit strange. The toggle point is relatively close to the floor, but the point of engagement is higher on the pedal. Those two points usually coincide. At the point of toggle, it requires a typical amount of pedal pressure, but elsewhere in the throw feels a bit wimpy.

If I am understanding this comment: the clutch pedal needs more pressure near the floor, but is light elsewhere and engages rather high in the pedal travel. This is exactly how the clutch feels on my 2016 car! So I am guessing that later 2016's were built with the Gen 4 clutch?

 

 

Bummer. So given that I have 11K miles I likely have a Gen 2 clutch. And from your post it sounds like the Gen 2 may not last that long either - do they all fail at less than 20K miles? I still have warranty but how much does a factory clutch replacement cost on this car anyway?

 

 

Yikes! Thank you for this information; very helpful indeed. I am hoping my clutch stays together for longer. Fingers crossed. It is unacceptable for a clutch to wear out at under 40k miles; that is certainly not normal wear and tear. In Detroit, there is only one independent shop that will touch an F-type (they are a Lotus dealer) and they are not cheap labour wise. Very good shop though. I hope I can put a clutch replacement off for a couple of years...

On a positive note, I finally installed the short throw shifter you developed. Wow - what a difference! I expected the feel to be much better and in my opinion the feel is now reminiscent of a 981 Cayman: precise and no clumsiness with just a slight increase in shift efforts. I didn't, however, realize how much better the ergonomics would be. In my opinion, the stock shifter sits too high because the console itself is elevated and the added shifter length just exacerbates this condition. This modification addresses this ergonomic shortcoming as well and the shifter now readily meets my hand. Bravo!

 

 

Finally after 10 months, the prototype lightened flywheel and high performance clutch have been finished and are on a local UPS truck to me today. Both have been designed to work together or with the OEM clutch or flywheel. I'll post weights and pics on Monday when I get back from a trip.

 

Hey Lance,

When I asked Stuart about throttle response with the tune, he noted that your car, with the twin pulleys, was particularly sensitive in certain ranges. How do you see that with a dramatically lightened flywheel? I'd like a single-mass flywheel, but not sure how much lighter I can reasonably go, partly due to a commute that frequently has me idling in a conga line up a 10% grade.

 

 

I had no doubt of the report. It was just something specific that came to mind when I was thinking of other things, so thought I'd solicit specific in that report.

 

I really dislike non-linear throttle on my F-type. Drive by wire is not strong point here.

 

Any updates on the spec clutch? I have an appointment on Friday with Jaguar for the slipping clutch but at 24k miles i’m sure they are going to claim wear and tear. If so I rather go with an aftermarket clutch and independent shop. Just pick her up too cpo. Pretty disappointed with the clutch. Everything else is great.

 

I have single mass lightened billet flywheel and high performance clutch kit custom built by SPEC. Never got it installed as the gen 4 clutch is still performing well. They are very long lead time items so if interested I could sell you what I have (clutch alone or clutch and flywheel) and I would then put another on order. Caveat: you’d be the beta tester.

 

I remember I got nearly 40K miles on my first clutch (the first "real" one re-installed on the 2016. I'm still on the proper 2019 one, and wonder.... how long does a clutch last nowadays? Like me being surprised service can go up to 16K miles,vs my old Wranglers 3-5K, I still don't imagine the mechanics or tech behind a clutch is going to last way longer than my Datsun 200sx from the early 80s? I was utterly shocked to see how long they last, tho.

So do we have any data on aggregate average distances for f-type clutches? I know it's how you drive, but have we even done an informal survey? The sample rate of clutches on this board must be tiny tho.

 

I haven't yet heard of any replacement due purely to "wear and tear." I think a few were called that by the dealer, but they were early clutches that happened to survive long enough to be denied warranty. When I was a Saab mechanic, 80-120K was typical for clutch replacement (according to my declining and distant memory), with outliers on both sides of that. People who lived in San Francisco, for example, were on the lower side.

 

The only outlier I have to those numbers during my half century of driving was on my 1990 GMC when I was using it as a race car tow vehicle. I would only get 40k out of a clutch under those circumstances.

It’s unlikely we have more than 2 dozen MTs on this forum, so as you suggest, we could infer no statistical significance from a survey.