Ninja Edit: The title is a typo, the billet steel flywheel actually weighs 19lbs. SORRY!

First off, I'd like to apologize for the lack of pictures. It hadn't occurred to me to do this review until after the clutch was installed and it was too late to take better, more detailed photos.

That said, I thought it would be helpful to have a more detailed product review than "it's awesome" for those of you looking to upgrade in the future. I picked this clutch up from Mike Hood at Ringer Racing and had the installation done by Benji and the guys at NGP Lorton. Also opted for ARP Pro flywheel bolts.



Here's the product info as listed on Mike's site:

FX300 (Stage III)

Heavy-duty street & racing system
Heavy-Duty reinforced pressure plate
2500 lbs Clamp load
Hi-Leverage pressure ring design
Ductile Iron Casting
Sprung hub/cushioned disc
Steel backed Segmented Carbon/Kevlar
Rated for 525 ft lbs at the flywheel

I chose the FX300 240mm for a few reasons:
1. The torque rating is more than I currently plan on making, which gives me plenty of room for upgrades later
2. The FX300 supposedly maintains daily-driver streetability with out being terrible to drive in traffic
3. I haven't heard of any issues from Clutch Masters with fragging flywheels and the clutch welding itself to the flywheel and **** like that
4. The 240mm option was only a little more than the 228mm, so I figured why the **** not.

I chose the steel flywheel because I don't plan on tracking the car and wanted to minimize the chatter common with single mass flywheels, which is worse with billet aluminum.

So far, I've put 150 miles of DC traffic on the setup at less-than-stock boost and I'm very pleased with it. The pedal feel is only slightly stiffer than stock, and it engages closer to the floor like every other clutch on every other car I've ever driven besides a B5 A4...

There's a little bit of flywheel chatter when idling in neutral with the clutch disengaged, but it's not offensively loud. I'm sure if you had the radio on (mine is stuck in safe mode currently ) you wouldn't be able to hear it.

It's definitely taken a little getting used to as far as driving in traffic. The stiffer pedal and single mass flywheel give it a little bit more of an on/off feel versus the more gradual feel of the stock DMFW. You actually have to drive it properly instead of just rowing gears and letting the dual mass flywheel absorb all the drive train shock. Speaking of drive train shock, there is a little bit more vibration when getting on or off the gas in gear. Engine/trans/diff mounts are probably a good idea and have just moved up on my list of mods.

I'll update this thread after I get some more miles on the setup and maybe flog it a little after it's broken in. Incidentally, I've heard mixed opinions on breaking in this clutch. Some people say 1k miles, NGP told me 500, and I've also heard that since the friction material is carbon/kevlar instead of organic, it doesn't really need to be broken in at all. In any case, I'm going to baby it for the rest of the week and see how things go.

The only pic I have from when I got it in the mail:

 

chris, i wouldn't do solid mounts, ie stern if you don't like vibration or chatter


i have all stern mounts(snub/motor/trans(left side)) and at idle the car is very violent(compared to stock), take off is pretty bad too



just a heads up there buddy



congrats on actuallly putting a part on the car

 

LOL thanks

Appreciate the tip on the mounts as well, I was under the impression Stern made some of the softer mounts available. Any suggestions instead of those? RS4's? 034?

 

i got stern soft mounts am i am happey. little extra vibration but i kinda like it. makes it feel like it has more power

 

That's what I was planning on going with. Nothing too crazy, and I'd heard the Stern softs were actually pretty bearable, especially compared to 034's track density mounts. I feel like RS4 mounts are overpriced for what you're getting...

 

Sounds good Chris. If I remember right, Dave had an FX400 on his GTRS setup when I drove it last summer, and it was very streetable. You should have no problems with a 300.

 

Yeah I'm very pleased with the way the clutch pedal feels. Already getting used to it.

 

Would you say the lwfw is a good dd bit. I have always wanted one but have heard horror stories of making car annoying to drive and they jus swapped it back after a week.

 

Absolutely. I can't comment on a lighter and/or billet aluminum flywheel because I've never driven a car that had one, but the steel is very streetable. Like I said, you definitely have to pay more attention to what you're doing, but if I can drive it in DC traffic I don't see how it could be "unbearable" for anyone else. It does chatter, but like I said you won't hear it unless the window is down, the radio is off, and there's something next to you to reflect the sound back into your window like a car or a building. If you wanna come down one weekend and take it for a spin you're more than welcome!

 

haha i might do that because I'm looking at one for the new engine. Plus my exhaust would drown the chatter out. Dc traffic is no joke either so i bet its fine for DD