BACKGROUND AND STOCK CLUTCH (70,000km)Car currently has 115,000km, stock clutch about 70,000km with full boltons and procede for the most part putting down about 370-390whp. After going with meth and a few drag strip days the stock clutch went but I was happy it lasted as much as it did given my semi-aggressive driving style. I never dumped the clutch and never did any full throttle shifts or anything like that on the stock clutch.
CLUTCHMASTERS FX400 + 16lb alum. flywheel (4500km)After a review from Former_Boosted_IS and many online reviews about the quality of the ClutchMasters clutches and flywheels I ponied up for a ClutchMasters FX400 6-puck ceramic with their lightweight flywheel. This clutch went prematurely at just 4500km and I expected it to be the last clutch I'd buy for this car given my driving style and the fact my stock clutch lasted as much as it did. My assumption was wrong and the clutch, after being examined by CM, was fully warrantied with a new kit. Having completely lost trust in this setup I wasn't going to try it again and rather opted to sell the new kit to someone else and try something else. ClutchMasters claimed the issue was a combination of two factors, main being possibly install related and pilot bearing not being replaced as they noticed some abnormal wear somewhere on the flywheel, and they also hinted at ceramic material not being the greatest for daily driving in stop/go traffic which I was doing 99% of the time. I still have tons of respect for ClutchMasters as they came through with their customer service (Luis specifically) and with no questions asked, sent me a new kit. I sold it and moved on.
ACT STREET ORGANIC + RESURFACED OEM DMF (45,000km+)Mr.5 over on bimmerpost had extensive experience racing on his ACT Street clutch (organic) which was rated very well for stock turbos and high boost numbers the N54s were putting down. My issue with it was I had RB turbos on order already but given no other great option was available and the fact I got the ACT kit from a former member for $250 shipped I decided to just go with it in the meantime. ACT exceeded all my wildest expectations after having been through a situation with the CM unit. I had RB turbos installed and put down ~500whp ~500wtq on this clutch without any slipping. I literally put the car through hell for 11 months after installing it putting down about 40,000km on it and only recently it started to slip a tiny bit, and only sometimes, in 6th gear in low RPMs under full load. I wouldn't have even noticed it probably had I not tried to accelerate once from 2500rpm to datalog 6th gear After pulling it out last night the ACT still had about 20% material left in it. It survived about 5-6 drag strip days, about 50-60 1/4 mile passes, over 200 dyno pulls in all sorts of boost, many many full throttle (WOT) shifts, literally hundreds of datalogging runs in different gears. I was and still am extremely impressed with this obviously underrated clutch. It has a heavier pressure plate from stock and engagement is closer to the floor (forget about clutch stops with this one) but overall, a week into it and you're used to it, no issues daily driving at all. I highly recommend this clutch for anyone on stock turbos whatever sort of setup/racing they do, solid!
Once I felt my ACT slip in 6th I was a bit saddened that there was no clutch on the market that has been tried and tested heavily in any sort of abusive racing environment where it would decently hold up and show itself to be worthy the money spent. I honestly didn't mind spending a chunk of coins on it provided it could stand up to my type of driving, which has gotten way more demanding than the stock clutch days, as well as be daily drivable. Organic material was great but with RB turbos torque curve (or should I say lack there of lol) there was no way an organic clutch would reliably work much past the 480-500wtq mark. ACT is truly underrated but I'd say 500wtq was showing as too much to ask from it under higher gear higher load situations. This only told me that its at/near its limits and then...
HPF STAGE 2 FERAMIC CLUTCH (135i/335i N54)HPF couldn't have announced an N54 clutch solution at a better time. I knew that I couldn't stay with an organic clutch going forward but I wanted to have something still daily drivable while at the same time it could survive a beating at the drag strip, my 60-130mph testing with fast shifts, as well as some road coarse action I am getting ready for this coming summer. Ceramic clutches were out of the question due to their bad wear properties in stop/go heavy slip-inducing driving scenarios. Kevlar was also not a great option as even if slipped heavily once the material would never recover, just the nature of it.
I bought into the HPF's Feramic material after realizing their turboed M3s run this same clutch, the same material is used in clutches on many high hp Supras and I really couldn't dig up anything online that made me not want to give this a shot. So I contacted @HPFBranden and @HPFChris and got the order under way. My clutch is a unit from the very first production batch of N54 clutches of this kind from HPF. Hopefully none of the issues that typically crop up in the first units won't plague mine and I'll be able to get the full enjoyment I expect from this purchase soon.
Got it installed last night with a brand new OEM dual mass flywheel+release bearing+pilot bearing+rear main seal. Along with this my man Ivo@ColumbusAutomotive took care of reinstalling my RB turbos with tapped EGT probes in both RB turbo manifolds, new engine mounts (passenger side got a 335IS mount), new tranny mounts (UUC black rubber ones), new shifter shaft seal, a custom mounted Big Tom FMIC (this was too sweet actually, will post in another thread), and reinstalled my stock catback back on (AE catless sold) so I'm semi-environmentally friendly again yay!
I've driven about 50km (30 miles) on it so far and I'm truly impressed. Clutch engagement is higher than the ACT and about the same as stock actually which was great. Pressure plate is about as firm as the ACT so no major changes there, and the clutch drives SMOOTH, no different than the ACT and a little bit more grabby than stock but then again, that was a long time ago and sensors in my legs have gone out of calibration since then Overall so far I give it a 10/10.
Huge thanks to HPF for coming through with this alternative for the N54. My usual respect and huge props to my shop (Ivo@ColumbusAutomotive) for doing a truly amazing job each and every time and always being as anal retentive about details as I am lol
I'll update the thread once the 500mile break in is over and I get to play with it. Car is on winter tires and temps are below freezing so don't expect much soon in terms of updates.
Some pics:
...and a pic of the car on lift situation last night...all this was done starting at 6PM and done at 7:30AM this morning as Ivo's going on vacation for 10 days, that bastard! lol
Enjoy!
REVIEW: HPF STAGE 2 FERAMIC CLUTCH (N54 335i)
