949 racing clutch longevity?
 

Just received by 949 racing twin disc.

I was reading through the instructions and it said the clutch is good for 150-200 drag passes or 20,000 street miles. This came to me as a shock seeing how I street drive 10-15k a street and dont intent to replace my clutch every 2 years.

Given that I was wondering people that have had the clutch how many miles have you gotten out of it so far?

In for answers.

as someone who ran both cerametallic disks and organic disks in my custom (non 949) twin plate clutch at two different times, I'd say that estimate is fairly accurate.

Tilton told me their twin plate clutch has tighter tolerances for engagement than a standard OEM style clutch because of the additional wear surfaces. Not only do you wear more surfaces at once, but you don't get to wear the disks as thin either.

Keep in mind also that mileage really depends on how you drive it. If you're not slipping the clutch, you're not wearing out the clutch as fast. If you drive in stop and go traffic, it'll die sooner. If you're on the long haul, it'll last longer.

Those generic estimates are provided by the pressure plate manufacturer. They could not make discs that met my requirements so I have my own made. They're .290 thick and will likely last you forever. Unless you loan your car to someone that likes to slip the clutch across every intersection at full throttle, I wouldn't worry about it. We have twin organics with thousands of street and track miles that still look new. We find that out when folks blow their transmissions from too much powa, unfortunately for them.

Thank you Emillio. Now I can sleep peacefully knowing that I will be eating no name kraft dinner for the next month to pay off my clutch.

in for details on a Miata that is driven 10-15k miles per year and needs a 949 twin disk clutch.

Will post build thread once the car is off the road for the season and I start tearing it apart.

Here's one:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...ustom%2529.JPG

I put a twin plate clutch in my daily driver 5 years ago and ran it for 4 years. replaced disks maybe 3 times and rebuilt it once. it's due for both and out of the car now because I don't have a garage or built motor.

the organic disks lasted me way longer than the cerametallic. 20k with a considerable amount of that in stop and go traffic.

if you're not in traffic, get the damn twins.

What happens on the 949 clutch if the rivets break off the clutch disk, or the springs pop-out of the disc, or if the fingers break? I've dealt with all of these problems on other cars. I always get weary when I buy expensive clutches becuase I have a miserable track record with everything other than the Spec S3 which is in my car, but so heavy I can't downshift fast enough.

Seriiously though, if this clutch will last as long as my S3 (still going) and I can swap friction materials, I may go for it.

Too late to think about it, the clutch is sitting 2 feet away from me on my desk. I just was shocked when I read through the instructions.

it comes with a security blanket.

I didnt run sprung hubs so that helps. Honestly they aren't necessary, especially on onrganic disks.

I actually broke a diaphragm spring during round one of the twin plate probably from overstroking it.

but since the thing is rebuildable and you can get new disks and plates... well it's still more expensive to service than the cost of an ebay clutch but it's also baller.

I really wouldn't worry about the reliability of the clutch. I've owned mine for 2 years, and it wasn't new when I bought it, and the clutch discs still look brand new.

Organic or ceramic?

LOL this sounds like a good idea. I will try it and report back on this thread

mine!

all of it

sorry, i just have one of these sitting in my foyer and couldn't help but join

seriously you guys
I drove a twin plate cerametallic clutch in my car BEFORE the turbo. like years before the turbo.

you worry too much.

Mine is ceramic. IIRC, Trackdayhookey has the organic version, and in his words, it is a "twin disk wonder clutch, that will last around 1000 years at the current wear rate".

949 Racing twin clutch has no springs. If the fingers of the diaphragm spring break, it'll be a first and there are users with the same diaphragm running over 600whp. Rivets breaking off? You would collapse the drive plate before a rivet broke. We know because we tested it.

Pretty hard to kill one of our clutches even if you are trying to.

In a Miata?
If so, details?

Other imports using the same cover design and clamp force from the pressure plate supplier. Many drag racers are running this clutch design, albeit with much heavier flywheels but a bunch more power than most Miatas will ever make. When I hear people concerned that our twin might not stand up to their 300whp in road race conditions, I have to chuckle a bit. Not even close to this thing's limits. As I had mentioned when we first launched this product two years ago, it's overbuilt. I could build a 300whp road race clutch and flywheel that weighs about 7 lbs but it would be impossible to street drive and not last very long.