Before I start, I want to say that I'm 100% POSITIVE that this is a topic which has been beat to death by you guys in the past.. but I'm newer around here, and searching for "F1 clutch" and "F1 racing clutch" or "f1" in general gives me a whole lot of nothing.. So even if you could suggest a search string, that would be fine by me.

What's the consensus on the F1 Racing Stage 3 Clutch for a 180-200whp goal car (Begi-S with ebay IC, MS2E, 460cc injectors, running 8ish psi)?

I want to believe that I can get a replacement clutch which will hold my boost for less than $200... but I find it hard to believe.

 

or spend 300 and get something that is 100% a good product highly recommended by everyone and their mother: the FM1. And have OEM like feel and engagement

 

Stop being a cheap ***

 

I spoke to a clutch builder in Tampa about those eBay clutch kits. It seems they use a really heavy pressure plate (still stock), and a very aggressive clutch disc (unsprung, low surface area, etc) to hold power. It makes driving feel like **** and breaks drive train parts. But hey, it will hold the power.

 

it makes me furious

here we have one of the cheapest cars out there
and we have some of the cheapest parts out there

and these guys STILL insist on pinching pennies and running the WORST crappy parts to do it.

 

Having been there, I have to agree. Having attempted to "make due" I've come to acknowledge that I've essentially pissed money away by buying parts twice.

OP, I've ran the stage 3 before. It chatters like a bitch and you'll look like a complete phaggette ricer revving your car in 1st and reverse to stop it from shaking. It doesn't hold any significant power and you will not enjoy it.

 

Thanks for the replies, that's all I needed to know.

Sorry for being one of "these guys", but good-win-racing sells the part, and it says it will do what I needed it to do. There's one review on goodwin and it's a *good* review. I just found it hard to believe that such an inexpensive clutch could do what I needed it to do, and now I know.

I'm not trying to "pinch pennies" and run "the WORST crappy parts", but if there are two clutches that are quality enough and one is half the cost of the other, it's not stupid or cheapass to go with the less expensive one, it's smart.

I didn't realize F1 was an "ebay" clutch, I saw it on goodwin.

 

FM, ACT, or 949 Racing are the only companies you should buy a clutch for a miata from. I have seen to many failures of other brands. With the amount of work needed to change a clutch, spending the extra money to buy a good clutch is worth it. The minute you have a problem with the cheap clutch and you are pulling that transmission a second time, you have lost any savings you had from using the cheap clutch.

 

I will throw in another vote for the FM clutch. Feels nearly like OEM, holds well, decent price. Well worth it.

 

truth
I'm surprised Good-winn sells it. But then many quality companies have a few of "those" parts on their site simply because they sell, and not because they are any good. Like 949 carrying tein s-tech springs, etc.

 

I ran a F1 clutch on my first miata, and had no complaints. It was stiffer than stock, but considerably lighter than my current ACT clutch. I ran it for ~3000 miles at 210hp, 200tq (which if I remember it was rated at 200tq). I ended up raising the boost and it started slipping right away. The car made 260hp, 240tq at higher boost so it was absolutely expected.

I pulled the clutch and gave it to one of my poor friends who ran it for a year or so in his N/A miata before parting his car out and I assume it's in some other car somewhere now.

Another option to consider if you want to save some money is a used clutch. I replaced my F1 with a used ACT clutch that someone had installed, broken in, and wasn't manly enough to handle it. There aren't too many people that are dumb enough to buy a used clutch, so a lot of times you can find good deals on them.

 

Hey, don't forget speedsport. Just because their cheapest option starts at $900 and I own one of like 3 or 4 that exist doesnt mean you need to exclude them. 90% of the performance of a 949 twin disk with the street manors and ease of launch of a stock clutch, really what more could you ask for?

 

I have never heard of or used speedsport. For clutches I will only recommend what I have personally used and had success with, or ones I have tried in other peoples car. So that list is basically FM, 949, and ACT. I am sure there are other high end clutch brands out there that will work just as well, those choices are just outside the realm of what most people are asking about CHEAP clutches.

 

I didn't read all the replys yet but I just want to jump in and say. I had the F1 Stage 3 with the lwfw. First off the reason I bought it was because it's cheap and the old outdated turbo wiki said it was good for turbo applications. That's sorta true. It held the first couple months at 6 psi. However as soon as I turned the 2560r up to 8 it would slip in third. By the time I installed EBC solenoid the pos clutch was finished. When I removed the clutch there was no Kevlar left and tons of burn marks on the flywheel. So I guess my point is don't be ignorant like me and try to skimp on a clutch. There is no such thing as a sub 300 dollar good clutch. Save time and money and get yourself an FM1 and if you want an F1 lwfw. That's the set up I run now and so far it's been great. Plus just a reminder a Kevlar clutch can beat the **** out of a transmission especially in stop and go traffic and rip motor mounts much easier with how much it shakes at times. My 2cents from exp.

 

What everyone else said, with one more alternative, though i have no idea the cost:

The factory 04-05 MSM clutch will hold that power with not a single issue.

 

This^ but than again they do sell 2.25 inch exhaust. I honestly think the clutch is for na guys or supercharged guys running low boost.

 

We use mostly ACT kits with Fidanza flywheels for our stuff, and anything we've done for a customer. Also had good results from FM products, which was expected.

The one time we tried a SPEC set-up (is was a 928, so options were limited) we were not expecting good things, and we didn't get good things. It was the customer's call on that one.

I've had two experiences with Competition Clutch products. One was a basically stock first gen Integra, and the product performed very well until the car got stolen. It was mated to a Fidanza flywheel.

The other was a customer's Hyundai Genesis 2.0t rspec, that was running the Comp Clutch stage 3 (I think) kit. It gave out after 15k miles (which is why they came in). We didn't install the kit the first time, and looking at the disc, it was difficult to say if it was driver error or a defect of the clutch disc material. Normally I'd say driver error slipping the clutch, but when I inspected the contact surfaces it looked like the disc was only contacting on the very out edge. The inner edges of the disc, the pressure plate, and flywheel all looked relatively untouched, with machine marks still intact. It could be because it was never broken in properly.

I still feel like you could add Comp Clutches to the list, but maybe some other feedback from other folks would be good.

 

I've never had a South Bend clutch i didn't love, but it seems silly to worry about having a million choices when there's 3 that are proven to work quite well, aren't expensive, and two of those three cater specifically to Miatas.

 

Competition Clutch - MX-5 Miata Forum

See post #6.

 

Thanks again everyone for your replies.

I sent goodwin a message asking if they had received any complaints on the F1 clutches just to see if they had any input and I got this reply:

"Hi Mike

We carry those for customers on a strict budget but honestly I would not use one in my own Miata. Indeed the complaint/issue rate on those is much higher than with our other brands. So, are you a gambling man?"

Looks like FM1 is the way for me.