Southbend Clutches
 

I tried a search, but found nothing pertaining to Southbend clutches in our cars.

Does anyone have any experience with them? I'm focusing on the TZ series ($290 for the 1.8L unit).

An outline of their lineup can be found here. I'd rather not purchase a pure organic unit (ACT) or one of the funny compound puck clutches. I've had great luck with Kevlar-surfaced clutches in the past in other cars.

Because I have a 1.6L motor, I need to get a 1.8L flywheel. Anyone have a spare one (OEM) lying around?

Thanks in advance for any input/criticism for being new. :P

Those with experience with kevlar and carbon fiber clutches know they slip and fail...and why 90% of the members here use a street disc with heavy pp, or a lighter PP and a 6-puck.

I had a "high performance" clutch from a less known (in Miata world) company fail within 5,000 miles.

After that, only ACT for me... until I can afford Emilio's setup. :P

I was also considering a SB clutch, however not many miata owners run them.

They are very successful with other cars brands though..3000GT's in particular..

You're the only person. Enough of us have had junk experiences with kevlar/carbon clutches to write them all off as total trash.

What do you have against an organic/ACT setup?

One worked well in my S4, even with countless unforgiving 5k rpm launches. A buddy of mine ran a Kevlar treated twin- or triple-disk (can't recall) in his Supra with great success.

It was just an idea. For my purpose (road racing), what would you recommend? I was considering the ZM2-HDSS, a disk should work fine for my application but I'm open to (sprung) puck suggestions. I'd rather not have all my shit chewed up.

My current setup:

Stock (AFAIK) 1.6L
16g
eBay manifold, fmic
hacked MAF
No MBC or anything, runs off internal wastegate (creeps to about 8 psi)

If I go with an ACT, I'll be ordering it from Carolina Clutch (cheapest I've found). However, I've read conflicting Clutchnet reviews. Some say they're great, then go back and call them shit. Any experiences?

I and several here have used Carolina Clutch. It was recommended to me by the guys here. Best prices that I found and fast shipping. If you are going to stay in the 8psi range, even a bit higher, you will love the HDSS. That's what I had. Very streetable, easy in traffic and held 10psi on my 99 just fine. It's good to 233 ft/lbs.

I'm not saying that the Southbend is bad because I have zero experince with them, but I do know that the ACT is a known quality clutch for our cars.

I intend to push at least a bar. So I may need something a little better suited for more torque.

Never again will I run a kevlar clutch. I went through 2 or 3 on my Prelude, and it was barely above stock power levels. It never "seated" well and always felt less aggressive than the stock clutch. No bite what so ever. Then they would start slipping after only a year or two of daily driving on a lightweight flywheel. They were SPEC btw. At around $250 a pop for the disk, and the royal pain in the ass to work on a FWD car like the Prelude, it was completely shitty.

Go with the ACT Xtreme and be done with it.

I run a Spec Stage 2 clutch in my C5 Z06 and it holds the power fine. From what I've grown to understand, Spec clutches are hit or miss.

I've read the ACT XT w/ a puck clutch is a bitch.

Sadly the VAST majority are misses. I know of quite a few people locally who have run SPEC clutches, and like me have gone through many before getting the idea and switching brands. Mostly high HP Chevy and Ford. It's sad that SPEC used to actually be decent when they were a brand new company, not sure what changed. I've been to their shop a few times and the guys all seemed knowledgeable and nice. I guess that doesn't directly convert to quality products.

That's why I said HDSS. Trust me, you will like it and it will do everything that you want.

The ACT Extreme with organic plate should do more than fine for your application.

But as you go to the track more, could you please post up about how your eBay manifold/turbo/studs/bolts hold up? :)

Sure thing. I'm not 100% sure if the turbo is a chinacharger though.

The company I now work for heavily supports Southbend/DXD clutches. They sell tons of them and use them in all of their upgrade testing. They turn out some excellent kevlar/carbon clutches and I have seen them abused in both race and street conditions. We have an excellent relationship with them and they're more than willing to fix any problems we've ever had with them. They also are very receptive to engineering input and have made many improvements over time. I've personally seen their kevlar clutches hold over 400 ft/lbs.
I have seen them slip after install, once they get hot and slip though you let them cool down and then you can abuse them all you like. All of the applications have been in Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen that I've had experience with though.

I run a ACT HD 6 puck in my '99 miata, works great. Very streetable, holds up to my street/autocross abuse, and is proven to be an excellent choice in the miata community.

I'm really considering purchasing this clutch...for the price, its definitely worth a shot. They have great support for their product also..

I've had their clutches in an Evo 9, 7th gen Celica and supercharged mr2. The only problem that I've seen was the evo clutch would get hot and slip a tiny bit after about 15 Auto-X runs/launches, cool it down and it works like new again. The guy in the Evo destroyed his stock clutch within 12k miles, the Southbend was good for another 50k until he totalled the car.

I've never had an issue with them on my cars and their customer service is fantastic.

slipping clutches sound awesome! my dual friction organic/carbon fiber would do it too...

watch from 0:00 - 0:05, yay clutch holds!

then watch from 0:05 - 0:18

awesome no clutch!!!! ill just let it cool off before I try to accelerate again. :jerkit:





spend $55 more, buy the FM Stage I, and be happy with stock pedal effort and engagement and a clutch that will hold 320 ft/lb, and wont fail or slip.

I'm actualy in the market for a clutch. So the FM stage 1 is what you would recomend?

yes, but you need a 1.8L flywheel.

Otherwise, but the ACT HD and XT street disc kits are next in line.