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Clutchmasters FX300 Long Term Reviews?


Scooby2.5

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i've had mine for 30k now and its still running strong. don't be worrisome guys, some people make more power and like to take advantage of it more often than others. i consider myself moderate, since i daily it, but i still certainly get into it :lol:
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Not complaining at all about the clutch. I was one of the first to install and couldn't be happier. Hence the reason I plan to replace with another CM disc.
Slammed more than your girlfriend.
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I'm interested in who has the most mileage on their FX300?

 

Mine failed last week after installing it in January (pressure plate defect). I'm hoping that Clutch Masters will replace it. However, they don't seem to communicate very well and I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

If Clutch Masters doesn't replace it, I'm considering other options. I'm at 270whp, but I'm a pretty "practical" driver and I am really looking for whatever would give the longest lifespan without slipping.

 

On a side note, I'm pretty shocked at how short the lifespans of people's clutches are on this forum. I guess I'm a pretty tame driver ... haha. I've owned 7 other manual tranny vehicles (not including motorcycles) and driven them over hundreds of thousands of miles and I've never actually had to replace a clutch up until this point. I guess each vehicle has its own quirks, though.

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Mine gave up with less than 30k on it. Not too happy but I have to deal with it. I did like the clutch feel and engagement but not the longevity. I admit I do like to get into the power here and there but assumed it would last a bit longer.

 

To me the FW wear seems excessive. Is this normal to have this much wear like this to make a deep grove from the clutch disc?

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img832/2558/img2261sn.jpg

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Mine gave up with less than 30k on it. Not too happy but I have to deal with it. I did like the clutch feel and engagement but not the longevity. I admit I do like to get into the power here and there but assumed it would last a bit longer.

 

To me the FW wear seems excessive. Is this normal to have this much wear like this to make a deep grove from the clutch disc?

 

 

I guess I can't see how deep the groove is compared to the normal groove.

 

30K seems incredibly short to me if you're not putting down 400whp and tracking it or driving it extraordinarily hard. Makes me think about clutch choice a bit.

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Wouldn't say it was over hyped. It delivered everything that it said it would. Stock pedal feel, holding power etc, however with out a full face disk, a shorter life expectancy is to be expected.

 

I wouldn't have a problem recommending the fx300. Can't wait to try the new 350.

Slammed more than your girlfriend.
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I don't know if it is over hyped. It does do what it says. I certainly liked the pedal feel. However, that's sort of a ludicrously short lifespan in my opinion.

 

I just assume most clutches get to at least near triple digit-K miles unless there's a defect or it's driven like an F1 car. This may be an unfair comparison, but I've never had to change a clutch on: 1) 70K in 2002 Audi S4 K04 conversion; 2) 112K in 2000 Maxima; 3) 60K in my 2003 Maxima; 4) 40,000k in 1991 VW Corrado supercharger modified; 5) Various gas and diesel 4x4 trucks.

 

Like I said, this is just for me. For my purposes, anything under 50K in relatively normal-aggressive driving is a unacceptably short lifespan. However, that is my thing. Although rare, I have put over 12,000 miles on my car in a single month before. Changing my clutch several times a year would be unacceptable. If I wanted replace components every few months and have my car live in the shop, I would go back to driving VW's and Audis.

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Wouldn't say it was over hyped. It delivered everything that it said it would. Stock pedal feel, holding power etc, however with out a full face disk, a shorter life expectancy is to be expected.

 

I wouldn't have a problem recommending the fx300. Can't wait to try the new 350.

I don't know about stock pedal feel :lol: In my experience it's MUCH lighter than the standard Subaru feel and quicker catch.

 

When I drive the WRX (06) and then go drive the Legacy, it's a completely different beast. I can't tell you how many times I almost stall because I forget the clutch needs to be handled a little differently with the Legacy.

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I have an FX300 and WRX single mass flywheel. I went with the combo due to some of the initial reviews when the clutch was still new to our market and primarily because the ACT in a local's LGT was a basket full of noise that I wouldn't put up with. I track my car from time to time, daily drive it in congested city traffic and make several long road trips per year.

 

I make 335whp/360wtq. The clutch holds that fine. I choose the FX300 over the FX200 because of the power level that my car makes. My stock clutch slipped in 4th and 5th on the highway, a condition I had been nursing for almost two full years. Pedal feel is lighter and smoother than stock. Happy with that aspect. The single mass flywheel is lighter than the dual mass by just enough that I found myself over revving the engine during downshifts for the first week while adjusting my driving style.

 

The FX300 segmented design has all the negatives of both puck and full face clutches with none of the advantages, IMO. The clutch grabs fast like a puck, difficult to modulate at low RPMS like a puck, will glaze like a full face if over heated, can't be launched like a puck... The clutch behaved much worse when new, so much that I considered replacing it within the first month. I'm closing in on 7-8K miles and it has mellowed a bit, but still reminds me daily that it was a bad decision. My wife and valets cannot drive my car. I stall it on a weekly basis.

 

When engaged below 1100rpm, the clutch shudders and shakes my exhaust off the rear suspension which turns heads. The clutch needs to be feathered out near 1200 Rpms or higher for smooth engagement, much higher than OEM. If you were to try and engage first gear from a dead stop, which I did from time to time in bumper to bumper traffic with the OEM, the car will jerk and the shudder sounds like a pot being banged against the bottom of the trans. Ambient temperature also greatly effects how the clutch grabs, the car drove very different from one day to another during the fall as morning temps were low and afternoon temps were high.

 

Every time I think I'm too picky, or possibly over reacting, I am quickly reminded it's not me when I drive one of my other two manual trans cars, or anyone's car for that matter. The RPS clutch and lightweight flywheel in my Nissan holds more power, and drives like the stock clutch in a Miata. The OEM 06 WRX clutch and flywheel in my other Subaru practically drives itself without a single piece of negative feedback. If I could do it all over again, I'd be happy to put up with a little extra noise from the ACT.

 

 

Couldnt agree more, at least when I first got mine. Its not too bad now, but its coming out for a stock STI clutch. Still works fine near as I can tell but Im tired of the drama, when a car is on my ass at a stop light on a hill!

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you guys are confirming my doubts about the segmented design even though all the vendors here recommend fx300. Sounds like fx200 or maybe fx250 is a better choice for stage II or even mild stage III cars that are DD.
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Well heres an update on my FX300. When i first got it on it felt great and seemed like I would never see the day it would slip. But low and behold today at the track it gave out. I literally have maybe 2500 miles on it and it took a shit on me. First & second run I bogged. So I raised my L/C a little higher and out the gate it went straight to 7000 rpm. I thought I was spinned so I rode it out. Shifted to second all seemed good. Then into 3rd it gave out again straight to 7000rpm. The weird part is it doesnt smell like burning clutch. The clutch pedal felt way different and after driving on the freeway for a bit it was working again so I tried another launch before I got home and it was slip city. Im gonna tear it apart and see what it looks like but needless to say I am quite pissed off. Its only on 20g pump gas power too so theres no excuse there.
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Can someone explain the "STI fitment" thing? I have a 2008 Spec B and I am wondering if I would benefit from buying the factory STI flywheel with the clutch or if my current flywheel is considered a SMFW.

 

I believe the spec b flywheel and clutch disc is a bit smaller than the STI.

 

Most are going STI whether spec b or not on the 6 speeds.

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I can confirm that the SpecB clutch and flywheel are a bit smaller in diameter. All you need in a SpecB is an STI fitment flywheel and clutch.

 

The shudder on my FX300 still knocks my teeth out when I downshift. I have gotten used to it, but this clutch is difficult to modulate for most people that drive my car. I am going with an STI clutch next time.

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I have about 1000 miles on mine now. I don't seem to have any issues with it (fx300/ OEM SMFW) other than a very little bit of decel chatter, which is easy to drive around.
"Striving to better, oft we mar what's well." - Bill Shakespeare - car modder
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I've had mine for a couple of years now. No problems so far.

 

The pedal is light and the grip is still good. Engagement is smooth as long as I don't do anything careless.

 

The one extra bit of maintenance with the setup is yearly lubrication of the clutch fork pivot point. About once a year the pedal action gets a little sticky (accompanied by lumpy engagement). I found that dust that comes of this clutch really crusts up the lube on the pivot point of the clutch release fork. All I need to do is pull the rubber boot and add a little lump of moly paste between the top of the pivot ball and the fork. I use the straw from a can of brake cleaner to place the grease.

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soo here goes

i purchased the fx3 way back when fedbeans had a geat deal

saved it for when my act st hd finally went

well before that even happened my trans went

got it rebuilt by jodi who seemed awesome and worked for ralliespec

and at the time as working at subaru cherry hill

so after h pulled apart my 5spd what he found was pretty shocking

mostly all the gears were fine ....except 5th that damn thing was snapped in half

which he said he has only seen happen like 2 other times in over 7 years of building these tranny's

so i figured to save some $$ i'd just get new sti gears and call it a day also some minor bits (synchro's and bearings)

so i decided to keep the act setup because it was holding fine

 

about 3 months later that clutch finally went

which i must say i put that setup thru it's paces and other than the crazy pedal pressure it was great

 

so finally install this fx3 everyone's been raving about

and decided instead of the light weight fly to switch over to the oem single mass wrx that alot of people like

well idk what is going on but the other nite it got stuck in 3rd gear and at a very bad time..the nvh i really don't care about it's not as noisey as the act but i don't expect it to be quiet , i have every bushing,mount,etc. upgraded from stock so i accept that part...but what i don't understand is why its just not shifting that great

why i got stuck in third gear?

reverse has never been fun to deal with since the very beginning so i really don't mind that part either

but somethings wrong i don't know what it could be?

btw i also used a new tsk kit this time

80k on the engine

about 3k on the rebuilt trans/clutch

any suggestions?

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