Subcompact Culture

So, after getting an intake on my car, I notice my clutch was slipping. No, it's not because of the intake, but after getting my intake, I brought it into the upper RPM range, and noticed when I shifted, it'd slip around 4,000+.

So I'm looking into replacements. I was thinking ACT or Exedy.

Other recommendations? Pros? Cons?

Any advice would be great.

vintage42

This is not due to either the intake or the clutch, but how you are using the clutch. If the clutch were going bad, or was too weak to hold the power of the intake, it would slip first in 5th gear under throttle at high speed.
The clutch is slipping because you are now doing power upshifts at higher RPM, letting the clutch slip under power before you complete the shift. The weak clutch does not get a chance to connect and keeps slipping. If you are going to be shifting this way, you need a stronger clutch.
To live with the xB clutch, it is best to complete the shift and release the clutch completely before re-applying throttle. The clutch is thereby used only to shift, not to apply power from its slippage. Using clutch slip to apply power is for starting off. When clutch slip is used to add acceleration in a high RPM upshift, many economy car clutches do not have the spring pressure to do this, and in any case, the lining life will be decreasd by the resulting slippage. A stronger Stage II clutch would be better for this kind of use.

RTon20s

I can't speak personally, but I know Hotbox05 has been happy with his Spec Stage 2+ and braided stainless line.

And last time I talked to Rollhard his Exedy Stage 1 was working well with his Greddy Turbo equipped xB.

Subcompact Culture

Exactly. I never drove the car hard before I got the intake, but I wanted to see if I felt a difference, and wanted to hear what the intake sounded like. This is when I noticed the clutch slipping. I rearely took the car above 4,500 rpm before. Now that I've noticed the slipping, I've been trying to replicate the slip, and have been succesfull at doing so. However, I now notice it while going up hills in 3rd gear, or when downshifting from 5th to 3rd to pass on a two-lane road.

Between my wife and myself, we've owned five Civics, two Nissan Sentras, a Ford Focus, a Mitsubishi Expo, and a Volkswagen Jetta -- all economy cars -- and never had to replace a clutch before 85,000 miles at the earliest. Our other car, a 1998 Civic EX, has 108,000 miles on the original clutch and it still holds great.

I realize the clutch is the xB's weak link, but with only about 100 ft. lbs. of torque at the flywheel, I'm convinced the xB's clutch is pretty flimsy. Unless you're driving like a monkey or race the car, the clutch shouldn't be slipping like it is this early, IMHO.

I'm willing to put the money into a higher-performance clutch because I love the car. I may not do so right now, but would like to know what to replace it with when I need to.

vintage42

Same here.
I understand that a Stage I rating is for street and Stage II is for competition.
I guess the stock clutch has no Stage rating, or is Stage 0.
Someone said that using more than a Stage I on the street is hard on driveability - hard to push and grabby, not so good for stop-and-go driving and for smooth starts.
I wonder what "stage" the TRD clutch is. Maybe it is Stage I, but it is not strong enough for some people.
http://toyota-trd.jp/en/strt/d_clutch.html
http://trdsparks.com/displayparts.ph...1&parts_id=302
Others like the stronger but harder-to-push and grabbier Stage II, by Centerforce, LuK or SPEC.
http://www.centerforce.com/
http://www.precisionmuffler.com/id141.htm
http://specclutch.com/

XTRMGMR

I'm running a Spec Stage 2 clutch with a Tom's flywheel and a TRD short shifter and now I wish I had FI.

Subcompact Culture

Is the Spec Stage 2 pretty streetable? I'm not looking for something with a bunch of holding power, but something that'll last a long time and provide good performance.

vintage42

If streetable means the pedal is easy to push and the engagement is smooth, then I doubt that Stage 2 is as streetable as many people would like. Stage 2 might be unpleasant in heavy stop and go traffic or Interstate tie-ups.

Subcompact Culture

That's exactly what I was wondering; thanks. If and when I do replace the clutch, I'll probably just go with a stage 1, considering I do mostly city driving during the week, and I don't plan on going FI.

XTRMGMR

The clutch is not stiff at all. I drive the freeway everyday to work and it's very smooth even when there's heavy traffic.