Na clutch suggestions

MrBrad · Postby **MrBrad** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 1:54 am

Hey guys,
I just wanted to pick everyones brains about clutchs for an na6. My clutch is most likely dying. It gets grabby between gears and also after two or three hard starts its does slip. The car is purely used as a track hack so I'm going to run it until it gets stuck in gear or slips like a dog on lino...

Ive had a look at... gasp... ebay. From what i can see bluesteele does a heavy duty organic clutch but i suspect it could be made of paper machet.. or has someone used one before? Other that extreme or exedy heavy duties are probably the way to go?

Thoughts?
Cheers
Brad

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Wed Jan 23, 2019 5:51 am

Contact NPC and discuss your needs.

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Tue Jan 29, 2019 4:42 pm

I'm guessing the car is stock since you didn't mention any mods.

Get an inexpensive clutch industries kit. 1104N is the code from memory. It will outlast the car.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Tue Jan 29, 2019 5:15 pm

Had 3 clutches in my NB

OEM
Valeo
Exedy

OEM was ok, occasionally shuddered but other than that fine. (Lasted ~150,000km)

Valeo was garbage, shuddered all the time, seemed to have nowhere near the grab of the OEM which meant it slipped occasionally. (lasted ~50,000km before the spigot bearing siezed up)

Exedy OEM equivalent has been great, best clutch of the 3 on my car.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Tue Jan 29, 2019 10:54 pm

My recollection is that there was a name change and Exedy is the OEM clutch. I would definitely go for Exedy. I did 100,000 Klms in an Nb p2 and sold the car and clutch was not slipping.. My local ABS guy at the time who had a lot of experience also recommended Exedy . Valeo at one stage were light manufacturers and certainly not Japanese based clutch makers. Generally oems like Mazda source and select good components and generally from Japanese companies.

MrBrad · Postby **MrBrad** » Wed Jan 30, 2019 1:41 am

Good to see the forum is back up!

Yeah the car only has an air intake, arc chamber thing, sway bars, koni adjustables and slotted front brakes.

Basically its only a 1.6 but is soley used as a track car in wa mx5 club motorsport.... the poor dear has had a hard life and gets treated hard... so i was thinking a heavy duty clutch would be the way to go but sounds like standard one should do just fine.. unless a heavy duty organic clutch would take the hard starts etc better?

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Wed Jan 30, 2019 9:03 am

Mr Morlock wrote:My recollection is that there was a name change and Exedy is the OEM clutch. I would definitely go for Exedy. I did 100,000 Klms in an Nb p2 and sold the car and clutch was not slipping.. My local ABS guy at the time who had a lot of experience also recommended Exedy . Valeo at one stage were light manufacturers and certainly not Japanese based clutch makers. Generally oems like Mazda source and select good components and generally from Japanese companies.

The exedy being OEM would make sense.

I helped a friend change from OEM to Exedy and along with visually looking the same (although that's expected of a like-for-like component) they both had the same strange winged logo stamped into the centre.
at the time we thought they may have both been exedy, but weren't sure if the logo was a manufacturer's mark, or some kind of approval mark for the japanese market (like JWL on wheels, or Jasma on exhaust parts)

As far as Valeo, these days they seem to be a general OEM parts conglomerate, doing everything from wiper blades through to heavier components like starter motors etc.

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Wed Jan 30, 2019 9:55 am

I'd guess Mazda was buying from exedy in the late 90s as a supplier. My old 97 Astina (same clutch as NA6) with 80K on the clock, we pulled a exedy out of it in 2002. I'd be doubtful that it had a clutch change in the first 4.5 years of its life.

MrBrad · Postby **MrBrad** » Wed Jan 30, 2019 12:51 pm

So really there is no need for a heavy duty clutch then? (in the words of Cole Trickle.... I'm not a mechanic haha)

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Fri Feb 01, 2019 9:26 pm

most aftermarket clutches are better rated than the oem clutches. up to you what you wanna do. buy exedy if you want a clutch advertised as heavy duty and comes with a purple cover you never see. or buy something cheaper and get same end product.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:24 pm

I dont think there is much chance that aftermarket clutches i.e. something made in a factory without a full blown quality system will produce repeatable high quality clutches. Quality does not happen by accident. Clutches take a terrific pounding in a car including people who abuse a clutch. If a clutch lasts 100,000 kms or so you would have to be happy. Racing is different in that some components are replaced on a very regular basis and it can be a costly activity.

MrBrad · Postby **MrBrad** » Tue Feb 19, 2019 1:57 am

Well I ended up with an extreme heavy duty.. time will tell if its good or bad. Haha

MrBrad · Postby **MrBrad** » Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:56 pm

Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd give an update after a while using the new clutch - evidently the rear main seal was leaking quite badly so that was part of the problem. New rear main and clutch in - Geez what a difference, it has made and thats probably just from not having the rear main leaking! so far so good with the clutch has taken a bit of getting used to but seems good on launches and no real issues to report - not bad for a $200 clutch, used redline trans fluid topped up with lucas performance additive. we'll see how that goes over time!

shirtz · Postby **shirtz** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:48 am

thanks for the update. where you get one for $200 I have a lightly modified NA8 and also with a RMS issue and was thinking a new clutch and flywheel. would like to turbo it in the coming years though so maybe OEM isn't the best option.

lonesailor · Postby **lonesailor** » Sat Nov 23, 2019 12:31 pm

Just a suggestion,since your car is not a daily driver don't buy another clutch until you have pulled the old one out. It's quite possible that the clutch is still OK and you have a rear main oil seal leaking, hence the slipping. It probably will need changing and it has to come out anyway, but if it is still OK, and it's just the oil seal, you might be able to just clean it up and save yourself some $$$. Unless you are making heaps of KWs the clutch on a track only car doesn't work too hard.