Clutchmasters (SACHS) Stage 2 FX200 and Steel Flywheel ( 21lbs) REVIEW
I've driven about 300 miles on my clutch so far and have loved every minute of it. At first I was very hesitant to even install an aftermarket clutch which is why I had 2 ordered, stock and stage 2. But my mechanic suggested not installing the dual mass flywheel and the clutchmasters is actually made by Sachs which helped to reassure me on quality of an aftermarket part which was one of my concerns, so with those reassurances I went with it. I think the Single mass flywheel is a definite MUST and should be the first upgrade that is done to any manual 3.0 no matter if you plan to do any other upgrades or not.
The clutch pedal is slightly stiffer but nothing at all uncomfortable, only SLIGHTLY stiffer. Engaugment point is all the way on the floor which is different, can’t say if that’s good or bad. There is a ever so slight chatter in 1st gear and occasionally in 2ND depending on how much power you give it and what RPMS your shifting at. The very first thing I noticed is that it grabs significantly faster than OE, and quite a bit harder, but nothing uncomfortable and it depends on how hard you are driving it.
I think one of the major downfalls of the 3.0 is its off the line response, The light weight flywheel is the best part about this, at 5lbs lighter than stock it is VERY noticeable on take off and acceleration gain. The car feels much more response and the revs shoot up significantly faster. I have not, and will not ever launch my car but off the line is extremely faster than OE. I wish i could find another stock 6MT to go up against to compare with in a little video, but that might be hard to do given the small population of Reno, and the only 3.0’s I’ve seen are auto’s. Maybe I’ll make a video if desired, not sure how much it will show since I did not make a before video, so we’ll see.
Overall I’m extremely satisfied with the setup. I still have some break in time to go but I feel like the car is just begging to be given some more go power to pair up with this clutch. I would love to see it chipped, with a few other mods. I have yet to install my intake spacers and zingo mod. But hopefully will soon when i get my exhaust cam replaced.
Also I do have JHM SS and solid linkage kit which paired exteremly well and just made the clutch function even more properly than it would have with OE setup. It almost feels like the gear ratios have changed, or the flywheel is allowing me to notice the ratios now and the power band has increased all throughout. All in all I love it and the extra money was well spent. So for now that’s it, I’ll add more if necessary after further break in.
then its GRAB and GO. I’m sooo tempted to get a tune… Also I forgot to mention reverse on this clutch is so weird I still haven’t figured it out, it just seems to be really fast and impossible to not let it chatter. Its easy while driving forward to not have chatter but reverse it seems impossible. Had I known there was going to be slight chatter I would of just held off for a lighter flywheel from JHM. So anyways for further people who plan to upgrade their clutch, if I had to do it over again, I would be more patient and bought JHM’s setup. Its still a great setup and I love it, but definitly go JHM.