Spec Stage3+ vs. ACT 2600

[prostreetdsmx1]

Do they sell the 3+ discs separate? Might be interesting to run it with the 2600 pp.

How is the engagement with the 3+? Any chatter? Does it have wave springs like the organic disc's?

We do have the disc's available on their own for the 3+ too. The engagement is amazing. Very smooth and not overwhelming at all. Pedal pressure is very streetable and it is really design to hold up to anything you can throw at it.

 

[MrPikolo]

I've used ACT for years without any problems. Made well over 100 passes at the track, and countless beatings on the street with my 2600. I'm just now replacing it. Overall, i'm impressed with ACT.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222292

Stage 2+ review.

 

[larsrya8]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222292

Stage 2+ review.

Quote from that review: "Time will tell if it holds up long term but so far it seems to be a very high quality upgrade."

Are Spec clutches too new to the DSM community for there to be a lot of people that can vouch for their "ability to hold up in the long term"? Most reviewers admit (or should admit) that they "haven't put on enough miles to compare" their clutch to the traditional DSM clutch options.

Can anyone vouch for Spec's reliability? My previous searching and posting has brought up several negative reports of Spec clutches slipping, possible due to the pressure plate being too weak. I haven't gotten much positive feedback, so I figured I should ask for some in this thread to.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166657&page=4
Post #103 is where I started. Anybody with a Stage 3+ care to comment? Martin?

 

[Brad_11]

Have my ACT clutch works great a little difference b/t the stock and 2600 but not to much to really matter but haven't really had alot of continual stop and go situations yet either like rush hour or something like that.

 

[chicagoavenger]

I gotta say the DSM guys that say it takes very extra leg work need to hit the gym. It's a tad bit stiffer then my oem one but I can barely tell. Hell my wife can drive it with ease and she is petite and I have also a Xact flywheel in there. I haven't tried a stage 3 but I really like my 2600.

 

[4G63 For Me]

Can anyone vouch for Spec's reliability? My previous searching and posting has brought up several negative reports of Spec clutches slipping, possible due to the pressure plate being too weak. I haven't gotten much positive feedback, so I figured I should ask for some in this thread to.

Like I said in my above post, the SPEC 3+ seems to hold a lot better than ACT 2600 + Organic disc. I never broke my tires loose with the ACT. It held the power (for 4000 miles) but I just always felt as if the organic disc was too weak.

Now with the Spec 3+ (the full faced iron disc), the pedal pressure feels almost stock, yet the thing grabs and holds. Now my 245/45's break loose with just a 5K launch (no stutterbox).

I really dig this clutch and once I can put more miles on it, I will address the wear issue as well. Something tells me, though, that an iron faced disc is going to last a lot longer than the organic street discs.

Just my $0.02.

 

[90AWDTalon]

Now with the Spec 3+ (the full faced iron disc)

I believe they are actually carbon metallic.

 

[madman]

Now with the Spec 3+ (the full faced iron disc), the pedal pressure feels almost stock, yet the thing grabs and holds. Now my 245/45's break loose with just a 5K launch (no stutterbox).

What kind of launch technique do you use? Do you have a stock tranny and diffs?

If you are breaking loose tires on an AWD, how close are you to braking the tranny or other parts?

It seems to me if the clutch was strong enough to break the tires loose that maybe it would break other things too?

Is there any slipping to the clutch to help those issues or is it all or nothing?


EDIT.... Oh ya, I read what you said in your "parts wish list" and I don't think it's your bad luck, I think it's a DSM thing. Why do we love somthing soo much that gives us nothing but problems? I currently have 4 things on my list of "what needs fixing".

 

[Mike1992]

Anyone else care to comment on the ACT 2600 vs Spec 3+

I ran a ACT 2600 in my old Talon and had over 100+ drag passes on that clutch, never slipped and when the disk wore out and I replaced it and resurfaced my flywheel and went on to hit 11.29 in the 1/4.
Since selling that car I picjed up another lightly modded 1g with a Spec 3+. I plan to go a bit bigger with this car and am slightly concerned with the soft pedal not holding the power the ACT 2600 did.

Anyone?

 

[dnhieu]

mike, good to see you back in the game man. i have ran both clutches and my 2600 with 6 puck disk has held a ass ton of power so far. my spec stage III did a awesome job for about 2 years but after going from around 300hp to 400hp in 2 years it started slipping really bad. now i just recently turned into a track freak but back in the day i wasnt and probably only had about 50 hard launches in 2 years. pm me if you have any other concerns...

 

[Ludachris]

I've run an 2600/street disc in the past and now run a Spec 3+ and I like the Spec better. It requires less force to push the pedal in and hasn't disappointed on engagement. Then again, I don't plan on making more than 450-500 whp, so I'm not worried about it not being able to hold more than that. And I'm not a big drag race guy so I'm not slipping the clutch very much. I do abuse it on the road course pretty often though.

 

[T_K]

I've put on my stage3+ over 2K miles now for about a year, lots of city driving and I slip it a lot. Feels like the disk has become thinner - it engages higher. I wonder how long it'll last.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I've put on my stage3+ over 2K miles now for about a year, lots of city driving and I slip it a lot. Feels like the disk has become thinner - it engages higher. I wonder how long it'll last.

AFAIK, our hydraulics are self adjusting - meaning that any wear in the clutch disk (getting thinner, raising engagement) will not be noticed by the driver. It is possible you just need to bleed/readjust your master cylinder rod.

 

[4nturbo]

Ive run both the Act 2600 and the Spec stage 3 both are real good clutchs but the set up I like the best is a combo of the 2. I like to run an Act 2600 presure plate with the Spec stage 3 Disc

 

[joe sobo]

so what one will hold about 475 whp better? 2600 or spec 3?

 

[4nturbo]

I beleive they are both rated to handle the same amount of toqure 400 or so foot lbs. They just go about it in different ways. The 2600 uses a higher clamping presure presure plate and a less aggresive stock style organic disc . The Spec stage 3 uses a more aggressive 6 puck style disc with a lighter clamping presure presure plate thats why the clutch pedle presure feels so close to stock on the Spec clutch. Want to take it to the next level using the Act presure plate swap in a 6 puc disc insted of the organic disc Act makes several or you can use a Spec disc with the Act pp

 

[T_K]

The stage 3+ has a full-faced disk and IIRC is rated for 500 ft/lbs.

 

[AutoMods]

I have experience with ACT and Spec. If you have the money the stage3+ seems to be the way to go although I cant complain about the stage 3. Pedal pressure on the spec feels pretty close to stock, although I cant recall the last stock clutch I felt...

We actually had a group buy on spec this week, I suppose we could wait a couple more days if people want in.

-Colton
[email protected]

 

[T_K]

My 3+ has started slipping bad at WOT. At first it would slip at WOT in 5th, now it slips pretty much in any gear, over 15-16 psi. EvoIII with full support @ ~20psi, but very rich and definitely not making gobs of power.

Actually it started slipping a long time ago in higher gears after some driving. If the car was cool, it would hold, but after say 20-30 min of driving it would slip at WOT.

I am not sure what's wrong. Is the clutch itself poor? But I do like it a lot overall. Is it my driving - I do slip it a lot in stop&go driving and that's about half my driving. On the other hand I have probably 4K miles on it so far, even if it's been two years. And only two drag runs. Was my install bad? When I installed it I had the car lifted and checked for clutch drag, there was none, so I thought all is good. I have an ACT chromoly flywheel. Now there's something I remember - when I had the flywheel polished, I measured the step height at .613. I was told that was OK so I installed it like that. Now I'm wondering if this could be the reason for the clutch letting go so soon?

If so perhaps I should just get a new disk and have the flywheel cut to say .610? Would that ensure longer disk life? (I mean, ensure the disk will hold power for more miles)