The Fidanza clutch thread.

[99gst_racer]

OK, I did a little search and didn't come up with much of anything.

I'll be replacing my clutch this winter and I was originally just going to replace it with another ACT. But then I stumbled across the Fidanza clutches.

I'm not sure who is manufacturing them, but they look well built. They have four different kits available for us DSMers:

2.1 - Carbon Kevlar disc
3.2 - Kevlar disc
4.3 - Ceramic disc
5.4 - Sintered iron disc

From what I gathered, each kit uses the same 2300 pressure plate and each one uses a more aggressive friction material to gain more holding capacity. This is a much more efficient method than simply increasing the clamping force of the pressure plate.

These are very affordable, and I have them in stock here, so I'm really considering running the 4.3. If anyone has any input on the Fidanza clutches, or if you've been running one and have an opinion on it, please post in here.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Artago]

^^ Could that have been caused by a misaligned tranny to the block? Are you sure they were mated properly and bolted down evenly? Just thinking out loud. What could cause that? Manufacturer defect?

Tom

 

[99gst_racer]

Ouch. Yeah, I'd send those pictures to someone at Fidanza and see if you can get a replacement. They should help you out, especially after seeing those pictures.

I wouldn't say Fidanzas are more prone to failure than any other clutch, so hopefully you'll have better results with the next one.

 

[DSM_ThuNDeR]

^^ Could that have been caused by a misaligned tranny to the block? Are you sure they were mated properly and bolted down evenly? Just thinking out loud. What could cause that? Manufacturer defect?

Tom

When the install of this clutch happened... I slowly mated the trans and block so I could for sure know its going in the only way its suppose to. Also tourqued the trans "evenly". I'm sure its a manufacturer defect on the count that I've seen this same crap on other fidanza clutches (different DSMtuners thread). Well hopefully fidanza actually can work things out with me.

 

[daren_p]

I had some disengagement issues myself . . . trying out a centerforce this round.

I ran the CF Dual Friction for around 35K or so when the car was fwd & it still had lots of meat on the disk when I removed it (though did have some hot spots on the PP). For a fwd with street tires, it should be a good match, mine held the 3052 at 24psi daily & 26-27psi at the track. Now when I switched to drag radials at the track, I found its limit. I couldn't feel slip but it must have been slipping on the launches as I could smell clutch after every run.


I ran my 4.3 last summer & probably have about 7K on it & so far seems to be holding up (knock on wood). 25-26psi daily & maybe 10-15 launches.

For the guys that are having multiple clutches failing the same way (& other brands as well), I'd be looking more into your setup instead of blaming the clutch first. Its surprising how many guys blame the clutch when they haven't adjusted the pedal properly (or even adjusted it period), then there's slave rod length/position, tranny not being torqued properly/bolts missing, etc.

 

[Buurma]

Man you guys had me convinced to buy when i started reading about fidenza but now i'm not so sure, my tob failed today and i'm pretty sure i'm looking at another pressure plate as well. might go with xtd now? i dont have the time to be pulling a fautly clutch every couple months, i dd my 20psi awd

 

[LiquidX]

I have the Fidanza 4.3 and I think it's a great clutch for when I was using it. I had about 3 weeks driving time on it over a period of a year and a half or so. Got back from garage earlier where my car is at getting a new motor put in (see blog). This is the second motor at the shop and the first time, the clutch was fine. After that motor was pulled out due to crank walk this is what was found.

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2 seperate pucks and each on a different side. I contacted Fidanza through email earlier and hopefully this will be resolved. There was also some slight wear going on with the springs starting to come loose.

 

[just2asian]

I ran the 2.1 in my 97 GST, I ran 20lbs of boost off my bigt28. I loved the clutch, it felt great, not too heavy on the pedal. I highly suggest it.

 

[dsmornothing]

Alright so here is how this story goes, i blew my act 2600 apart after about 10,000 miles and probably 100+ launches so that was no suprise. I decided to try something different so i decided to go with fidanza after reading countless good reviews. I decided i would do the 3.2 because it was a 2600lb pressure plate and a kevlar 4 puck disk and figured it would last a little longer. Boy was i wrong, 210 miles exactly on the clutch (never shifting over 2500-3000 rpms) and it failed on me, the rivets that hold the spring hub on tore through the plate and a couple springs fell out, so i sent that one back and got a new one, this one i thought was going to make it, but once again wrong i was. 600 miles into the break in i started my car and could no longer shift. I checked all of my adjustments and they were all spot on, with no air in the system what so ever, so once again i pulled my transmission to find yet another failed clutch, this time the hub did not fully seperate but the rivets were pulled almost all the way through. Fidanza has in the end costed me wellll over 1,000 dollars, and they are telling me that its my car doing this and my driving. Long story short i went to act and got setup with a sick 6 puck unsprung and max xtreme pressure plate. i will post pictures later on of why fidanzas keep blowing......

 

[DSM nOOb]

Alright so here is how this story goes, i blew my act 2600 apart after about 10,000 miles and probably 100+ launches so that was no suprise. I decided to try something different so i decided to go with fidanza after reading countless good reviews. I decided i would do the 3.2 because it was a 2600lb pressure plate and a kevlar 4 puck disk and figured it would last a little longer. Boy was i wrong, 210 miles exactly on the clutch (never shifting over 2500-3000 rpms) and it failed on me, the rivets that hold the spring hub on tore through the plate and a couple springs fell out, so i sent that one back and got a new one, this one i thought was going to make it, but once again wrong i was. 600 miles into the break in i started my car and could no longer shift. I checked all of my adjustments and they were all spot on, with no air in the system what so ever, so once again i pulled my transmission to find yet another failed clutch, this time the hub did not fully seperate but the rivets were pulled almost all the way through. Fidanza has in the end costed me wellll over 1,000 dollars, and they are telling me that its my car doing this and my driving. Long story short i went to act and got setup with a sick 6 puck unsprung and max xtreme pressure plate. i will post pictures later on of why fidanzas keep blowing......

I have been running my 3.2 now for about 3k no problems what so ever and I love it. It really sucks you had bad luck with two.

 

[dsmornothing]

I have been running my 3.2 now for about 3k no problems what so ever and I love it. It really sucks you had bad luck with two.

Im not sure if fidanza is just going down hill or what, the build of this clutch is just terrible, nothing is flush on it and the pads arent even centered on very good, which in turn knocks it out of balance im sure, unless they use pad position for balancing....either way im back with ACT and i hope i stay trouble free for a while. once i put the gt42 on i will find out what this clutch can take.

 

[joe sobo]

i also have a negitive feedback on the 3.2. i just bought my car, and the clutch and flywheel was already in the car. but, the pressure plate and flywheel still look like new. no heat marks or anything. well, i just had to pull the trans to find out that one of the springs in the puck blew out and was rattling aroud the flywheel bolts. there was also a smaller spring that goes into the bigger spring that got chewed up. the peice of metal that broke off, and let the springs come out chewed up the pucks some. i will post pics in a bit. i know that the engine was fully built with less that 2,ooo miles on it when i got it, and i have not even gotten to beat it yet. now i had to just use my stock clutch plate with the findanza pressure plate

 

[DSM_ThuNDeR]

i also have a negitive feedback on the 3.2. i just bought my car, and the clutch and flywheel was already in the car. but, the pressure plate and flywheel still look like new. no heat marks or anything. well, i just had to pull the trans to find out that one of the springs in the puck blew out and was rattling aroud the flywheel bolts. there was also a smaller spring that goes into the bigger spring that got chewed up. the peice of metal that broke off, and let the springs come out chewed up the pucks some. i will post pics in a bit. i know that the engine was fully built with less that 2,ooo miles on it when i got it, and i have not even gotten to beat it yet. now i had to just use my stock clutch plate with the findanza pressure plate

Do you have BOTH block to transmission alignment dowel pins? CHECK!

 

[joe sobo]

Do you have BOTH block to transmission alignment dowel pins? CHECK!

yes, both are there. but what would they have to do with it? out of curiosity

 

[DSM nOOb]

yes, both are there. but what would they have to do with it? out of curiosity

If the trans is just a little bit out of alignment it can cause premature clutch failure to catastrophic failure depending on the severity of the misalignment.

 

[Artago]

Is there any way to check the alignment with everything on the car? Are there any warning symptoms of an imminent clutch failure due to misalignment?

Thanks,

Tom

 

[99gst_racer]

If the bellhousing is pulled tight to the block and both dowel pins are present, then it's aligned. Many guys lose their dowel pins and don't replace them becuase they don't think they're important. But, the dowels are what keeps everything inline when tightened down.

 

[thecman02]

I just had my 4.3 fail on me a couple weeks back. I only have 13k on the clutch with minimal abuse. Spring fell out when I took pressure plate off and the rivets holding the center section are just wobbling in the ovaled out holes. I'm very lucky I stopped driving it as soon as I heard akward noise driving home from school. Here are some pics I just took. All the springs are falling out. The springs also scraped against my nice aluminum flywheel and F'ed that up too but I can't get a good picture to show it.

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[99gst_racer]

^^^ Man, you'd think all of the other manufacturers would take a page from ClutchNet's book and do a better job of capturing their spings to prevent failures like that.

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[viperlp01]

That seems to be the most common killer of high performance clutch discs is the spring.. I see that popped out more than anything.. I have had 2 disc springs pop on me..

 

[thecman02]

I'm just curious what went first. The spring or the rivets. Even if the springs weren't able to escape the disk would have came apart, but I guess my flywheel wouldn't have been unnecessarily sacrificed.

 

[johnovision27]

Shitty deal cman... The trend looks like Fidanza will replace your clutch no problems, and perhaps even the flywheel, but I know how much of a pain it is to pull everything apart ever 13K you go. agh...

I have a 3.2 on my n/a. Loves the way it shifts and feels. Have about 15K on it now and there haven't been any issues there. Then again, it's n/a, so how much abuse could i really of put it through.

Either way... I'm just about to drop a Magnus 2.3L into my GSX, and I'm really back and forth on the 3.2 or the 4.3... not to sure which way to go. I want it streetable because it'll be my dd all year round, but it should be pushing close to the 400hp and 350ft/lbs. Maybe 3.2 because of all the 4.3 failures?
Just looking for some input for present users.
Thanks folks.

 

[99gst_racer]

Either way... I'm just about to drop a Magnus 2.3L into my GSX, and I'm really back and forth on the 3.2 or the 4.3... not to sure which way to go. I want it streetable because it'll be my dd all year round, but it should be pushing close to the 400hp and 350ft/lbs. Maybe 3.2 because of all the 4.3 failures?
Just looking for some input for present users.
Thanks folks.

I'd definitely recommend the 4.3 to you.

One thing to keep in mind; for every failure, there's dozens upon dozens of guys running it without any problems. I never had an issue with my 4.3, and I was pretty tough on it. Any clutch can fail on any car, but most won't. Don't be affraid to run a 4.3.

 

[dsmrollerz90]

i replaced a shattered ACT 2600 with a Fidanza 4.3 spring loaded. and to be honest.. i wish i would have went with another 2600 or atleast the 5.4. i hate spring loaded clutches now.. i can hear the springs and i can feel them creak when they are cold. my act was unsprung and i didnt have to preload it or hear any grinding or creaking.. the 4.3 is going to take longer to break in because of the buttons. so plan on putting close to 2k miles before a hard launch.

 

[johnovision27]

I'm not overly concerned with the breakin period. I have to break in the engine as well, so I figured "2 birds, one stone? why not!?"
Good point paul. I guess in concentration it looks bad. haha
How's winter driving with the 4.3? I recall one member mentioning a lot of chatter while it was cold (understandable) and Paul, did you not say the chatter after the breakin period dot better then way worse? I'd quote it, but it's my day off and i'm feeling lazy... haha

 

[99gst_racer]

It did chatter a bit, but it was manageable. I've never driven a DSM in the winter, so I can't comment there. Though the clutch did seem to have a different "feel" between being cold and hot. Mine was broken in at about 1K miles, and it was easier to modulate after that.

Later on in that year, I had a couple tranny bolts vibrate loose, and cause the bellhousing to pull away from the block. This changed the way the clutch engaged, and I originally thought my clutch was failing. I might have posted about it when it happened, and that may have been what you read. But, the clutch looked perfect when I pulled the tranny and was back to normal after tightening the tranny bolts.