I'd like to understand the frictional mass thing a little more. It should help reduce shift slowing time and wear on the syncros, but I need it to hold 700 ftlbs of torque without scorching. That's why we all went to 11 inch clutches in the old drag cars. To get more frictional surface. To shift fast you just had to pull a little harder. That's why us maniacs won and the wimps lost.
That is why they are using 3 plates, instead of 2. If everything was equal it would be 50% more holding power, but since the diameter is less, it is probably not. That is unless the compound is much more aggressive.
3 disks sounds good. I'm wondering then about the reduced rotational mass idea then. If it will take a beating, then it is for me. A Timex clutch is what I need.
This is a VERY durable clutch. Here are some video's of us racing our GT so you can see what our car went through. In 2006 we broke the factory clutch....Literally. One of the springs in the center diaphram broke its mount, turned sideways and got stuck between the plates. Fortunately it was on the very last stage, of the very last day so we were able to push through to the end of the stage.
AP Racing does an amazing job with their clutches. They make most of the clutches in Formula One cars actually. Apparently the Formula One clutches are only four inches in diameter. Obviously not a direct corelation to the Ford GT but gives you an idea that bigger isn't necessarily better.
I have another email into AP Racing with a long list of questions such as friction material, torque capacities, exact weight savings and more. I hope to have those answers back by Friday.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote