Is there anyone near me who has a paddle clutch and would be prepared to let me have a drive in their car with the paddle clutch.

Just been talking to Walkers and they advise a 6 pad spring centred paddle clutch for my car. As at 307 lb ft, I am at the limit of a GTA / Walkers combo in their opinion.

So does anyone have this 6 pad sprung clutch and can I drive your car.

I will of course return the favour with a beer token <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks

Jim,
I'm not local to you but I do have one on my car. What I will say is you have to use @ 1500 rpms to pull off, anything lower and it will judder. Also when coming down gears you have to lift the clutch pedal faster than with an organic clutch as again you can get judder.Outside of that I give mine loads of stick and it never slips and does what I expect it to do.

Jamie

You don't need a paddle clutch for 307 lb ft

When I was having my rebuild done, I know that I'd need a clutch, but after hearing Frag's experiences, I knew that a paddle wouldn't be right for my daily commute into Coventry (including at least 15 minutes each way of stop-start traffic)

Barbz listened carefully to my needs and came up with a Helix organic friction plate and Walkers cover plate.

Its juddery below 1500 rpm, but not too bad. More importantly its not at all heavy or sudden to use.

My exploits at TOTB prove that its more than capable of the 390bhp and 325 lb ft that I chucked at it.

Thats my worry too stop / start traffic, I just thought that Walkers were the bees knees of the clutch world, although both you and DocFag have now said differently.

Why is there never a yes or no answer on the place <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I got the walkers clutch a few months ago, you can come and have a try if you want but it's a long way to come. It does judder at low revs 1st 2nd gears and reverse but it's fine.

I've got the Walkers paddle clutch JimO. It's not to bad at all, it just takes a little more skill to drive using it <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />. Then it's easy <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I use my car as a daily drive too. The reason you can't get a definitive answer is because there isn't one, it's very subjective and also how you like to drive.

If you want to drive down to sunny Poole you can have a go in mine <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Hi Jim,

agree with Andy, you do really need to drive one to know whether you would be happy with it.

It is not so much the absolute level of torque, but the nature of the torque curve, with an early aggressive build up of torque putting more strain on the clutch.

The GTA/Walkers combo holds a fairly aggressive 320-330 lb/ft in my car, but I can feel the clutch slip when she runs more than this in the colder weather .

With the less aggressive build up of torque often found in the larger roller bearing turbos, the organic clutches can hold a fair bit of power, certainly in excess of 360-370 bhp.

I've driven three now, and they did vary quite a lot with regards to useability, for me I'm happy with the GTA/Walkers clutch, it drives like a normal clutch, especially with regards to hill starts and stop start traffic <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I've driven three now, and they did vary quite a lot with regards to useability, mine suffered a lot of judder <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />, another was almost as bad, and yet another was a lot better, very useable, but still not as nice as a normal clutch, but no slip atall. Its also noteable that others are pleased with their paddle clutches.

joe

Looking at my torque curve, it is very similar to yours Joe, just maybe about 1-200 rpm later and stops at around 310. I think talking to Rog yesterday I will go for a walkers/gta combo. Alot of my driving is town based, stop / start traffic. I don't think I have ever launched from the lights with a real urgency and i am not planning on going to the pod anytime soon and my modding has stopped, so it won't be getting any more power EVER <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> So based on this, I think the walkers/gta will be OK.

Andy - thanks for the offer, I may be down Sandbanks in September, which may be too late for my clutch, but if the offer is there still, I may give you a call <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

why are paddle clutches 'stronger' than normal disc-clutch?

Watching this thread with interest, since fitting the blueflame my relatively new (and non-abused) std clutch has started slipping in 4th /5th.

I reckon the engine is producing around 275lb/ft.

I am after a clutch that will cope with this and perhaps a little more <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> , but that will feel like a standard clutch...

or am I asking too much ?

Then the walkers/gta combo will do just fine, it drives just like a normal clutch.

Sounds like Nigels Helix organic clutch will offer even better torque capacity, but maybe at the expense of a little bit of judder on take-off.

@Pistole, the paddle clutches have a very different friction material with a lot higher coefficient of friction. They will wear quite quickly if you slip them, but have a far higher torque capacity.

joe