Hi. I am looking for a carbie car and one of the differences not often mentioned or discussed in these forums is the clutches. I believe the 365 is cable operated single plate whilst the 512 has a hydraulic twin plate arrangement. Is the 512 much lighter? and does either last longer than the other? Any other pros and cons, Thanks.
Correct on the differences and the 512 clutches are better and lighter for sure, they last longer but a boxer clutch takes getting used to and there are some do's and dont's......like dont lend the car out or you'll be buying a new clutch the next day!
On 512s there is an metal plate between the two clutch plates so the whole clutch package is heavier than a 365. The 365 just used the single plate that was a carry over from Daytonas. The single plate wears much more easily than the double plate.
I believe that what Paul means by "lighter" is the clutch pedal effort....Considering that depressing the 365 clutch pedal is like steping on a rock, anything would be an improvement!
The move to double plate was in response to several issues. As mentioned, pedal pressure was high on the 365 cable system. As the torque increased on the 512, greater clamping pressure or more surface area was needed to prevent clutch slippage. The solution was to move to the twin disk system, which solved both issues: clamping pressure and surface area were increased, and the hydraulic system reduced pedal pressure. Jim S.
