AP Racing Clutch Experience?

Anyone have experience with this 348/355 racing clutch and or this German company? A few other goodies on their website as well.
http://www.formulagt.de/tuningteile.php?typ=30
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Interesting kit, where is the back spider gear?

 

I know of atleast one person here on this forum that has this unit, but will let him post his experience if he so chooses.

This unit is around 3000euro and don't know if this includes the starter ring gear.

My unit is from Michellotto and is lighter and smaller, but what do you expect for >8000euro.

It is not only my opinion but something that is fact...

1. The stock oem propeller shaft most definitely does not like these lightweight assemblies..instead of pop goes the weasle it's snap the shaft time. The oem one has to be modified or a newly designed one made.

2. The clutch disc's on either unit are extremely grabby and big rev's are needed to get you rolling from a dead start....you'll smell what the rock is cookin if used on the street. The disc's need to be relined with cf/kev to allow some slipage if you are goin to even attempt using it on the street.

3. The Michellotto unit is very noisey at idle and slighly off idle, but after that you can't hear it.
I can only assume the one you've pictured has the same issue.


Having said that, for racing it just dont get no better....super quick revs and you can must definitely feel the difference with the butt dyno...lol


FYI...both units use AP Racing clutches, but there are major differences between the 2 systems..one being the $$$$$.

 

Do you know if there is an after market propeller shaft?

 

Don't know. I'm assuming you fit the stock ring to this flywheel.

 

I'm going to inquire.

 

Bruce,
Thanks for the info? Did you have to change the propeller shaft to safely work with the Michelletto clutch?

 

The one I have and the one from GT require the uprated shaft.........GT can give you a price quote. If I'm not mistaken they are building one for a customer here in the USA.

 

Man that looks serious!!!

 

That clutch is either in or out......... no in between and any 'slipping' needs to be done at 4-5K RPM

The old coot is right, there is some serious shock loading when using a unit like that on the street...... you would NOT enjoy it for long.

There is far better bang for the buck in other areas (for a car that will be used on the street) in my opinion. CAMS.... you need big lumpy cams and a programmable engine management..... both would fit in the same budget.

 

Well well well, it appears that the kettle is calling the frying pan black.

Do you remember the old saying..."Pay back is a ______"???????

.....better watch your back silver fox.

 

BAHAAAA......

How did you come to think I was speaking about you?

PS..... 3 is sometimes better than 2, Bruce is OK with 1... if it ever makes stink
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Pure horn!!

 

Who else in this thread would you dare call an "old coot"?

If I were you I wouldn't be concerned right now about my car ever make'n stink.....you need to keep an eye on the mountain behind your house and have the 243 fully loaded with explosive tips.....


BTW,have you ever been hit by a rocket propelled remote controlled out house? If that don't put fear in your heart imagine that Oh Suzzana will be sitting on the throne as it heads your way.

Hope you get a good nights sleep there cowboy.

 

And the Space Agency had us believing that was a rogue asteroid passing by..... I think you best turn down the flame on the Still just a tad, you might be over distilling the special sauce a wee bit.

Jerry,
Really, that is a very slick package they put together, but for a street car I believe it would be problematic. Many loathe the dual mass flywheels but I happen to think they are brilliant when properly built. You have the dampening effect of 200+ grams of mobile, viscous grease, numerous springs removing the shock loads to the transaxel, shafts and crank....some pretty nice things to have when longevity is in the equation. Make no mistake, they were not Properly built when delivered but they are not far from it and can be corrected.

We just finished experimenting with, and put into Beta testing, a new version of the OEM clutch assembly. I see so many positives to the OEM design that I decided to advance and blueprint that package rather than going off with an entirely new design. My IMSA 348 has a Factory installed version of what you photo'd, but with the 3 disc AP clutch. Yes it makes a difference BUT they were racing for big money and longevity was measured to be successful when it lasted 4 hours.

Many make the mistake of putting HP as the main quest in a dual use car. You dont want HP.... you want torque, and it is torque that wins races at 90% of the race tracks in the US. Torque pulls you out of the corners, it is what you need with a wide gear spacing as the stock 348 box has. Torque is what stuff's the hair dryer shod Panzers at the stoplight. When absurdly large cams are used, (we based the Sprint engine cams off a mid 90's Indy car cam lobe) THEN having the reduced Polar moment and inertia of your photo's flywheel/clutch makes a big difference.... in a special built Torque engine it makes little difference.

It will be fun to watch what you come up with. I am doing the same with the IMSA Enduro engine now and am in the search for building a wider torque band than it was designed to have.

 

To the OP,

If you want to be cheap I have had racing success with gutting the stock flywheel lathe cutting off the spider thing and welding it up to build a light stock flywheel. When I did it I was experimenting and iirc I took 6-8 lbs out of the unit. More could be had with some drilling. Even with 6-8lbs less the butt dyno proved its worth. The biggest cost for me was the tool bits to cut the spider thing off and then the 15 bucks to balance the assembly. I raced that thing for several years and never gave it a thought because it worked so well.