My Official Textralia OZ700 Z-grip Review
04-16-2008, 09:48 AM
#1
My Official Textralia OZ700 Z-grip Review INTRODUCTION
OK, after sorting out a few transmission issues, I've finally gotten a chance to put some miles on my new Textralia OZ700 Z-grip and really get a feel for the clutch. I have only one word for Textralia: BRAVO.
I'll start off by saying my experience with clutches ranges from stock Fbody and GTO to SPEC 2, 3, and 3+, to the RAM Powergrip HD, and now to the Textralia. Granted, I can't speak for longevity as I've only had it in the car for a couple hundred miles, but in almost every other aspect, this clutch dominates the competition.
PEDAL FEEL
Many aftermarket clutches claim to offer "stock pedal feel" while maintaing massive amounts of holding power. I was always under the impression that while this was a great marketing idea and one that people would convince themselves was true after dropping a ton of money, it was simply a myth and that no decent rated clutch could actually offer "stock" pedal feel. I was pretty much wrong.
When I sat down and pushed the pedal in for the first time, keeping in mind that I had recently been driving a SPEC 2 and had driven a RAM PG HD a few weeks earlier, I almost thought the clutch was broken or needed more bleeding (even though it had been bled relentlessly). It was the same sensation I got whenever I would sit down in my dad's bone stock 2004 GTO M6. So after some test driving to make sure it was working properly, I of course ran over to my dad's GTO and pushed the clutch pedal in. SHOCK. If anything the GTO pedal felt the same or slightly harder. I had my dad test both. His response: "Holy ****, I think your pedal is actually LIGHTER than mine..."
That said, the following is a little hard to explain. It does feel to me like even thought the pedal pressure is the same or slightly lighter on the Tex, it has a more "positive" engagement feel, if that makes any sense. This is a good thing. I'd take the Tex feel over the stock feel even if they held the same power.
DRIVEABILITY
For the first bit of driving after the install, the clutch was pretty grabby and I had a strong tendency to either chirp the tires (let it out too quick) or make it shudder/chatter quite a bit (try to slip it a little bit). This didn't go away right away but my friend's Tex had the same chatter that went away after 50 miles or so, so I did a little reading about it. It turns out these clutches like a little heat to get "broken in" (keep in mind these clutches have no break-in period and can be used hard right out of the box).
After finding this out about the heat, I took the car out and ran it hard a few times through the gears. Magically, the clutch feels AMAZING now. There is no sign of chatter or stutter and it engages very smoothly. I put some decent miles on it since that heat-up session and the issue has not come back; it still feels great.
Now, I will mention that if this clutch is driven improperly, meaning you try to slip it TOO much, it will chatter just slightly. There are two options for this clutch, the Z-grip and the X-grip. If you plan on driving 99% on the street and have a tendency to slip the clutch a bit, buy the X-grip as it was designed to hold the same power while being more "slip" or "street" friendly. If you plan on 6k clutch dumps at the track on ET Streets, buy the Z-grip. It is less friendly to slip, but will handle these launches on a more regular basis much better than the X. Also, if you're running nitrous or FI, the Z-grip is probably going to suit you since the material handles the real high powered cars better.
HOLDING POWER
I have not had this car to the track yet (have my rental day tickets ready to go for May, though
), but I have driven it hard on the street right out of the box. The clutch is advertised to have no break-in period, so I drove it just long enough to make sure it was installed with no issues, and then the real driving began. My car makes 400/367 to the wheels on a mild heads and cam combo with full bolt-ons through a 12-bolt with 4.10s, a built MN12 GTO transmission (shorter gears), a heavy driveshaft, Nittos for the street, and some decent suspension work.
Outcome? Drop the clutch or shift fast with this thing and it grabs like a bitch. Chirping the 275 Nittos on a 2-3 shift is a regular occurence WITHOUT power shifting, and the 1-2 shift is useless on the street even with the Nittos unless I toast them long and hard first. Running from a dig works if I can heat the tires up enough, and I still question that 1-2 shift everytime I do it, afraid I'm going to kick the back end out if I shift hard. I'll try not to speak too soon about how it performs at the track, but from my street experience and the experiences of others who have had this clutch, I'll just say I'm not too worried about it. We'll know for sure come May.
PRICE
This is where I think a lot of people get scared off and, frankly, I think it's all a big misconception that this clutch is priced EXTREMELY high. Let's compare two random similar packages (in terms of holding power):
Textralia OZ700 Z-grip: $954 (current at BYUNSpeed)
Includes
- Pressure plate
- Clutch disk
- Flywheel
- Alignment tool
- PP bolts
- Important - Digitally Machined and Zero-Balanced and ready for "instant use", no break-in period
- Rated to 650-700 rear wheel horsepower
SPEC Stage 3+ with SPEC Billet Flywheel: $778.15 (current at Maryland Speed)
- Pressure plate
- Clutch disk
- Flywheel
- Alignment tool
- PP bolts?
- Break-in period of at least 500-600 miles recommended by SPEC
- Rated to 850 ft. lbs. of torque at the flywheel
NOW FOR THE BIG DIFFERENCE IN COST............$175.85. Is this a decent price difference? Yes. Is it enough to make me go for the extremely hard pedal feel, intermittent chatter, clutch dying at low mileage (on various clutches owned by myself, brother, and friends), I'll say "mediocre" customer service to be nice, and 500-600 mile minimum break-in period SPEC Stage 3+ clutch? Hell no.
The trouble people have with the price is a) that this clutch comes with a flywheel, as opposed to many of the standard clutches that sell the flywheel separately (adding to the price) and b) that they try to compare it to clutches like the LS7 clutch, which is clearly in a totally different category from the Textralia. If you're trying to decide between an LS7 and a Textralia, you clearly have not done your homework on these two options.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I've had two emails I sent to Textralia regarding a clutch question I had and a transmission issue I was having. The first was responded to by email within two hours, the second was responded to by email saying "Send me your phone number so I can call you from Australia and help you figure it out" (to summarize).
I won't go into detail about my experiences with other clutch companies' customer service, but we'll just say I was pleasantly surprised at the response from Textralia.
CONCLUSION
Pending longevity of this clutch, I personally will probably never purchase a different clutch as long as they continue to make these. I love the feel, the driveability, the holding power, and the customer service. The price leaves a little to be desired and I wouldn't call it a "value" clutch, but compared to other similar options out there, the price difference is small enough to make it a no-brainer in my eyes.
Excellent job, Textralia. You guys have built a quality clutch and you have every reason to fully stand behind this product.
OK, after sorting out a few transmission issues, I've finally gotten a chance to put some miles on my new Textralia OZ700 Z-grip and really get a feel for the clutch. I have only one word for Textralia: BRAVO.
I'll start off by saying my experience with clutches ranges from stock Fbody and GTO to SPEC 2, 3, and 3+, to the RAM Powergrip HD, and now to the Textralia. Granted, I can't speak for longevity as I've only had it in the car for a couple hundred miles, but in almost every other aspect, this clutch dominates the competition.
PEDAL FEEL
Many aftermarket clutches claim to offer "stock pedal feel" while maintaing massive amounts of holding power. I was always under the impression that while this was a great marketing idea and one that people would convince themselves was true after dropping a ton of money, it was simply a myth and that no decent rated clutch could actually offer "stock" pedal feel. I was pretty much wrong.
When I sat down and pushed the pedal in for the first time, keeping in mind that I had recently been driving a SPEC 2 and had driven a RAM PG HD a few weeks earlier, I almost thought the clutch was broken or needed more bleeding (even though it had been bled relentlessly). It was the same sensation I got whenever I would sit down in my dad's bone stock 2004 GTO M6. So after some test driving to make sure it was working properly, I of course ran over to my dad's GTO and pushed the clutch pedal in. SHOCK. If anything the GTO pedal felt the same or slightly harder. I had my dad test both. His response: "Holy ****, I think your pedal is actually LIGHTER than mine..."
That said, the following is a little hard to explain. It does feel to me like even thought the pedal pressure is the same or slightly lighter on the Tex, it has a more "positive" engagement feel, if that makes any sense. This is a good thing. I'd take the Tex feel over the stock feel even if they held the same power.
DRIVEABILITY
For the first bit of driving after the install, the clutch was pretty grabby and I had a strong tendency to either chirp the tires (let it out too quick) or make it shudder/chatter quite a bit (try to slip it a little bit). This didn't go away right away but my friend's Tex had the same chatter that went away after 50 miles or so, so I did a little reading about it. It turns out these clutches like a little heat to get "broken in" (keep in mind these clutches have no break-in period and can be used hard right out of the box).
After finding this out about the heat, I took the car out and ran it hard a few times through the gears. Magically, the clutch feels AMAZING now. There is no sign of chatter or stutter and it engages very smoothly. I put some decent miles on it since that heat-up session and the issue has not come back; it still feels great.
Now, I will mention that if this clutch is driven improperly, meaning you try to slip it TOO much, it will chatter just slightly. There are two options for this clutch, the Z-grip and the X-grip. If you plan on driving 99% on the street and have a tendency to slip the clutch a bit, buy the X-grip as it was designed to hold the same power while being more "slip" or "street" friendly. If you plan on 6k clutch dumps at the track on ET Streets, buy the Z-grip. It is less friendly to slip, but will handle these launches on a more regular basis much better than the X. Also, if you're running nitrous or FI, the Z-grip is probably going to suit you since the material handles the real high powered cars better.
HOLDING POWER
I have not had this car to the track yet (have my rental day tickets ready to go for May, though
), but I have driven it hard on the street right out of the box. The clutch is advertised to have no break-in period, so I drove it just long enough to make sure it was installed with no issues, and then the real driving began. My car makes 400/367 to the wheels on a mild heads and cam combo with full bolt-ons through a 12-bolt with 4.10s, a built MN12 GTO transmission (shorter gears), a heavy driveshaft, Nittos for the street, and some decent suspension work.Outcome? Drop the clutch or shift fast with this thing and it grabs like a bitch. Chirping the 275 Nittos on a 2-3 shift is a regular occurence WITHOUT power shifting, and the 1-2 shift is useless on the street even with the Nittos unless I toast them long and hard first. Running from a dig works if I can heat the tires up enough, and I still question that 1-2 shift everytime I do it, afraid I'm going to kick the back end out if I shift hard. I'll try not to speak too soon about how it performs at the track, but from my street experience and the experiences of others who have had this clutch, I'll just say I'm not too worried about it. We'll know for sure come May.
PRICE
This is where I think a lot of people get scared off and, frankly, I think it's all a big misconception that this clutch is priced EXTREMELY high. Let's compare two random similar packages (in terms of holding power):
Textralia OZ700 Z-grip: $954 (current at BYUNSpeed)
Includes
- Pressure plate
- Clutch disk
- Flywheel
- Alignment tool
- PP bolts
- Important - Digitally Machined and Zero-Balanced and ready for "instant use", no break-in period
- Rated to 650-700 rear wheel horsepower
SPEC Stage 3+ with SPEC Billet Flywheel: $778.15 (current at Maryland Speed)
- Pressure plate
- Clutch disk
- Flywheel
- Alignment tool
- PP bolts?
- Break-in period of at least 500-600 miles recommended by SPEC
- Rated to 850 ft. lbs. of torque at the flywheel
NOW FOR THE BIG DIFFERENCE IN COST............$175.85. Is this a decent price difference? Yes. Is it enough to make me go for the extremely hard pedal feel, intermittent chatter, clutch dying at low mileage (on various clutches owned by myself, brother, and friends), I'll say "mediocre" customer service to be nice, and 500-600 mile minimum break-in period SPEC Stage 3+ clutch? Hell no.
The trouble people have with the price is a) that this clutch comes with a flywheel, as opposed to many of the standard clutches that sell the flywheel separately (adding to the price) and b) that they try to compare it to clutches like the LS7 clutch, which is clearly in a totally different category from the Textralia. If you're trying to decide between an LS7 and a Textralia, you clearly have not done your homework on these two options.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I've had two emails I sent to Textralia regarding a clutch question I had and a transmission issue I was having. The first was responded to by email within two hours, the second was responded to by email saying "Send me your phone number so I can call you from Australia and help you figure it out" (to summarize).
I won't go into detail about my experiences with other clutch companies' customer service, but we'll just say I was pleasantly surprised at the response from Textralia.
CONCLUSION
Pending longevity of this clutch, I personally will probably never purchase a different clutch as long as they continue to make these. I love the feel, the driveability, the holding power, and the customer service. The price leaves a little to be desired and I wouldn't call it a "value" clutch, but compared to other similar options out there, the price difference is small enough to make it a no-brainer in my eyes.
Excellent job, Textralia. You guys have built a quality clutch and you have every reason to fully stand behind this product.
Last edited by PewterScreaminMach; 04-16-2008 at 10:09 AM.
04-16-2008, 12:09 PM
#5
I've been on the fence about a new clutch for one reason only....i'm not an LS1 guru but isn't a clutch like the last performance mod you want to do? I mean, do you already have your heads, cam, suspension, intake, all that good stuff? I've done my research and this just reiterates the fact that Tex is the only way to go. I'm still stock and plan on getting an aftermarket clutch but it just seems like it's not as important as most other mods. Opinions? Hell of a review though, great job!!
04-16-2008, 12:56 PM
#6
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I've been on the fence about a new clutch for one reason only....i'm not an LS1 guru but isn't a clutch like the last performance mod you want to do? I mean, do you already have your heads, cam, suspension, intake, all that good stuff? I've done my research and this just reiterates the fact that Tex is the only way to go. I'm still stock and plan on getting an aftermarket clutch but it just seems like it's not as important as most other mods. Opinions? Hell of a review though, great job!!
04-16-2008, 01:01 PM
#7
I've been on the fence about a new clutch for one reason only....i'm not an LS1 guru but isn't a clutch like the last performance mod you want to do? I mean, do you already have your heads, cam, suspension, intake, all that good stuff? I've done my research and this just reiterates the fact that Tex is the only way to go. I'm still stock and plan on getting an aftermarket clutch but it just seems like it's not as important as most other mods. Opinions? Hell of a review though, great job!!
That said, I have a mild H/C setup already and have had clutch and transmission issues since owning the car, so it was time to make a final clutch purchase that is going to hold up to the current setup and have minimal issues.
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04-16-2008, 10:32 PM
#11
Originally it was grabbing very low near the floor, but a bunch of bleeding and then a master cylinder adjustment took care of that. I even found that it raised a little more after some spirited driving (perhaps there's a little bit of air left in there that I couldn't get out, but it's fully disengaging, so I'm not too worried). It currently begins engaging right about halfway up and fully engages maybe 3/4 of the way up. Perfect.
04-22-2008, 05:42 PM
#13
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I am really close to doing a clutch install, but I am on the fence wtih TEX. I am wanting to upgrade the master cyclinder and slave cylinder but it is really hard to put down 1300 for a new clutch and every thing else.
Also what is a good choice for master and slave cylinder? Does it really matter?
Also what is a good choice for master and slave cylinder? Does it really matter?
04-30-2008, 06:16 PM
#14
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Good review with the clutch. I'm looking at doing a clutch install here shortly on a Vette along with a small shot of nitrous and was wondering what to go with (Tex, LS7, McCleod Twin).
So two weeks later, how is your drivability doing now?
So two weeks later, how is your drivability doing now?
05-01-2008, 08:53 PM
#15
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I just got my tex oz700 x-grip installed today and have drove it approx 50 miles. all I done was replace slave and pilot bearing along w/ clutch. i went with the usual billet steel and x-grip clutch on a pretty stock LS1. The peddle feel is excellent. A little firmer than stock. I will keep ya'll updated on how it is doing and I have had very good customer service from BYUNSPEED and TEXTRALIA. The few questions I had were answered promptly. The install went as good as can be expected doing it on jack stands. I used gravity bleed the old pump and bleed on the hydraulics. No issues yet.
05-02-2008, 05:47 AM
#17
my z grip jsut came in the mail yesterday It will be going on in 3 wees maybe.
That is a great review.
And textralia customer service is superb. Jarrod with textralila is a TOP NOTCH guy. very responsive and helpful. You can not find that anymore these days
It will be going on in 3 wees maybe.That is a great review.
And textralia customer service is superb. Jarrod with textralila is a TOP NOTCH guy. very responsive and helpful. You can not find that anymore these days
05-04-2008, 07:41 PM
#18
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i agree 100% with your review. i've had mine Z-grip for ~3K miles. it's performance, quality, and durability are absolutly outstanding. my car made 452/395 and cut 1.5xx 60's with this clutch. i hot-lapped the car for 3 hours in Tulsa one night and it never flinched.
my car is currently down due to a broken motor, but when the new one is done i'll be making a TON more power than before. i fully intend on putting my OZ700 back in until it blows (i wanna find its limits) and then i'll throw an EXO-SKEL in and never think twice about it. Textralia flat-out makes the best clutches i have EVER used, definately money well spent.
my car is currently down due to a broken motor, but when the new one is done i'll be making a TON more power than before. i fully intend on putting my OZ700 back in until it blows (i wanna find its limits) and then i'll throw an EXO-SKEL in and never think twice about it. Textralia flat-out makes the best clutches i have EVER used, definately money well spent.
05-04-2008, 08:32 PM
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Good Review PSM. I have put about 1500 miles on my tex and it has felt great since day one. I have never had a chatter problem or anything. I love this clutch because it handles by 400hp with ease and feels just like the ls6 clutch i had before this. Its so easy daily driving this clutch and traffic is not a problem.
I have not ran my car at the track yet but i will be running it soon.
I have not ran my car at the track yet but i will be running it soon.
