Spec 3+
It grabs a whole lot quicker than stock. This makes it a bit trickier to drive but would never be acceptable on a stock production car.
The 3+ falls in the middle of felling like a stock clutch and an ultra-fast on/off type clutch. When people say on/off, they mean the clutch is like a toggle switch, its either engaged or disengaged with no modulation possible in the middle. The 3+ becomes easy to drive after it breaks in but you will drive it just a bit differently than a stock clutch. On/off clutches are no fun to drive on the street.
The whole release point of the 3+ occurs in a very small window of pedal travel as opposed to a much larger window with stock. This is due to the full face, NON marcel sprung hub used in the 3+ disk. NON marcel spring hub disks provide better grip at the expense of some smoothness, engagement speed and chatter. My 3+ has very little chatter on take off and what little is there, is eliminated by revving the motor just a tad higher before taking off. I have actually driven stock clutches that have morre chatter than a 3+.
Because of how fast the 3+ engages, I installed a pedal limiter on my clutch. I did this because the point of pedal travel at mid point all the way to the floor is entirely dead and serves no purpose. There is no clutch disk engagement at all taking place in this area.
Most higher performance disks, especially if they dont use a marcel spring, behave like this.
EDIT:
The overall drive-ability of the 3+, IMHO, is very very good for a high performance clutch. I never experience any jerking or significant funky ill effects you tend to see with HP clutches. Hell if my wife can still drive it, then it must be good. Is it just like stock, no it is very close.
The 3+ falls in the middle of felling like a stock clutch and an ultra-fast on/off type clutch. When people say on/off, they mean the clutch is like a toggle switch, its either engaged or disengaged with no modulation possible in the middle. The 3+ becomes easy to drive after it breaks in but you will drive it just a bit differently than a stock clutch. On/off clutches are no fun to drive on the street.
The whole release point of the 3+ occurs in a very small window of pedal travel as opposed to a much larger window with stock. This is due to the full face, NON marcel sprung hub used in the 3+ disk. NON marcel spring hub disks provide better grip at the expense of some smoothness, engagement speed and chatter. My 3+ has very little chatter on take off and what little is there, is eliminated by revving the motor just a tad higher before taking off. I have actually driven stock clutches that have morre chatter than a 3+.
Because of how fast the 3+ engages, I installed a pedal limiter on my clutch. I did this because the point of pedal travel at mid point all the way to the floor is entirely dead and serves no purpose. There is no clutch disk engagement at all taking place in this area.
Most higher performance disks, especially if they dont use a marcel spring, behave like this.
EDIT:
The overall drive-ability of the 3+, IMHO, is very very good for a high performance clutch. I never experience any jerking or significant funky ill effects you tend to see with HP clutches. Hell if my wife can still drive it, then it must be good. Is it just like stock, no it is very close.
Last edited by wrd1972; Dec 22, 2009 at 01:08 PM.
The fact that the Stage 3+ disc is full-faced makes its engagement much smooter than a pucked/winged clutch like a stage 3. I understand that perspective is subjective (what may be a quick engagement for someone may not seem as quick to someone else) but having driven a lot of clutches over the years, with countless materials difference and designs my opinion is that the Stage 3+ is tremendously drivable. And despite the few that have a differing opinion, there are countless other users on this forum that would agree with my perspective based on their own experiences. At the end of the day I suppose that the addage of not being able to make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time is true. Afterall, that's why we offer multiple stages that allow us to tailor a clutch to each users specific needs. What more can I say...
the spec 3+ cant be slipped or it wears super fast which for the street sucks in order to get a smooth start you have to slip it a little bit. so its very jerky on the street for the track its a diffrent story but if its a street car its very unconfortable to drive
Any clutch kit will wear faster when slipped. The Stage 3+ is much better suited to road use and thus some slippage than the pucked Stage 3. Robman, I can't help but ask...have you, or do you own a stage 3+. Have you driven one? Please don't take offense to these questions...as none is intended.
However some will agree with your statement if you are referring to the standard Spec stage 3 clutch.
its ok no offense taken i had a spec 3+ in my actual car it lasted about 12k and i was easy on it i just feel its not a street friendly clutch its either engaged or not i feel theres no inbetween im just stating how i feel about it. its great if you track the car alot then its awesome but if its mostly street driven i was not a fan
I hate that you were unhappy with your experience. Without looking at the parts it's hard to know if there was anything else leading to your issues...I suppose anything is possible. The great majority of customer on this forum and that I talk with overall are very happy with the feel and performance of the stage 3+. Do you still have the parts in your possession? I wouldn't mind taking a look at them if your interested in sending them back for assessment. Thanks,
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Verdad Gallardo well i have the pp moutnted to my wall lol it looks good but ill be happy to send back the disk i went with an ls7 clutch because i do almost all street driving but i wouldnt mind buying another spec when i turn it in to a track queen
Please clarify your above post. Are you saying you still have the disc in the car with an LS7 plate? Without having the pressure-plate and disc there is little I can do to check the complete unit for function. I am sure you understand what I mean. When ever you are ready for another unit let me know and I will be happy to assist you in determining what best suits your needs. Thanks and Merry Christmas!
Ah...the Carbon-Carbon! Yeah...you were pretty interested in it at PRI. It really will be an amazing option. I actually spent some time testing the newest disc compound this week and the drivability is even better than the last set I tested. After break-in this thing has drivability that is on par with the stage 2+ I drive daily. I was very happy with the progress. I will certainly keep you posted. Have a great Holiday and try to stay out of trouble!
i have the spec 3+ and it drives great. no chatter and its street manners are very nice. i've had 3 clutches in my car over the past 9 years and all have been spec's and they've all handled/performed great.
my clutch before the 3+ was the 3 and it was a freak. held 800ft/lbs and never slipped once. 300 shot out of the hole at the track and held up to 1.40 60's all day.
my clutch before the 3+ was the 3 and it was a freak. held 800ft/lbs and never slipped once. 300 shot out of the hole at the track and held up to 1.40 60's all day.
I'm going to jump in here, only because you asked about the Monster 3.5 in your original post. I am DD'ing a level 6 Monster, which is a puck style clutch. It was broke in on the dyno, and then a 5 hour highway drive home. There is NO chatter at all, and once you get used to it, it is very easy to modulate on the street. It does have a pretty narrow window of pedal travel for engagement, but like I said, you get used to it. There is no question in my mind that it will hold anything that I throw at it, and that I got the best customer service offered by any clutch company out there. Also, no shims to mess with. What kind of warranty does Spec offer?
If you are going to be drag racing, and want repeatable performance without compromise, the puck style is the way to go. With the new formulation on the Monster clutches, they have great street manors too.
If you are going to be drag racing, and want repeatable performance without compromise, the puck style is the way to go. With the new formulation on the Monster clutches, they have great street manors too.
I'm going to jump in here, only because you asked about the Monster 3.5 in your original post. I am DD'ing a level 6 Monster, which is a puck style clutch. It was broke in on the dyno, and then a 5 hour highway drive home. There is NO chatter at all, and once you get used to it, it is very easy to modulate on the street. It does have a pretty narrow window of pedal travel for engagement, but like I said, you get used to it. There is no question in my mind that it will hold anything that I throw at it, and that I got the best customer service offered by any clutch company out there. Also, no shims to mess with. What kind of warranty does Spec offer?
If you are going to be drag racing, and want repeatable performance without compromise, the puck style is the way to go. With the new formulation on the Monster clutches, they have great street manors too.
If you are going to be drag racing, and want repeatable performance without compromise, the puck style is the way to go. With the new formulation on the Monster clutches, they have great street manors too.