A Few Weeks Later…..
Now that I have had a few weeks with the BHR Flywheel and BHR/Spec Clutch combo I can tell you a few things; 1) The further reduction in weight offered by the BHR/Spec Lightweight Clutch Kit is apparent. How much more h.p. is available at the rear wheels? We will know in a couple weeks after my car hits the dyno (I am guessing about 5-6 h.p.). For certain, revving from idle to 9,000 RPMs is noticeably quicker and I can feel a bit more power to the wheels as the RPMs climb higher, especially from 4,000 RPMs on up. 2) The Stage 2+ (Kevlar/carbon hybrid) isn’t the easiest to drive. The disc engages differently as it heats up. Carbon gets a little “grabbier” as it gets hot so the engagement can chatter a bit when trying to drive the car smoothly. Hammering the clutch is not an issue but for a daily-driven RX-8, I would strongly advise a Stage 1 for N/A to mildly-boosted engines and the Stage 2 for seriously-boosted engines. The Stage 2+ should probably be reserved for drag/drift cars. As regards the Mazda RX-8; clutch “stages” higher/more aggressive then the Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 2+ are going to be overkill and tougher to drive smoothly on the street.
For those not wanting to go with the super-light BHR Flywheel/BHR Clutch combo, the Exedy Stage 1 is a nice clutch and so are the ACT HDMM or HDSS units.
It should also be noted that clutch kits don’t generally have EVERYTHING needed for a comprehensive swap but Black Halo Racing includes everything in every kit we ship.
