Any interest in a new clutch setup?


kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
As you all know STILLEN products and ideas come from our experiences on the New Zealand Rally. In 2006 we ran the rally with a factory clutch and it broke, on the last stage of the last day...We were able to finish the stage and barely limp the car back to service but we did not want to risk that again. We knew that our upgraded clutch was going to be good and would not have any issues but the engineers at AP Racing told us that they could build something even better. But, it would require a lot of new parts that we would have to make.

This year we worked with AP Racing again to develop a clutch for our car that we never planned on offering for sale. The initial plan was just to build a one off setup for our race car. However, I have been approached by a few people to begin offering these clutches. There are a few important things to mention though. It's not going to be a readily available item, we are going to try to offer them without having inventory on hand, realistically it won't be the right clutch for the majority of the GT owner's, and it won't be cheap

This new clutch will consist of a much smaller clutch assmebly, 30% smaller and MUCH lighter. I will get the exact weight savings as soon as I can. Also, STILLEN will manufacture a new flywheel, fulcrum nose cone, and ring gear adapter. These parts are a combination of 6061-T6 billet aluminum and chromoly steel to make the complete kit.

This clutch will rattle. No question about it. It might chatter a little bit when you're first getting used to its operation. It will not be for 99% of the owner's of these cars. However, if you regularly track your car, or you launch the car hard, or you have added ALOT of power and need something a bit more extreme. This is the clutch for you.

Now, I am sure that I just scared everyone off by saying it won't be well suited for most of the people that own these cars. Or, that it will rattle, and chatter a little bit. But, let me finish by saying that I had the oppurtunity to drive our GT home this year after the rally was finished. I drove about 300 miles or so and after that experience I can easily say that this is absolutely the clutch that I would have in my car. It took a few operations to get used to the quick release point and it definitely took a bit more effort to push down the clutch pedal, but the overall feel was much nicer for me.

Here's the catch...The COMPLETE package. New clutch, flywheel, fulcrum, and ring gear adapter, comes to $3,650.00. This higher cost is directly related to the low production runs. If there is enough interest to get 10 or more kits produced I can lower the price significantly.

So...Is anyone interested in a new clutch option?

(I am currently trying to get more technical data from AP Racing in England however they are on one of their European winter vacations...Some of them won't be back to work until January 7th.)
 

Fubar

Totally ****** Up
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 2, 2006
3,979
Dallas, TX
This clutch will rattle. No question about it. It might chatter a little bit when you're first getting used to its operation. It will not be for 99% of the owner's of these cars. However, if you regularly track your car, or you launch the car hard, or you have added ALOT of power and need something a bit more extreme. This is the clutch for you.

Hold me mommy, I'm scared :ack
 

MAD IN NC

Proud Owner/ BOD blah bla
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 14, 2006
4,211
North Carolina
Kyle, sounds interesting. Better launches! Me like. Doesn't a stock replacement got for ~$3,000? If so - this is the deal!

Fubar is shaking still
 

Beach-GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 8, 2006
887
Seminole Florida
I would be interested if a short production run happens.
 

Kingman

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 11, 2006
4,072
Surf City, USA
I'm in Kyle
 

kumar

GT Owner
Jan 31, 2007
1,011
Dallas
I would be interested if my current Stillen clutch cant hold the power and abuse.
 

FrankBarba

Permanent Vacation
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 16, 2005
544
Harrisburg, PA
let me know if a run persists....i would like to have a spare....
 

Beach-GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 8, 2006
887
Seminole Florida
Would want a spare disk too.
 

kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
It definitely looks like there is a good amount of interest for a low production run on these clutches.

I will gather more information on the clutch and report back as soon as possible!

If anyone has any questions or if you're interested in another clutch option please post so I can gauge how many clutches will need to be made.
 

HeritageBruce

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Mar 13, 2006
748
Southern CA
Kyle,
Any chance the Socal guys can try your car out, in a parking lot or after C&C to get an impression?
 

hemidoc

GT Owner
Sep 8, 2006
26
Ottawa, Canada
I am interested. Allan
 

kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
Kyle,
Any chance the Socal guys can try your car out, in a parking lot or after C&C to get an impression?

Unfortunately our car is in New Zealand still. We haven't brought it back yet after the rally.
 

pe2unia

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Kyle, I to have an interest in the group buy. Keep us posted.
 

STORMCAT

GT
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
May 25, 2006
7,551
Ft. Lauderdale
Any way to adapt some of the light weight parts to the other AP clutch ?
 

kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
Any way to adapt some of the light weight parts to the other AP clutch ?

Unfortunately no. It's not really that the parts are lighter, it's more that the entire assembly is much smaller so the overall weight drops due to the lesser amount of material in the assembly.

I will try to post some comparison pictures today that we took of the clutch before putting it in the race car.
 

kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
Here are some photos of just the clutch. These photos do not show the ring gear adapter, the fulcrum nose cone, or the new flywheel. Unfortunately we did not take any photos of those pieces prior to installing them in the car. My engineering team is going to get me the 3D CAD drawings that they did of the parts and I'll post those up.

First-
Comparison between the factory (Ford. O.E., not STILLEN replacement) clutch.
FullComparo.jpg


Second-
Here is a picture of the two clutch discs lined up next to each other. You can see how much smaller the race clutch discs are.
SideComparo.jpg

StackedComparo.jpg
 

Alex911

FORD GT OWNER - FROM RUSSIA TT FGT
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 22, 2008
73
Moscow, Russia
Sounds like exactly what I need. Kyle - one of your new clutches is going to Russia :)
 

kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
Hey Guys,

I am sorry about not getting the information for this clutch sooner. AP Racing has been gearing up for the upcoming racing seasons so it has been hard to extract information from them.

It looks like we have a sufficient interest to go into a production run with these clutches. I will PM all the parties interested with a price and see if we can get this ball rolling!

Thanks!
 

Beach-GT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
May 8, 2006
887
Seminole Florida
Why is the clutch material smaller than the Ford's?
 

kmillen

Well-known member
Jan 29, 2007
504
Why is the clutch material smaller than the Ford's?

Anytime you can reduce rotational mass you're helping your car. It's the same philosophy as light weight wheels, brakes, flywheel. Anytime you can reduce the drag on the drivetrain it's good.

Keep in mind that this is made by AP Racing so it's the same company that produced the clutches for Ford.