1st Gen R53 Cooper S 300 HP clutch/flywheel options for R53

O.S. GT on the expensive end, and a good Clutchmasters on the less expensive end... But if the stock clutch on a single mass flywheel is good to about 250 or more if not abused, and is less than half the price?

 

Stock is fine for over 250 I have one and it work great and I am at 90k. If it fails someday I will go OSG because of the real throw out bearing compaired to all the others. I already have the OEM LSD and it works fine for me.

Then again I may stay stock since it has lasted so long without any issues or the velaro replacement clutch.

Forget clutchmasters I have read too many issues with them.

 

If you are serious about 300+ HP...I'd run what's in it...
Then go to a stage 3 clutch masters (hate them though, both style and company) clutch...would suck on the street...very hard (your left leg will be huge!!)...like an on/off switch....but even Nathans experience with the os clutch says it all....
You have to choose drivability or ultimate performance....
Good luck, sounds like it will be an awesome build!!

 

If I recall right, he did not like it so much..
Was like an off/on switch...
Made any traffic a pain....
If I recall right, when it went, rather than rebuild it, he went back to stock....
My gut says with so much HP, you will be stuck with a "puck" style stage 3+ clutch masters style clutch with a very stiff pressure plate...
This is one case I would 100% call RMW/Jan for advise...
Lots of 250 HP mini's around...the 300 HP ones are more rare...

 

Jan runs the OSG in his 400 HP GP.

 

The OS GT is a lot more tame than the STR they have.
Clutches are a tricky thing to pick the right one for the car and the operator.

 

I like the OS units as said above purely for the fact of a REAL throw out bearing. but a nice alliterative is the Excedy unit. Exedy Hyper Single Clutch nice hold, and a bit less switch like. Excedy also makes a lot of pressure plates for a lot of other clutch vendors. but i have seen a lot of clutch maters fail with no warranty support in 9 months..we stopped selling them. but like said above, it's hard to match a clutch to the owner as well as it's hard to know how that owner will drive that clutch and how long it will last. owner X could have a Valeo and 300 hp and be fine and owner Y could waste the same clutch in a week with the same car.

 

what chad said, i had clutch masters tell a customer of mine to pound sand, and that he downshifted too much.

Biggest problem with clutches is often the owners.