The Old EQUALIZER
April 8, 2024
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THE AUTO BUILDER
Featured
HPX 2025 Award Winners
The inaugural High Performance Expo (HPX) brought together a powerhouse lineup of vendors, builders, and performance innovators. Amid fierce competition from dozens of standout products, two companies took home the top PerformancePlus HPX honors—showcasing the cutting edge of high-performance innovation.
SMOKIN’ SS – Part 4
As progress continues on the Smokin’ SS Monte Carlo, we see more and more function, as well as innovative details throughout the car, ensuring that this will not be your average street machine. Functional details such as a true cowl induction were not overlooked, but more than that, every part of this car has a function, and that reveals Davis’ racing background.
Winter WOW
Just after New Year’s, when the cold really starts settling in, one of the first major indoor car shows of the year rolls into town. The O’Reilly Auto Parts World of Wheels Custom Auto Show has become a yearly tradition—mixing hot rods, customs, and classics with a dose of pop culture to create a winter event that gives the whole family a reason to get out of the house.
Spotlighter
A Tough Act to Follow
Author
Richard Holdener
Clutches are something enthusiasts can easily take for granted—until one lets go. We all have installed questionable or inexpensive imitation clutches during late-night thrashes. Attention is paid to the power portion of the equation, but power goes nowhere without a clamping force. In fact, the more power you build into that hot street/strip turbo motor, the more likely you are to overpower the stock clutch.
Though clutches rank below power-adders on the desirability scale, they are every bit as important. In fact, you’d be better off not spending the time and money on a trick blower or turbo kit if you do not plan on upgrading the stock clutch assembly. Sure, it is possible on some applications to improve the performance of your motor without a clutch and pressure plate upgrade, but you can only take things so far. Eventually, the engine will let you know by racing to the moon when you least expect it. Your clutch will likely slip under full throttle, and most probably at the highest load. Better hope you have a rev limiter or things can really get ugly.
But have no fear … Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT) has come up with a variety of effective combinations to cater to the needs of performance enthusiasts and racers. We went to ACT with a 2000 Civic Si equipped with a turbocharged B18C. Our clutch change coincided with an engine mod from the original B16A to the turbo B18C. ACT recommended a powerful, yet streetable combination consisting of a MaXX Xtreme pressure plate, a Performance Organic Street Disc and an XACT lightweight steel flywheel.
The MaXX Xtreme pressure plate was originally designed to deliver maximum holding power, and testing has shown it to work exceptionally well with the Performance Organic Street Disc. According to ACT, this combination has been used successfully on some of the fastest all-wheel-drive turbo Talons in the country. Credit the special performance linings designed to withstand higher levels of heat and abuse. Like many of the Performance Organic Street Discs, ours was modified for quicker shifting.
But have no fear … Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT) has come up with a variety of effective combinations to cater to the needs of performance enthusiasts and racers. We went to ACT with a 2000 Civic Si equipped with a turbocharged B18C. Our clutch change coincided with an engine mod from the original B16A to the turbo B18C. ACT recommended a powerful, yet streetable combination consisting of a MaXX Xtreme pressure plate, a Performance Organic Street Disc and an XACT lightweight steel flywheel.
The MaXX Xtreme pressure plate was originally designed to deliver maximum holding power, and testing has shown it to work exceptionally well with the Performance Organic Street Disc. According to ACT, this combination has been used successfully on some of the fastest all-wheel-drive turbo Talons in the country. Credit the special performance linings designed to withstand higher levels of heat and abuse. Like many of the Performance Organic Street Discs, ours was modified for quicker shifting.
Topping off our clutch upgrade was an XACT lightweight steel flywheel. While aluminum flywheels are the hot setups for road racing, street motors actually benefit from some added inertia offered by the flywheel. ACT offers both Prolite and Streetlite designs. We opted for the Streetlite, which featured forged chrome-moly construction, precision CNC machining and an induction-hardened integral ring gear. We also liked the fact that it was thick enough to withstand resurfacing, should that become necessary in the future.
ARTICLE SOURCES
Advanced Clutch Technology
206 East Avenue K4
Lancaster, CA 93535
(661) 940-7555
