[VIDEO] SMF Vs DMF Comparison

[cs2000]

Hey guys, ive been a little quiet on here lately, have been moving jobs and buying my first house, but that doesn't mean Zeditus has loosened its grip on me

 

Several week ago I had a lightweight single mass flywheel and 6 puck clutch fitted to replace the very tired OEM units I had on the car. We all see loads of questions on what road to go down (OEM vs aftermarket, SMF vs DMF etc) so I took side by side videos of the two options so other people can at least hear the new noise the SMF makes and make up their own mind.

 

 

My personal feelings are this.

• When the car starts up, the initial rev up is higher usually, this is nothing but pleasant however !
  
• When pulling away, I am STILL yet to master doing this smoothly, its either rocket ship fast or slower but jumpy. You seem to have to keep the RPM above 2000 to be able to pull away smoothly, but I don't like doing this.
  
• The new noise from the single mass flywheel really isn't all that bad. Once you're above 2000 RPM there's no noise anyway and you can do this (just about) in 3rd gear at 30MPH or in 2nd, but that's more like 3000 RPM. Yes, my friends and my girlfriend comment on how the car sounds broken, but its something you're always aware of, you just adapt to being another one of the zeds noises.
  
• At cruising speeds there is 0 noise at all, the car is a delight to drive and obviously fitting a lighter flywheel does free up m ore of the engine BHP to spin the wheels rather than the heavy DMF. Its probably only 0.5BHP or something but it does feel better somehow...
  
• Any noise comparison's between your car and mine may not be exact however. The clutch and flywheel taken from the car were both OEM items, the clutch was the 2nd one the car has had but the previous owner hadn't changed the flywheel, this was well and truly dead and had obviously caused some damage to the clutch. Essentially, both were WELL worn.
  

 

Hopefully this will help some people out when noise is a major worry. Also, mode if this is better suited elsewhere please move appropriately, wasn't too sure where to place it.

 

Car originally has Nissan Dual Mass Flywheel and Original Clutch. This had covered approx 77,000 miles and was absolutely dead.

 

Newly fitted kit was;

Driftworks Superfly: http://www.driftworks.com/driftworks-superfly-350z-vq35de-lightweight-chromoly-flywheel.html

XTD Stage 3, 6 Puck Clutch: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XTD-STAGE-3-PADDLE-CLUTCH-KIT-NISSAN-03-06-350Z-INFINITI-G35-VQ35-/111471271891?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item19f4349fd3 (but I bought mine from a club member)

 

If anyone would like to know anything else, please ask.

Edited October 6, 2014 by cs2000

[mikejbry]

Cool post, answers future questions for when my clutch heads on its way out

 

Cheers

[GMballistic]

Thanks for that cs2000 ~ interesting comparison.

 

Doesn't seem as much difference as some would have you believe.

[cs2000]

Thanks for that cs2000 ~ interesting comparison.

 

Doesn't seem as much difference as some would have you believe.

Naa, not really. From further reading lately I think its more the 6 puck clutch rather than the flywheel that makes pulling away jerky, it just likes to grab suddenly, but obviously I cant confirm that having not had it fitted with a OEM DMF.

 

There is noise in the cabin, obviously the lower RPM combined with more throttle gives more noise, which is part of the reason I pulled away reasonably quickly as I wanted a lot of throttle at low RPM's to make the noise as bad as possible. But in all reality, its liveable. Put it this way. Would there be so many of them for sale if they made cars horrible to drive and impossible to live with?? Its not like there's only 1 or 2 manufactures making them and they're aimed solely at 'race cars'.

Edited October 6, 2014 by cs2000

[GMballistic]

So hard choosing a clutch/flywheel combination with the plethora available.

 

It's good that we have so much choice for our cars obviously but it does make it hard to make a decision sometimes.

[-Bradders-]

I have the same smf. Agree with all the above! Except the noise. It still bothers me 5 months later lol.

[cs2000]

I have the same smf. Agree with all the above! Except the noise. It still bothers me 5 months later lol.

Yeah, that's the point I was trying and failing to get across. Sometimes I drive all day without really noting it, other times it drives me nuts, then my standard of driving drops and makes the noise (and my juddering) worse! lol. Its liveable, but it never goes away.

Edited October 6, 2014 by cs2000

[ChrisB]

I like your reporting and what to expect.

 

I had a horrendous first impression due to a simple clutch pedal adjustment being required, symptoms diagnosed and fixed - which is why we test and report. Once that was done, I then needed to re-train myself in slick gear changes - the lightened fly with its lower angular momentum is really noticeable, so revs drop quickly. Once in tune with the quicker timings (which really only took a couple of good drives), I am really enjoying it. Clutch pedal is lighter too.

 

My car does not have any increased chatter (clutch in or out) stationary at idle I find (certainly not like in your video - as far as I heard on the iPad), but I do get a variably loud meshing noise if I load up in lower gears between 1500-2000 RPM, particularly the step between 2 and 3. This is cancelled by simply changing 500 rpm higher than I used to, in average road driving, and generally avoiding the thrash zone below 2K Interesingly I don't get these noises when cold, so it's clearly tolerances in the gearbox changing when warmed up. My gearbox input shaft has small backlash is in good condition by all accounts, so the chatter must be internal.

 

My clutch is still bedding in but the first gear judder I have is receding nicely at the moment (at time of writing I am about 150 miles in). I find the way to avoid judder completely off the line is to not feather, but grab it lightly by the neck and go, but like I say, my clutch is still learning to behave.

 

Mine is Competition Clutch 6072-2100 and Competition clutch ST flywheel.

 

Good upgrade

[Jp606]

Hmm mine already sounds like this, must've already had its clutch changed in previous life, unless it's normal for the HR?

[Dicky]

Don't know which of the clips was the SMF but the first clip sounded louder to me. If it's as bad in the cabin I couldn't be doing with it.

I'm no expert but I would always stick with the design engineers choice unless you get some meaningful performance/ other gain.

I assume the SMF gives a weight and possibly cost advantage but seems to fall down on increased cabin noise, clutch control and potential shock loads to other components.

 

[ChrisB]

Baptism of FIRE today.. Yep the SMF and grippy plate is lovely when in motion - lighter, nippier feel to the engine, but man-oh-man I had a monster of a time in a big M25 (3 hour stop-start ) traffic jam today..

 

0-4 MPH is a nightmare without the ability to feather (I tried all sorts of foot/rev juggling combinations) - grab grab clank clank Horrid sounding metal bangs sometimes ...whimper... I do hope this settles down (I'm now approx 600miles on this new clutch). SMF is definately better when the going is good, but DMF and basic clutch could be the way forward for a daily - or if SMF (and stage 2 or more) give up and work from home if the traffic looks like it might be a full-on PITA..

 

Just so that you all know, cool gear choices are always full of compromise. The tail shouldn't wag the dog though - 3 hour traffic jams aren't every day occurences. Keeping the faith (just)

[Ceejay29]

Interesting. I still need to fit an Exedy hyper single clutch and fly to mine; intrigued as to how it will sound and operate.

 

On a side note; is that your oriel window rendered in blue?