Hi,

Now I have a few minutes to myself and am back at home, I thought that it would be a good idea to share my findings on the M7 segmented flywheel and the uprated pressure plate that Peter will sell you if you ask nicely . This may also be useful for people that are sitting on the fence so to speak, with regards making a choice over drivetrain components.
My own decision-making process took months, I'll admit. Most of that time was spent on here and other manufacture forums trying to get a feel for the good and bad manufacturers out there when it comes to clutch and flywheel components. I have only had experiece with Fidanza on my last car, and it wasn't pretty...I am not the only one that has had (friction) heat shield bolts work loose that's for certain. Plus it was noisy as hell in my MG.

What became apparent from trawling lots of forums was that RPS in California, which supplies the flywheel to M7, are really highly praised. I couldn't find any negative comments if I'm entirely honest, or maybe I didn't look hard enough . Regardless, what I read was enough to convince me.

Talking to Peter at M7 further reinforced my gut feeling that the RPS stuff was going to be good, so I went ahead and ordered a bunch of stuff from M7. Peter is a great guy BTW, and will talk you through many facets of the decision-making process, regardless if it costs him much time or money (using the international line from London to call Peter costs HIM money with no guarantee of a sale every time he picks up the phone either).

On to my findings...

Noise, Vibration and Harshness evaluation:

1) People often worry, as I did, that the increased drivetrain noise from a lightened flywheel install will be pretty bad. I was prepared for bad after living with my last car, but I can honestly say that following the install, my car was on the whole pretty quiet. At stoplights there is sometimes a perceptible 'rumble' or slight chatter (I don't call it that because it is not as harsh as the word would suggest). Best way to describe it is that you know you have installed a lightened flywheel, but it won't sound like a diesel as a result of this. 2) With the loss of the vibrational dampener, there is also a slight 'ring' in first gear if you set off over-zealously (give it too much gas). This can get annoying if you like you car wisper quiet, but I have grown to fondly like this characteristic.

So, out of 10, I give NVH increase and everyday living factor a 7/10. Bear in mind that this is the only aspect where negatives arise, and you'll see that the points I raise above are not particuarly damaging to my overall opinion.

Driveability/Performance:

This is where the M7 clutch/Flywheel combination scores big.

1) Firstly, the upgraded pressure plate and flywheel work beautifully together. Simple as that. The engagment of the clutch pedal is butter smooth after an initial 'graunchy' period right after install, but that went away after 80 miles or so. I put this down to the friction surfaces 'taking' to one another. The pedal engagement is practically stock height and the pedal effort is, if anything, less than stock, so it's easy on your leg in traffic and won't want to stall at every opportunity you slow down, unlike some set ups.
N.B. The M7 flywheel and M7 uprated pressure plate will only work with the stock clutch plate, as I found out only after buying an aftermarket clutch plate and having trouble at install time...doh! Apparently, the flywheel bolts were catching on the aftermarket clutch plate I had, but maybe the size of that clutch plate (by HelixAutosport in the UK) is way different to those of other AM manufacturers out there...who knows!

2) I have noticed a 3mpg increase in fuel economy. My driving style has not really changed since then in terms of tenacity in driving etc, but I put down the increase to a serious decrease in rotational mass and also the fact that the car seems to feel happier being in a lower gear than it was before, epspecially on the freeway. Maybe this is manifested thanks to the increase of power being sent to the wheels/ less lost by the tranmission. By any account, it's a welcome bonus. The car is also noticeably quicker through the gears (3rd onwards most obviously).

3) Another pleasant upside was that the car will no longer bog down when setting off from lights etc. You have to be a little more observant when setting off with gutso since less rotational mass has an impact on revs needed from a start I find, but once on the move it really hauls well.

In total for performance and driveability, I give 9/10.

Overall, I would recommend my setup to anyone. I love it to bits

I will post a Quaife appraisal some time as well. For those on the fence about that one as well, I will say just this. It's quite possibly the best upgrade I have done to my car...

If I've missed anything and you want anything else answering, please chime in :smile:

Hope this is of some use.

Cheers,

Henry

 

Wicked write up henry! i didnt realise you had a flywheel from M7 also.
i have one and it looks like a peice of art



interesting note about the friction plate...as i have a 4 paddle plate with mine?? hmmmm

 

RPS makes a great product!! Is the pressure plate segmented as well? If so you can upgrade to their carbon/carbon stuff

 

I've had the RPS segmented flywheel and pressure plate with stock clutch for several months now and here's my take...

Here's what I like:
- the improved throttle response
- I especially like the improvement in ease of shifting since the revs are dropping quicker between shifts
- no vibration enters the cabin (through shifter, pedals, or steering wheel)
- IMO the weight is perfect

Here's what I don't like:
- there's an obnoxious clutch engagement noise whenever I take off that happens no matter how soft or hard I launch. It's kindof embarassing... the "what's wrong with that car" kind of embarassing.
- there's a serious increase in gear lash noise. When you get off the throttle to slow down, it sounds like gravel inside the tranny. At first, I mistook it for an exhaust rattle.
- there's a lot of chatter at idle. I think this will vary from car to car, as my 2005 S had light chatter from the factory.
- 3 months later, it's still kinda hard to launch hard without bogging, since the line between bogging and spinning the tires is smaller. This is more of a skill issue than a drawback to the flywheel itself. So you'll need to practice to get it right.

I have since been advised that the increase in noise is due primarily to the fact that the stock flywheel is a dual-mass flywheel designed to reduce vibration, while the RPS piece is single-mass. A single-mass flywheel paired with an unsprung clutch disc will be louder. Unfortunately, labor on a clutch job is ~$850 so I will probably just live with it for a while.

Would I purchase it again? Probably, but I'd try a sprung clutch disc. I wish I had heard about that prior to installation...

 

Nice product review guys....

This is something I have been looking in to and now am one step ahead...

Thanks

Seann

 

Hi Seann

You have another alternative to consider, you can also refer to this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=83904


Good Luck!