Ford H.D. Clutch or King Cobra kit?

EXTRPR50 · Aug 6, 2004

Does anyone have a King Cobra clutch, and is the extra $$ worth it?

Is there is a better clutch out there for under 200.oo bucks?

Thanx

def1eppard · Aug 6, 2004

Everyone used to talk about the Spec Stage 1 Clutch. You can get it from www.jdsperformance.com. I'm not sure if that comes with the whole kit, does anyone know?

http://www.jdsperformance.com/index.asp?initemuid=470&fcmd=item&inmake=ford, theres a direct link.

and...man 1998, you're an original colonist.

EXTRPR50 · Aug 6, 2004

Yeah, so far I ve been through 4 stangs since '98.
Great site.

jrichker · Aug 6, 2004

King Cobra for over 70K miles and no problems. Light pedal efffort, locks up solid with no slip when it is adjusted correctly. Plan to replace the clutch quadrant & cable while you are at it.

Scott W · Aug 6, 2004

I spent the extra cash and went with the king cobra and I'm very happy with it. I'm running aroun 400HP and its great.

I have used the centre force clutch, not the dual friction, the next step down. I prefer the kc clutch.

I have heard good things about the centre force dual friction, but its more expensive.

v8only · Aug 6, 2004

i'm not too impressed with the heavy duty or king cobra clutch. I've been through a number of them. They work fine, but are boring, and really have no grab at all compared to a spec or centerforce. You get what you pay for. Personally I would save up and spring for the dual friction centeforce.

Like I said, nothing wrong with the clutch, it's just not really a high performance clutch, slightly better than the stocker, that's about it.

no difference between the king cobra and the heavy duty one performance wise. Only difference is the heavy duty one has a stiffer pedal. It's quite stiff, so beware if you're a buck 40 weight type of guy.

FiveO · Aug 7, 2004

im about to buy a clutch and i'm deciding between the king cobra and the heavy duty as well. so the heavy duty has a stiff clutch pedal? wonder if i should move up to the king cobra.. my car is stock and it isn't going to have 300+ hp for a long time yet. i just need something basic..besides oem.

v8only · Aug 7, 2004

Well, for the price, you can't really beat the king cobra/heavy duty on a stock mustang. When you get serious about hp, step up to a better clutch, or use this one till it gives. I've had mine for years now, so no doubt about the longevity. It's a decent clutch, truthefully, after installing a spec on one of my brothers mustangs, and a centerforce dual friction on his other, I instantly became spoiled, as the king cobra sucks major ass compared to either of those clutches. However, you definetly pay a premium for them too, as my bro paid I think near $350 or so for the centerforce.

Really, the choice between the heavy duty and the king cobra is a simple one. Remember, no diff in performance.

I'm a big dude, and I love the stiffer clutch pedal, +, it's so stiff that people don't like to drive my car, which is fine by me. If you love stiff clutches, get the heavy duty. If you do a whole lot of city commuting, or don't have quite the left leg, get the king cobra.

FiveO · Aug 7, 2004

stiff clutches don't bother me, i feel like i have a bit more control with them...llight clutches like in my friends honda don't feel right to me.
and you are right... people have a hard time on my car as it is with the oem clutch heh.

what makes it so stiff? does it have a higher clamping pressure then king cobra? and isn't that a good thing? also does it have some friction zone or does it grab like a bitch real quick?

v8only · Aug 7, 2004

na, does't grab like a bitch, that's the whole thing. To me, it grabs like stock. Back when I didn't know mustangs, but had my first frpp, I was always under the impression that a performance clutch should grab the clutch super hard. I was right, just don't expect a hard grabbing frpp. I believe it's only rated at 30% above stock stronger, vs the dual friction which is like90% stronger. at 30% above stock, you'll notice a little more grabbing power, but not much. same disc as the king cobra, same grabbing, really, the additional effort is in the pressure plate design. Just because it's stiffer now adays, doesn't mean stronger. the centerforce dual friction is so light in effort, it has what I've compared pedal effort equal to a honda. Yet that thing grabs so damn well it'll jar your teeth out.

CobraGT87 · Aug 7, 2004

Interesting comments. I'm using the Upgraded KC with a full ceramic disc (600Hp rated), and it's been holding up just fine to my 347 W/N20. Thing grips plenty hard, yet light pedal pressure. Prior to this one I had the HD which lasted 70k miles. not too shabby I guess, but just didn't like the heavy pedal. Night & day diff between the HD and what I use now, only prob is theres only 1 shop who puts this package together and you have to go in to pick it up (they don't ship unless you have good contacts).

Dave Shultz (Forced347) reccomended them to me which is how I got mine.

Scott

v8only · Aug 7, 2004

CobraGT87 said:
Interesting comments. I'm using the Upgraded KC with a full ceramic disc (600Hp rated), and it's been holding up just fine to my 347 W/N20. Thing grips plenty hard, yet light pedal pressure. Prior to this one I had the HD which lasted 70k miles. not too shabby I guess, but just didn't like the heavy pedal. Night & day diff between the HD and what I use now, only prob is theres only 1 shop who puts this package together and you have to go in to pick it up (they don't ship unless you have good contacts).

Dave Shultz (Forced347) reccomended them to me which is how I got mine.

Scott

very interesting with the ceramic disc. I'm sure it grabs hard. the cobra normal disc is just organic.

65ShelbyClone · Aug 7, 2004

FiveO said:
im about to buy a clutch and i'm deciding between the king cobra and the heavy duty as well. so the heavy duty has a stiff clutch pedal? wonder if i should move up to the king cobra.. my car is stock and it isn't going to have 300+ hp for a long time yet. i just need something basic..besides oem.

The KC only has 10% less pedal than the HD and no difference in holding power. An almost unnoticable amount of less pedal effort is not worth $40 or 50 to me. I got the HD thinking it was going to be hell, but as it turns out thats what was in my car already. Its stiff, but a Centerforce or SPEC will be similar. I on the other hand DO have ~300hp and it takes it fine. The original clutch was replaced at 60k, I got the car at 148k, and replaced the old HD with a new at 173k. Thats 113k of LA city stop-n-go plus the way I drive. Good clutch if you ask me.

gaslight · Aug 7, 2004

I have the King Cobra and works just fine for me. I thinks it worth paying the extra $. We you get stuck in traffic you will be wishing for less pedal effort. Every little bit helps. I only have less than 10k miles on mine so far and just went from 280RWHP to 469 recently and its still holding up to that HP and torque.

leen325 · Aug 7, 2004

I currently have the King Cobra pressure plate w/ Centerforce DF disc and I love it. Previous setup was a RAM 900 system. It was great for the track but way to brutal for street driving, it was like an on/off switch, all or nothing.

FiveO · Aug 8, 2004

well i'm going with the KC should be fine for a stock setup. i have 80k on original clutch upr has it for 169...10 bucks more then the heavy duty from summit.

04sleeper · Aug 8, 2004

FiveO said:
well i'm going with the KC should be fine for a stock setup. i have 80k on original clutch upr has it for 169...10 bucks more then the heavy duty from summit.

Don't but it from UPR. Their sales department and customer support suck. I would get it from http://ddperformance.com/ .Much nicer people and a lot better support. Also for $169.00.

blown1989saleen · Aug 8, 2004

go with a Spec stage1 as already said try dave @jdsperformance.com the kit comes complete with pressure plate, disc, throw out bearing and alignment tool.

Scott

houstonstangguy · Aug 8, 2004

I'd personally like to try the spec but since I haven't yet, of the two you mentioned I have had both. On my last 89gt (306 w/ all boltons - basically a 335hp set up) I had the HD and sitting here in houston traffic really sucked honestly. On my 331 coupe I have the king cobra and it is much better feeling in my opinion. I had the HD for 3 yrs so don't get me wrong, but having had the KC for just under 3 yrs I recommend it over the HD. alot of pedal for nothing basically. The KC is light pressure and gets the job done for me, but like I said I would like to at least feel the spec clutch, although my speed shop recommended the stage 2 for me.

good luck

sirr0bin · Aug 8, 2004

skip the FRPP's and get a spec stage 1

grabs very hard, you can still slip it like a stock clutch, and holds a lot

pedal feel is nice and firm, but no harder then stock to push/hold down

Ford H.D. Clutch or King Cobra kit?

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