Good Street Strip Clutch?

King cobra is a waist of money IMO. I have posted this numerous times... Call D&D and talk to Don Sr. about the king cobra. He is the original designer of the clutch and he himself will tell you to go a different route, and if your set on the KC he'll tell you to go to the HD FMS clutch. I have posted this more times than I can count and everyone that has doen what I say has come back and thanked me for saving them a few bucks on the KC clutch after talking with Don.

I ran the FMS HD clutch for years and it was a nice clutch that could easily be slipped for street driving and at the track on DR's. BUT as soon as I started launching hard on ET streets it would not hold on the launch, so I had to replace it. The pedal effort is on the hard side in relation to other clutches on the market.

I still run the stock flywheel, but if you can afford it get an SFI billet steel piece. I didn't have anything left in my budget when I did my clutch or else I'd have one.


Its no suprise to many here that I do NOT like the spec clutches either. Do a search and you'll see why.

I REALLY like my Pro Motion "Kustom" clutch setup from Walt. It will hold more power than I'll ever make (this clutch is used by some of the 9 second real street racers), its able to be slipped which is nice for street and racing on drag radials, and it will hold on a 5000rpm side step of trhe clutch as well!

Hey Paul I run the HD Motorsport clutch on my car and on 8.5 inch slicks I used to launch at 6000 RPM no problems it held really well and that is with a stock flywheel. I like it and I drive the car everyday for over 3 years now. Now I am in a new class in Street Stang I use the M/T Drag Radials and launch out at 5400 RPM I love this clutch and have never looked back.

Tony, I really liked the clutch too... until it started slipping on the launch. I think it was due more to my wieght though than anything as most get away with it, like you.


:OT:
That's AWESOME you are running street stang. I concidered build my '90GT into a street stang capable racer, but since the car is an auto and I couldn't mess with the converter per the rules (at least that's the way the rules were ~2yrs ago when it started) I decided it would be impossible to be competative and scrapped the idea. Are you able to run 12's in street stang legal trim?

Paul, what pressure plate does that Kustom clutch use? To my knowledge, its the same disk as I have (mcleod DF). I was under the impression they use either a FMS HD or a king cobra pressure plate. I need to pick up a new disk and I was going to buy another king cobra until I read this. I daily drove a FMS HD for about 5 years and it was a bit hard, but I was used to it. The king cobra I used with my tremec tko for that short time was a little softer pedal-wise. I'm interested in hearing what pressure plate you use. I need to buy the rest of the parts I need for my 347 very soon. I'm gonna be using a fidenza aluminum flywheel also. One other thing I like about the mcleod DF disk is its lighter than the king cobra disk.

Mike

Mike, I think it is a valeo PP. If memory serves me right, I think Walt told me it a blue printed FMS HD design. The pedal effort was slightly less than my old FMS HD. My disc is different than the McCleod DF, but my dad's Kustom clutch from Walt looks to be the McCleod DF one.


Here's a pic of my clutch...

I'm looking at my disk now and it looks the same except you have 5 larger springs and mine has 6 smaller springs and 3 of those springs are cased in some sort of hard rubber looking thing.

Since with this mcleod DF disk you can use a fms HD or a king cobra pp, I don't see why I couldn't run a blueprinted HD right? How much is just the pressure plate? What did the guy from d&d tell you the reasons for the HD being better than the KC?

friend of mine uses a Zoom HP in his '92 LX......H/C/I 302 with a NOS 250hp shot....ran the clutch for years with 6000rpm launches on slicks and E/T Streets......never slipped once

Spec Stage 2

It really depends on your mods to what clutch is better for you and if it is your daily driver and how picky you are.

The King Cobra clutch is NOT a waste of money...I've had 4 different clutches personally...CF Stage II is my favorite so far. King Cobra in a very close second. They both are great daily driver clutches that take 300rwhp as long as you don't race it all the time...

Its so very true that it does depend on your mods. I have a KC and mine has very little pedal effort with no adj. quad or cable. I go to the track and mie doent slip at all. I have even side stepped it once (accident my foot slipped lol) didnt slip also my rear end hooked as well as could be expected on street tires and i ripped chunks out of my tires. Bad experience.

5spd GT said:

The King Cobra clutch is NOT a waste of money....

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It is when compared to the HD FMS clutch, and as I said if you doubt me just call up D&D and ask to speak with Don Walsh Sr WHO DESIGNED IT! He will tell you that he set out to make a HD FMS clutch with a lot less pedal effort... the FMS HD requires ~50ftlbs of force to disengage it, Don wanted the KC to have approx half of that effort, the best he could get was something like ~40ftlbs of required force to disengage it. I was dead set on getting a KC for my car since my wife was about to learn to drive my car, after speaking with Don he convinced me to stick with the FMS HD.

Killercanary said:

It is when compared to the HD FMS clutch, and as I said if you doubt me just call up D&D and ask to speak with Don Walsh Sr WHO DESIGNED IT! He will tell you that he set out to make a HD FMS clutch with a lot less pedal effort... the FMS HD requires ~50ftlbs of force to disengage it, Don wanted the KC to have approx half of that effort, the best he could get was something like ~40ftlbs of required force to disengage it. I was dead set on getting a KC for my car since my wife was about to learn to drive my car, after speaking with Don he convinced me to stick with the FMS HD.

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Well me having actually sat and drove two cars with a KC and HD clutch...I can say which one is very noticeable better. I have done bus. with D&D with a old Cobra clutch I had...

If your swapping a HD out for a KC...sure it is a waste because you get the same grab just less pedal effort. That is why I see him swaying you from swapping because it is just for less pedal effort. If your going from scratch it is not a waste of money...

Killercanary said:

King cobra is a waist of money IMO.

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Paul - So you are saying that it's a waste of money because you are paying more for 10% less pedal effort or is there other reasons? Both the KC and HD use the same clutch disc, just different pressure plates, is that right?

Thanks,
Gabe

5spd GT said:

If your swapping a HD out for a KC...sure it is a waste because you get the same grab just less pedal effort. That is why I see him swaying you from swapping because it is just for less pedal effort. If your going from scratch it is not a waste of money...

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That sounds pretty reasonable.

I am not going to get into a 3pg discussion on it with you like you always do. IMO AND Don's if you are looking to buy a new clutch and are concidering the KC you might as well just get the HD over the KC and save some cash as the pedal effort is not much lighter at all. I too have driven both.

Nobody said:

Paul - So you are saying that it's a waste of money because you are paying more for 10% less pedal effort or is there other reasons? Both the KC and HD use the same clutch disc, just different pressure plates, is that right?

Thanks,
Gabe

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Gabe, yes, that is basically it. The difference is minimal enough that it may not be worth the extra cost for the KC. If the pedal took 1/2 as much effort to release then yes, it'd be worth it but that's not the case. Don told me straight out that the KC clutch just never did what they intended for it, no matter what he tried. If the man who designed it doesn't have anything good to say about it, I think that should say something about the product.

killercanary - So I choose to debate...you choose not to...in this case. That is your option. Now the King Cobra is well worth a $20 dollar extra charge to get better pedal feel. I mean we are talking about $20 dollars...I'm a poor college kid and that isn't anything to get a better pedal feel/lighter.

It is not a waste of money. I have drove both on similar setups...

Nobody - Yeah that was my point