ACT23220-14: CARBONETIC Twin Carbon Clutch review from Speed for Sale
My new setup & track days at Road Atlanta:
As one of dealers for Enkei wheels, I took the opportunity to change my Supra to run square setup with PF01s in 285/30/18 BFB R1s for the wheel/tire since my Supra is dedicated for track day use. As mentioned in another thread back then, instead of doing the carbon fiber fenders, Jared and I cut & welded extensions to the stock fenders. We also contacted APR to ask them to build a APR’s GTC-500 wing for the Supra to create more downforce than the old RMM wing. In the meantime, Jared took his time to rebuild my V160 transmission which had bad 5th syncro and we also switched out the RPS Carbon Carbon Twin Clutch in favor of Carbonetic Twin Carbon clutch. We were going to change the TRD LSD to Carbonetic 1.5Way Carbon LSD, but we ran out of time for June Road Atlanta NASA event. Therefore, it will be installed before the next track day.
One of reasons I switched from RPS to Carbonetic was a friend of mine had some premature issue with his Supra RPS CC Twin clutch. There was some issue with mine as well, but RPS was able to address the issue, but I still have a fear that it might fail at the track. After long consideration, I decided to contact Carbonetic for help. Carbonetic was a great help and suggested both my friend and I to run the Carbonetic Twin Carbon with heavier pressure or triple with soft pressure plate for both road course purposed Supras. Good thing about Carbonetic carbon clutches is that it’s 100% rebuildable, and upgradable. You will just need to change the shims and buy extra carbon disc if you want to run the triple. I decided to give twin carbon a try at first and if needed I can always upgrade. Installation was pretty straight forward, and it was much easier to drive then RPS Twin in my opinion. engagement was great, and the heavier pressure plate wasn’t too bad at all. However, the chattering noise was still unavoidable when the clutch is pressed in, but my Supra is already rattling everywhere, so that doesn’t bother me a bit.
With KW’s V3 coilover and 900lb Hypercoils springs installed to the front of the Supra, 1.9 degree front and 2.4 degree rear cambers and 50/50 corner balanced, I feel I have more control on the car overall than the old staggered 275/315 setup on the track. I was able to rotate quicker in corners. I can go up the tire width, but 285 was a more common size and easier and cheaper for me to get tires. With running low 12.4PSI of boost (estimated 390rwhp), my fastest time of the day was 1.41.320 on Road Atlanta according to Traqmate during the weekend. I drive no where near a pro like Leh Keen, and I drive maybe 80-90% to the limit, there are definitely things I can improve to get a better time, but I am pretty happy that everything turns out good since it has been a while since I last on the track. Here are some pictures of the Supra currently and short video running Road Atlanta.
Carbonetic SR20det Blade Clutch:
The carbon blade clutch is the best clutch that I’ve used to date. On the street the clutch is quite compliant and allows for smooth engagement just like stock, with slight increase in pedal pressure. During track sections when I’m hard on the clutch ( Drifting is not kind to clutches) the carbon blade clutch comes to life. The more I push the clutch and the harder I am on it, the clutch responds with more grip and better bite. As the carbon clutch material gets hotter it engages quicker and with no signs of fading. I have driven cars with Exedy, Clutchmasters, and Competition Clutch. I’ve used those clutches at different stages and none have performed as well or consistently as the Carbonetic Blade Clutch. In its current state of tune my RPS13 is making 310 whp and 280 lb/ft torque at 18psi. Without a doubt I would encourage everyone to use this amazing new clutch by Carbonetic.
Beemeth Robles
Team SRD-Drift
Superior Racing Development
P.S. – Sorry for the finger in the pic. Maybe you could crop it out. Its the one I liked the most, minus the finger. Haha.
-Thank you, Beemeth! Great review and pic. My Photoshop is strange now, and couldn’t crop it out. Still like it with your finger
City Tire – Driver Carl Rydquist with CARBONETIC Carbon Rear LSD: ACNRB109130
Sadly for the City Tire team and fans, the battle ended prematurely. With two laps to go, the main electrical switch on the City Tire 350Z glitched and left the entire car powerless for a grueling 12 seconds. Carl was just about to pull out and park it on the grass when the power suddenly came back on.
At this point Mike had built a 6 second gap and despite a huge effort from Carl, throwing aside all car conserving strategies for two blazing final laps, the City Tire 350Z finished in second place, a mere 0.3 seconds from victory.
Comments from John Shin:
We didn’t win this time out but we were very happy with the overall performance. Carl set the fastest lap of the race and this being our very first PTCC race, that says a lot about both him as a driver and the capability of our 350Z, John concludes.
We want to congratulate Mike and Berk Technology on their win and thank our sponsors Hankook, Carbonetic, AIT Racing, APR and Jordan Innovations for their support. Hopefully for future events we have a little more time to prepare to the level which is necessary to maintain our position at the front.
Comments from Carl Rydquist:
In MotoIQ PTCC-race the City Tire 350Z was really great with the Carbonetic diff, I had unbelievable traction out on the main straight.
Only when trailbraking hard the adjustment was too much like drifting (inside rear wheel easy locked up), but this is correct because it is a drift car.
Firebird International Raceway
Phoenix, AZ
04/10/11
After 3 days of planning and 4 weeks of prep time, a street driven EVO X was transformed into a competitive track car to race against America’s best at Circuit Battles. Tarzan Yamada accepted our invitation despite the unfortunate earthquake in Japan and wanted to take the opportunity to represent Japan and ask for help from the motorsports spectators in USA.
The Pro Track Challenge teams were looking impressive during practice, topping 170MHP at the end of the start/finish straight, which is actually used for drag racing. Our EVO X setup was simple and effective, but it was no match to the top teams.
Tarzan Yamada got behind the wheel of garageGT / Yokohama EVO X and got it out on the track for the practice session in the morning. But due to oil spill, the session was cancelled. The car going to driven at high pace during qualifying as shakedown. Tarzan managed a best lap of 1:08.905, placing 6th.
During lunch break, we were trying to figure out a fuel cut out issue per Tarzan’s complaint about low rpm range pick up. While Mitch was studying engine logs, Anthony got in the car and turned the traction control off! It was a fun moment We sent Tarzan out for Seeding race (5 lap Super session) thinking how much faster he would be after getting freed up from the electronics.
We finished 5th, and was happy with our new best time of 1:05.282. We were against 4th place finisher, the K&N Engineering twin turbo g35 for round 1 of Circuit Battles.
Driven by Paul Brown, the K&N Engineering g35 had major advantage on the main straight, but we showed good potential matching its cornering speeds.
We swapped a fresh set of Yokohama A005 slicks to the front and were ready for the next opponent; ABF Tech division Mini. 700HP monster!
Tarzan had a lot of fun battling Dez Ballard and the finish was close. Epic battle!
Overall, we were happy with the performance of the car. We know we have a good base. This car will be more competitive with more time. We would like to thank our sponsors; Yokohama, MP Tuning and Muellerized for excellent support throughout the project.
As for the final, after all the dogfights, Lou Gigliotti of LG Motorsports won the last battle against Mike Cronin Jr., driving the Fontana 350Z. It was a breathtaking fender to fender finish!!
Tarzan Yamada, one of the best known names in the Time Attack and Tuner world has been entered to run Circuit Battles Phoenix, April 9th and 10th at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler Arizona. Tarzan will be competing in a Mitsubishi Evo X entered and prepared by Garage GT.
Cenk Ocakoglu, owner of Garage GT, contacted Redline Track Events shortly after the Circuit Battles Willow Springs Event asking if the Evo X his company was preparing for time attacks later in the year would be eligible to compete. The staff at Redline Track Events worked with Mr. Ocakoglu to insure the car would be eligible and properly prepared for competition with Tarzan Yamada as driver.
Mr. Ocakoglu and his team have previously competed with Redline Time Attack and had been watching from the sidelines. After the Circuit Battles Willow Springs Event Mr. Ocakoglu thought that Circuit Battles was the place for his team to compete. “I really think you guys are headed in the right direction and we want to be involved.” was the sentiment expressed by Mr. Ocakoglu.
The staff at Redline Track Events is very excited to add a driver with the following and international fan base of Tarzan Yamada to the Circuit Battles line-up. Tarzan’s aggressive driving style should be an excellent fit for the extremely fast paced action of Circuit Battles.
Tarzan will be racing despite the hardships his family and his countrymen have been undergoing since the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Tarzan resides full time in Tokyo when not traveling the world competing in time attack competitions.
For all information regarding Round 2 of the Redline Track Events 2011 season at Firebird International Raceway, please visit www.redlinetrackevents.com.
