ORC 409d Clutch kit... My Review :) Long read with pics!

[justin666]

Hey

Well, As I couldn't find a huge amount on peoples actual opinions and real life experience of the ORC 409 clutch kits for the S15, I though I would put together my own little thread on this one. Hopefully its just a little bit more info out there that may help someone else when it comes to S15 clutch woes :wack:

So, a couple of months back it became apparent my standard dual mass and clutch was on the out. Vibrations, clutch not disengaging correctly, clunks and general moans and groans from the transmission all point to the fact it was time for me to get the credit card out and order some bits. So after many nights research, conversations with parts importers and Nissan UK (who didn't prove to be very helpful in this case!) I decided to for an ORC 409 Clutch kit and fly from Japan

So, An order with Nengun was placed for an ORC 409 single plate clutch kit and fly, namely ORC-409DS-02N5 S15. Two weeks later this little lot turned up



Not cheap and shipped to the UK this came in at £715 plus just over £130 on import duty :wack: So, yes there are much cheaper options out there as well as more expensive but the think that sway my decision toward this item is that its a copper mix disk, its a silent type clutch and there was in theory, no messing about with different flywheel bolts according to ORC.

Some pics next.

Disk and pressure plate



Flywheel with the return springs to keep things quite..



Back of the Flywheel..



My initial thoughts were to be honest, WOW!! It really is an awesome bit of engineering for a single plate clutch system plus my worries about fly bolts etc were also set to rest with some simple measuring up. It DOES use the standard Dual Mass fly bolts :thumbs: All looked promising for a simple swap out

Anyways, I got lazy at this point and got a good friend of mine up at Garage 786 in Leicester to do the clutch swap for me. Having done a clutch change on my back on a drive way before I really didn't fancy it so the car was delivered and I awaited the call to say it was done . That's call came and I winged my way back to the garage to collect the car with, excitement, anticipation, nerves etc etc as it was all a bit of a unknown to me. Have to say I was always worried about how the car would now drive minus the Dual mass, will it be noisy or how heavy the clutch pedal would now feel with the 409 fitted... Need not have worried !

The ORC setup is awesome all be it takes a little getting used to.. The Pedal feel is so light its unbelievable, infact, I would go as far as to say, maybe ever so slightly lighter than standard!! How ORC have managed to make a clutch with such biting and holding power on such a light pedal it pretty much wizardry in my eyes lol. It really is zero effort when cruising up and down the gears. The only issue initially is that it is VERY grabby when pulling off in 1st and acts almost like a paddle clutch in that it is a little on or off, but there is slip there.. You just have to find it . Initially it didn't like traffic and would shudder on constant stop start as it built up heat (grab, slip, grab, slip etc) but 300 miles in, that's now pretty much gone and it engages silky smooth. That may also be down to me getting used to it and now getting the knack of pulling away with the ORC and the much lighter flywheel. Its just needs a few more revs and away ya go.

As far as noise goes, it is indeed silent and bar the Swwwwooooosshhhh noise ya get on cold start up its damn quiet!! The ORC system really does seem to work well with no rattles on either an engaged or disengaged system.

As for converting to solid fly, massive different in the "revvyness" of the SR20 and it certainly feels much more responsive! The only downside, extra transmission noise especially when coasting down the gears, off throttle, at around 3k rpm. However, I have since removed my subframe locking collars from the car and what was a lot of extra noise and vibration has since pretty much all gone :thumbs:

Overall, Very happy with it and worth the money but then at the mo I am only on week 1 since the change to the ORC kit Will see what the next few weeks bring with some more town, faster road and track day driving planned in :nod:

 

[tooley]

The clutch is epic! I use it on my s15 never broken on. I've only gone through 1 before due to wear. I can clutch kick in 4th 5th all day!!!

 

[EMAGDNIM]

Thanks for taking the time to post up a review

 

[Cap'n Crash]

Quite an old thread I know. But I've been looking into this. So did you go for the silent, standard or "noise" type clutch. And was with with or without dampner attached?

 

[Feast Japan]

Love ORC, have the carbon pro in my 93 Silvia. Had few track days on it and my only gripe is it takes time to warm up. This is just a given though with any carbon type of clutch.

But about the 409 you bought, great choice and good value too. Ill be getting similar model for the S15 after the Nismo sport clutch is burned out.

 

[justin666]

Quite an old thread I know. But I've been looking into this. So did you go for the silent, standard or "noise" type clutch. And was with with or without dampner attached?

ORC-409DS-02N5 S15 is the one I had and was the Silent and Damper kit with Flywheel.

I had it on the car for about a year before I sold it and couldn't fault it to be honest. The fly wheel made a HUGE difference to how the car drove but I did have to tweak the hot idle slightly as it didn't like starting again when warm! But.. 1000 rpm on warm tick over fixed that.

As for the Clutch, Lots of Feel to it, LOADS of bite and a very light pedal feel but generally brilliant for fast road and track use. As A daily clutch its OK. My only gripe is that when it got warm in traffic it could get very grabby and shudder a little and you do have to adapt ya driving slightly to it. Sometimes it just needed a few more revs and getting off the clutch a bit quicker to get going similar to a paddle clutch setup.

One thing to note, The "Silent" bit isn't entirely true and all these light fly kits, especially the ORC do make noise. You will hear the springs rattling a little bit altho not intrusive and no where near as loud as the noise types which are very loud. There is also an increase in transmission noise but again only slight but that's the same for any light fly kit that eliminates the Dual Mass. Personally, the very slight increase in noise is FAR outweighed by the benefits of the Solid fly and drivability, They transform the car

Honestly tho, I loved it . If you don't use ya car as a daily in traffic and its an evening weekend Toy with a few track / Drift days thrown into the mix, I cant recommend the ORC 409 enough.. However, if you spends a lot of time in traffic, Stick with the Dual Mass fly and a non copper metallic clutch disk cause it will annoy you .

 

[Cap'n Crash]

Man that is exactly the sort off information I've been hunting for! That's it, I'm buying one right now! They're currently reduced on nengun at £515 for the one you stated. Where are people getting flywheel bolts from, I take it you don't just re-use them.

 

[justin666]

Thats the reason I started this thread about a year ago . Hardly any info out there in terms of usability and what they are actually like to deal with so I started my own

Flywheels bolts for me were from Nissan as it is just the standard ones used in this kit. Non of this shorter S14 bolts to get things to fit. I wish I could remember how much the bolts were as well as the part numbers but I don't have my service history any more so cant check back.!!! They didn't cost much tho and only took a couple of days to get them. I think ARP do some aswell but don't quote me on that!

 

[Mark_s15]

Hi Justin,

How much power was your car making with this ORC clutch? Did you ever experience any slip?

I am also looking at some Japanese clutches for my s15 and I need it to support around 240-250rwkw. Using the car for spirited hills drives, circuit days (grip, timeattack etc) and street use also (not my daily though).

Im also looking at OS-Giken and HKS.