Exedy+4.235R&P+Short Gears First Impression

Joined
13 September 2000
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6,427
Location
Tulsa, OK
FWIW,

I got the Exedy, 4.235 R&P, and the short gears installed on my '91. The car's been in the shop for almost two weeks and cost me more than a grand but it's finally back. Boy, was I antsy. Haven't driven it much (from the shop to my home) but here are my thoughts about the difference so far. Oh, in addition, my mechanic built the diff with a 105lb (measured) diff preset torque.

Short gears and R&P:Enough of a difference to notice but overall I'm not that impressed. Perhaps with a little bit more seat time? Shifts are obviously much sooner and 1st to 2nd is at a much better RPM. Did some heel and toeing and noticed it seemed a little more difficult which is the opposite of what I expected. Acceleration seems better all the way up to 4th gear. It's better but not "whoa." Although I'm thinking this tranny is going to be great for my local track. It's a good mod but I'm thinking the grand would have been better spent on saving for a supercharger.

Clutch: Whoa...cool clutch my friends. This thing grabs like a mofo. I went from a stock clutch to a Dali clutch to the Exedy. And the difference in the way the Exedy grabs is like night and day, like a Democrat to a Republican, like Schumacher to Verstappen, like...well, you get my point. It grabs so well that I noticed that the clutch is the reason (sans my two left feet) that heel and toeing is more difficult. The rev match has to be perfect b/c this bad boy is not going to slip. Re the infamous clutch chatter: Not that big of a deal to me and most of it is drowned out by my exhaust anyway (which I think is too quiet anyway). And if it's gets annoying, just remind yourself not to ride the clutch anyway. So no big deal. Re the small sweet spot: whoa...understatement of the year. Haven't stalled it (ok, maybe once;)) but it's a little more difficult to get used to than the Dali clutch. But I'm confident that a little more seat time will alleviate this problem. Too quick a start and I'll chirp my 285 wide S0-3's. Yeah, way cool. :) Oh, and peddle pressure is not that much different from stock. A little heavier (fractionally) but certainly not enough to build up your left quad.

Overall, I'm REALLY happy with the car now and only have three more mods, and a few years, before I contemplate forced induction. I have an NSX drive touring Southeast Oklahoma this weekend and a drag race event in early November and I'll report any changes in my very limited first impression opinion.
 
Hey Ponyboy,

I'm so glad you posted about this. I was going to do the exact same project as you. I figured $1400 for the 4.23 and shorties from SoS, and my mech. was getting me a great deal on an exedy clutch for $1300 (btw, frow where did you get your exedy?). I also figured about $800-900 for labor for the entire install, clutch and all.

Unfortunately, my mech advised me that I will have to buy some stock parts along with the other parts i.e. bearings for the tranny for a grand total of $1100 extra. So with the clutch, SoS tranny, extra stock parts, and labor at $1100, my grand total would be a hell of a lot more than I was originally planning on spending for the NSX.

But I am suprised at your lack of enthusiasm for the shorties and type-R R&P! I got the impression from others and my mech that this mod will make your X feel like a whole new car. But, I am more enthusiastic about getting my Exedy clutch now.

Is it true that Exedy builds their clutches for Mugen? Heard that from somewhere.

Anyways, good luck and have fun tracking your new Type-R tranny NSX.
 
Ponyboy: Being Dutch I cant resist responding to your 'comparison' between Schumacher and Dutch F1 driver Verstappen. I'm not a biggest fan of Verstappen but in all fairness you have to realize that Verstappen is one of the best F1 drivers in the current F1 field (although results will not show this of course, because excellent results in F1 can only be obtained when you have the best material at your disposal, which obviaously Team Minardi doesn't have...but, man, have you ever see him drive in the wet?). Even Michael Schumacher himself, a good friend of Verstappen, has stated many times before that Verstappen has the qualities to be in the absolute top.

In other words: It seems your very happy with your new clucth as it seems much better (?) than your previous clutch but your comparison between F1 drivers is a bit, euh, strange. ;)

P.S. Now that I defended Hollands best (and only
:D ) F1 driver, I expect nothing less than a personal invation by him to drive a F1 car myself, whereas I will show the young man how a F1 car needs to be driven !! :D :D

______________

'00 Honda Accord Type R

cheers guys!
 
BladesNSX,

I had to buy some extra stock parts for the transmission as well. If I remember correctly the 1st to 2nd gear synchro and sleeve and the the 3rd to 4th synchro. In addition, all of th transmission seals and stuff. Extra parts amounted to $328. Got the Exedy from MJ at Dali Racing within days after I ordered it. All in all, it was more than I was expecting (in particular the shop time) but in general I'm happy with it. The R&P and shorties are...ehh...ok I guess. I'm reserving final judgement until I can get this puppy on the track.

I think you'll like the clutch. It takes a few miles of city driving to get used to the small sweet spot (engagement) but it truly grabs like a Hulk Hogan headlock.

Once I felt my clutch slipping, I decided to go ahead and do the whole gear swap, including a higher diff lock, so I could save on labor. Only the truly obsessed could have justified that - so my wife says. ;) But overall, I happy with everything.

CWATR,

Apologies for offending you. I only intented the comparision to be in jest. ;)
 
Exedy clutch

FYI...Chris @ Science of Speed is selling a brand new Exedy clutch at a reduced price in the Parts For Sale section.
 
Yes, I saw that Chris is selling an Exedy clutch. I don't know if the price is reduced significantly enought to compete with my Mech's price at $1200. Also, the clutch my Mech is getting is not the same "stage" clutch as SoS. I am not sure what stage clutch Dali Racing has. I have no plans on every doing FI to my car. I am anxiously waiting on new on SoS's velocity stack system. So IOW, the stage clutch I am getting from my Mech is rated at appx. 400 lb/ft torque. I think that should be enough. It also comes with a chromoly lightweight flywheel.

I just wish I could justify putting in the Type R tranny :(
 
Ponyboy said:
Short gears and R&P:Enough of a difference to notice but overall I'm not that impressed. Perhaps with a little bit more seat time? Shifts are obviously much sooner and 1st to 2nd is at a much better RPM. Did some heel and toeing and noticed it seemed a little more difficult which is the opposite of what I expected. Acceleration seems better all the way up to 4th gear. It's better but not "whoa." Although I'm thinking this tranny is going to be great for my local track. It's a good mod but I'm thinking the grand would have been better spent on saving for a supercharger.

Shawn,

try the 4.55. I have the same experience with the 4.23. Definitely love the 4.55. Especially mated with the 6 speed :)
 
I too have the carbon disk clutch setup and allthough I hated it at first - it has worn in nicely over the first 1000 miles and now it is not the on/off switch I first experianced. The interior noise has gone away - I don't stall the car - and I can make smooth starts.

At an NSX get together I did drive the standard clutch which was smooth as butter and on par with any other Honda clutch so like everything else - you may want to try it first.

I do like the way it hooks up, the stock pedal feel (no bulky left leg muscles like some of the upgraded clutches) and it should last MUCH longer then stock (the carbon clutch on the new Porsche GT is predicted to last the life of the car and not need replacement per Autoweek).

The gearing I have driven and it is one of the nicer mods you can do without going FI. I would still do headers, chip, exhaust first before the gears but for many who are too skeptical about lasting engines with the current batch of FI - it is a good move.

That all said - check this out! This looks like an awesome compremise between the TypeR and the CompTech R&P and gives you a true LSD to boot! Great track mod for those out of snap ring range as well.

http://www.daliracing.com/v666-5/catalog/index_browse_part.cfm?focus=1380
 
Re: Re: Exedy+4.235R&P+Short Gears First Impression

Andrie Hartanto said:
Shawn,

try the 4.55. I have the same experience with the 4.23. Definitely love the 4.55. Especially mated with the 6 speed :)

Dude, that's an 8k upgrade - at the very least! I think I'll save up for a good turbo system. ;)

And here's hoping the clutch lasts a long time. My previous Dali clutch handled the track abuse very well but had a small part break off near one of the springs. The clutch would slip every so often (one time pretty bad at the track). But all in all, I thought the Dali clutch was very good. Especially in conjunction with that 7.8lb flywheel. There seems to plenty of material left on the clutch surface.

That OS Giken LSD, I bet, would be awesome for the track. Hopefully, this higher lock diff will be enough.
 
It is pricey. but Comptech do has special prices for their demo products from time to time. All you have to do is ask ;)

I'm gonna be in a market for a clutch soon. After reading your response I will consider the Exedy. Do you able to reuse the 7.8 lbs flywheel?
 
I'm gonna be in a market for a clutch soon. After reading your response I will consider the Exedy. Do you able to reuse the 7.8 lbs flywheel?

Nope. The Exedy clutch has it's own proprietary flywheel. Which kinda sucks b/c the Dali 7.8lb. flywheel was awesome. I asked MJ about it and he told me "quit your whining, Mr. Racer" so I figured the improvement is fractional and I really shouldn't whine about it too much.

When you need the clutch, PM me.
 
I recently got a car with short gears (no R&P) and I am positively impressed. The overall acceleration is improved and the shifting feeling is a lot better. Those terrible long gaps between gear changes on the 5-speed are reduced enough to make me ignore them... very nice mod!
 
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