Weak link in Festiva drivetrain.

[fastivaca]

When swapping in a more powerful engine what is the weak link in the Festiva drivetrain? Is it the clutch or the transmission itself? I realize that torque steer becomes an issue with the unequal driveshafts lengths but that's not my main concern at this point.

Sent from somewhere west of here via Tapatalk!

[bhearts]

the e series clutch sucks, for a lack of better words. i think that most people find clutch problems before they ever run into transmition issues, unless their trans was not in great shape to start with. i dont think anyone has issues with running stock b6 motors on an e series with the stock clutch, but the b8 and bp engines push it to its limits. ive heard complaints with a b3 around 7 lbs of boost, so id say the magic number is maybe 90 ftlbs of torque before it starts to slip, but theres always best case and worst case scenarios.

[zoom zoom]

You can make the clutch slip with a stock b6 lol...

They're 82 HP but they have over 90 ft lb of torque.

[fastivaca]

You can make the clutch slip with a stock b6 lol...

Yes you can

All that being said has anyone had experience with ClutchNet clutches and pressure plates?

Sent from somewhere west of here via Tapatalk!

[M3NTAL]

Ian you don't want to outgrow your clutch.

I personally only had experience with ACT clutches and I love them.

[Damkid]

Yup I can totally agree that a weak clutch sucks

Nothing like knowing you have all kinds of power but knowing its useless since the clutch can't hold it

[Flyin4stroke]

Well I will say that my crappy clutch has saved my g-series. I've ran my car down the track a few times and it still isn't noisy or clunky. But yeah it's lame when you have more pedal when racing and can't use it. But really any more power and the wheels just spin longer....

[bhazard]

Both the tiny clutch and E series trans are equally weak.

Also, I have unequal length shafts in my BPT car, and no torque steer.

[TorqueEffect]

You can make the clutch slip with a stock b6 lol...

They're 82 HP but they have over 90 ft lb of torque.

Haven't been able to make this one slip yet. We used my clutch disc and pressure plate, but your flywheel correct?
I do know it actually grabs better now with what we put in, than everything I had on the B3.

But I don't think it is churning out the full horsepower though, it certainly feels more powerful, just not exactly 20+HP more powerful. Maybe I am overestimating 20HP. Wish I could stick it on a dyno. My butt dyno is not very good. :p

I know the exhaust sounds nice, even though it does sound like a wasp nest, I still like it though. Haters gonna hate!

[Aaronbrook37]

Yay for high-power E-series builds. My Suzuki Swift GTi six puck (ACT probably) clutch is holding 16 psi with ease.

[sketchman]

I'll be doing a Spec Stage 2 for my B6-ME. Overkill right now, but a turbo is planned for later.

Dragsterdave gave me good feedback on it. Think there at least 2 others running it too. All good feedback. And it's a 100% bolt-in item for the E.

Oh, also IMO the mounting is a very weak point in the Festiva. There needs to be (again IMO) "pivot" point mounts near the top of the engine/trans on both passenger and driver sides, AND mounts on the bottom to control torque. The stock setup annoys the life out of me. The trans end is not stabilized at all on top, so it is free to wiggle around under loading and unloading.