Whippled 6-sp with RXT clutch- so hard to drive!

[Nardly]

What was it you didn't like? Did the clutch have a really high catch point? It's a shame because I heard the tremec in the new Mach 1 is wonderful. They should be using that in all the GT's.

It grabbed to high and abrupt, hard to get a smooth release. I wanted a manual but was a little gun shy after that drive. I tried test driving the tremic at a local dealership but they wanted me to do a bunch of paperwork and to agree to a $2.5K ADP


I don't think anything's wrong per se, there isn't even any chatter with the clutch. I think the main problem for me is I feel I have no control of the gas pedal in terms of trying to just give it a little bit of gas. That seems almost impossible when engine is under no load. I just touch the pedal and vrrroooooom!

It's that combined with the fact the clutch catches so high and with very little grab feeling.

So it's like the engine is revving as I am slowly releasing the clutch pedal waiting for some type of grab feeling that isn't there. Releasing it more, still not there, meanwhile engine is just revving, than it finally just suddenly catches. I feel embarrassed driving it, like I said people around me must be like WTF.

But other than the engagement issues everything seems to physically work ok if you know what I mean.

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[Inthehighdesert]

There’s nothing wrong with the clutch or the install. I have the same setup on my 350. Give it some time, you’ll get used to it. I did the same thing a few times after the whipple/clutch install. Sounded like I was at a staging light in a pro stock car. Thinking wtf, I drove a clutch better when I was 12.

 

[SlowJunk]

Like @moffets said. Take the clutch pedal spring out. That was the first thing I did to my 18. Since I have done many things, including a Whipple gen5 stage 2. Removing that God awful clutch spring made the biggest difference for me even before FI. Best part is that it is a free mod. Worth a shot.

 

[Bulutt]

It is NOT the twin disc clutch.
Part of the problem is the stiff clutch along with the light flywheel. The light flywheel allows the car to rev quickly. But, the down side is that all of a sudden with the stiff, quick engaging ceramic clutch there is no softening in the clutch springs. You are "on" or "off". Not fun.
That is a terrible combination and that clutch is not necessary. Change the flywheel and clutch kit with something more realistic for the street.
It is NOT the tune.
Look for a bit higher hp clutch kit than stock with organic clutch material and reasonable clamping pressure plate along with and Iron flywheel which allows for normal driving and you will LOVE your Mustang again.
Likely why the previous owner sold it.

What he said

 

[kbreeze72]

There’s nothing wrong with the clutch or the install. I have the same setup on my 350. Give it some time, you’ll get used to it. I did the same thing a few times after the whipple/clutch install. Sounded like I was at a staging light in a pro stock car. Thinking wtf, I drove a clutch better when I was 12.

LOL, exactly! Thanks for the feedback, that makes me feel better

 

[kbreeze72]

Well, today it is 55 out, beautiful day here in NY, just like spring, and I took the car out for my second drive. and I am VERY happy to report I was able to drive it OK!

I just cleared my mind of how I normally drive a stick, thought about what how the gas pedal was reacting and how the clutch was engaging, adjusted technique, and was able to drive it quite smoothly. There was a couple hiccups here and there, but for the most part I was fine.

I think my first drive was a mix of the cold temps and me trying to drive it the same as I drove my Z06. The warm weather and thinking more about it and adapting = success. So right now, I am confident I can drive the car fine and will just get better with it.

I AM SO RELIEVED!

Now, I still worry about the durability of the MT-82, but one hurdle at a time

 

[Grimreaper]

cold starts are usually touchier, i would recommend a
spacer behind the carpet on the clutch pedal contact area. limits the depth the pedal can go and to your leg and brain its feels like the catch point is lower. makes me also wonder if its less strain on the clutch spring and hydraulics as you arent ever maxing out the range. you will still have half a pedal travel before it starts to grab but easier to drive with.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

The Mt-82 is fine as long as your not trying to speed shift it and miss. Much like the T-5’s from back in the day. The McLeod clutch is really good, it’s just the engagement is right now, even more then the oem dual disc. And of course it’s a touch higher in the pedal. I like the McLeod, but the oem dual disc in the 350 is one of the best clutch’s in any car I’ve ever driven.

Well, today it is 55 out, beautiful day here in NY, just like spring, and I took the car out for my second drive. and I am VERY happy to report I was able to drive it OK!

I just cleared my mind of how I normally drive a stick, thought about what how the gas pedal was reacting and how the clutch was engaging, adjusted technique, and was able to drive it quite smoothly. There was a couple hiccups here and there, but for the most part I was fine.

I think my first drive was a mix of the cold temps and me trying to drive it the same as I drove my Z06. The warm weather and thinking more about it and adapting = success. So right now, I am confident I can drive the car fine and will just get better with it.

I AM SO RELIEVED!

Now, I still worry about the durability of the MT-82, but one hurdle at a time

 

[Mantis]

First, for reference, I've been driving stick for over 30 years and my two previous two cars with sticks were a heads/cam c5 z06 and h/c c6 z06, c5 had twin disk clutch. Could drive both perfectly fine including sitting in heavy traffic for long periods of time.

Last night I took my recently purchased 2017 Mustang GT for its first drive, and I felt Like a 15 year old driving his first car. First the gas pedal is super sensitive, it just revs so fast with just a slight push of the throttle. Secondly the RXT1200HD clutch grabs very high, almost at point where clutch is being totally let out. So as I'm trying to give it a little gas and feel some clutch grab, the car just revs like vroooommmm and then all then eventually clutch finally grabs very high very quickly with little feel of it slipping in.

Car has lightened steel flywheel, aluminum DS, And Whipple is GEN 5 stage 2 with 132mm tb and 3.75 pulley running whipples tune.

The main problem is first gear from a stop. People in cars around me must be saying WTF is he doing, its that bad. Never had any issue with stick before. Never driven a car this difficult in my life. I'm sure I'll get more used to it, but it seems like an act of ultra precision to do it smoothly. NO WAY I could ever drive this car in any traffic right now.

For starters, Can it be tuned to Rev much slower?

I have a 15 with the rxt1200hd and stage 2 whipple with the steel flywheel. My car is also a performance pack with the 3.73 gears. EVERYTHING you describe is precisely what I went through. First was brutally hard and going to second not much better. The clutch is NOT forgiving at all but holds the power like no other. It does need substantial breakin time. I can tell you from my experience after 5k miles it got better and it is also much better after warming up. It is without a doubt a digital circuit so quick shifting helps. I was seriously contemplating converting my clutch to a different disc for a while but feel like i finally enjoy it now….5 months later.

i was embarrassed, frustrated, and confused for so long. Oh and keep traction control OFF for breakin. Car gets confused with it on and thinks it is losing traction as you are trying to slip it at high revs.
Dm me if you want to exchange notes.

 

[kbreeze72]

I have a 15 with the rxt1200hd and stage 2 whipple with the steel flywheel. My car is also a performance pack with the 3.73 gears. EVERYTHING you describe is precisely what I went through. First was brutally hard and going to second not much better. The clutch is NOT forgiving at all but holds the power like no other. It does need substantial breakin time. I can tell you from my experience after 5k miles it got better and it is also much better after warming up. It is without a doubt a digital circuit so quick shifting helps. I was seriously contemplating converting my clutch to a different disc for a while but feel like i finally enjoy it now….5 months later.

i was embarrassed, frustrated, and confused for so long. Oh and keep traction control OFF for breakin. Car gets confused with it on and thinks it is losing traction as you are trying to slip it at high revs.
Dm me if you want to exchange notes.

Appreciate the feedback, and glad to hear it wasn't just me!! The clutch only has about 400 miles on it, so it's got a very long way to go to get to 5k miles. It's not my daily driver and will only be driven occasionally. Anyhow, nice to hear you eventually got used to it. The previous owner also told me to keep TC off. I just have to get used to turning it off every time I get in the car. Cheers!

 

[Mantis]

Mine is also not my daily. At 1500 miles i was still getting chatter which was driving me nuts( nearly threw in the towel). 2500 the chatter was gone but it was still brutal off the line. Around 3500 things started coming together, i would still have a hard time occasionally …just enough to drive me nuts. Warm weather was a big help, but teaching myself to throw out everything i knew by reflex was the hardest part.

cheers!!

 

[kbreeze72]

Mine is also not my daily. At 1500 miles i was still getting chatter which was driving me nuts( nearly threw in the towel). 2500 the chatter was gone but it was still brutal off the line. Around 3500 things started coming together, i would still have a hard time occasionally …just enough to drive me nuts. Warm weather was a big help, but teaching myself to throw out everything i knew by reflex was the hardest part.

cheers!!

Do you have a totally stock MT-82? It's held up fine for you? What tires do you run?

 

[Mantis]

Stock mt82. Balding crap tires. Going to put some 305 g2 ultras this summer. I am more worried about half shafts then the trans. Street driving it should all hold together fine.

 

[Avispa]

It is NOT the twin disc clutch.
Part of the problem is the stiff clutch along with the light flywheel. The light flywheel allows the car to rev quickly. But, the down side is that all of a sudden with the stiff, quick engaging ceramic clutch there is no softening in the clutch springs. You are "on" or "off". Not fun.
That is a terrible combination and that clutch is not necessary. Change the flywheel and clutch kit with something more realistic for the street.
It is NOT the tune.
Look for a bit higher hp clutch kit than stock with organic clutch material and reasonable clamping pressure plate along with and Iron flywheel which allows for normal driving and you will LOVE your Mustang again.
Likely why the previous owner sold it.

Yep, that's the answer. A McLeod RST twin organic disk street clutch will do very well and hold 800 hp. The flywheel might be ok, if you can get used to the quick revving.

 

[DUFF TT]

Resurrecting this thread, as it does address some of my questions, but not all.

Similar to this guy a few years back, I'm working with a boosted '17 that has a new RXT clutch in it. I've got 100 miles on the clutch, car itself has 3,200 miles. The RXT was just put in a few weeks ago, along with:
- steeda stop the hop kit
- steeda lower control arm spherical bearings
- ford performance knuckle to toe link bearing assembly
- new clutch slave
- RXT modular steel base plate sprung hub disc (1 x 23)
- steel ford modular 2010-14 5.4L GT500 8 bolt crank flywheel
- ford performance axles
- dss 3.5" aluminum driveshaft

Car has twin turbos on E85. Like the OP, I'm finding the new clutch to be a bit tricky. That's not entirely unexpected, as I get that the reasons this clutch will hold my HP are some of the same reasons the behaviors I'm experiencing are present. However, I want to be sure I'm getting the best performance out of the clutch and not damaging it by trying to get it to "behave" like a stock clutch. My biggest issue is creeping in traffic in first gear. It seems almost impossible, unless I leave big gaps between myself and the car ahead, because getting off the line feathering the throttle with this clutch seems almost impossible. Should I not even be attempting to do that? I swear the cars ahead of me somehow know I'm driving a manual, and constantly do the "accelerate for a split second only to slam on the brakes" move in front of me, which makes the situation even more tricky. I can live with it if this is just how this combo of parts behaves, but man is it tough to launch this thing at low rpms now! Give it some gas, and allow for quick takeup, and it's pretty darn smooth even with only 100 miles on it. A "spirited" takeoff just isn't practical sometimes, however.

Any tips on 1st gear creeping? I've never smelled the clutch once, and shifts after first are very smooth. Getting into first is also smooth, sometimes, but between the mild sloppiness you get with low rpm throttle inputs on E85 cars, and aggressive grab of this clutch, I feel like a teenage driver all over again. Luckily, this is a weekend car.

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