McLeod RST 1 week review

[geep81]

Recently my slave cylinder went bad at 41k miles. While in there I had my clutch replaced.

The Mustang-specific shop I had it at says they had good success with McLeod RXT. Looking into that clutch it seems a bit more aggressive and for way more horsepower than my mostly stock car makes.

I opted for the RST instead.

The feel and performance is an improvement over my OEM setup. Car feels great starting from a stop. Really grips when you engage, and all the actions and engagements are so smooth compared to what I was dealing with before.

The only negative I have is the noise it makes at low RPMs. It does not like it if you give it little gas without downshifting first if you are just cruising along in a 25mph zone.

If you want a quiet clutch, do not get this one.

If you want a clutch that really feels great and works great, and are fine with some noise tradeoffs, this one is pretty cool.

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[Eyesac]

Word. It's easy to slip. Being un-sprung, it feels like there's less slop in the drivetrain, light flywheel seems to rev up faster...but it's noisy. I just learned to avoid lugging it at low rpm...

 

[J17GT]

What you’re hearing is called ‘gear rollover’ in the transmission. The clutch being unsprung it does not dampen any of that.

 

[GJarrett]

I couldn't stand the noise and replaced mine with less than 1k miles. It was way too noisy for me. One of those mods I wish I could turn back time and get my money back.

 

[geep81]

Thanks for a little more info on why it makes the noises it does.

Agreed the noise could be off putting, partly why I wanted to put a clearly titled subject out on here for anyone searching for info on it! I did find comments all over the internet and not just for the Mustang clutches but Corvettes and Camaros too about McLeod being noisy, going way back ten years+.

So in my limited and quick research while my car was broken the noisy clutch seemed like a risk I was willing to take.

I wouldn't probably stick with it if I was a Sunday driver/barely drove my car, but driving it every day I am loving the difference in the feel vs the old setup a lot.

Re-learning some driving habits to keep the RPMs up a bit more has been fun.

 

[geep81]

I couldn't stand the noise and replaced mine with less than 1k miles. It was way too noisy for me. One of those mods I wish I could turn back time and get my money back.

I get some help with the noise because I have a V8, active exhaust and an H pipe making the car louder, helps drown out some stuff. When I drive in quiet mode it's quite a bit more noticeable.

If I had an eco and it wasn't terribly loud I could see this getting annoying quick!

 

[John S]

I think I understand why a dual mass flywheel would be used on a flat plain crank Voodoo engine but does a Coyote engine (mustang firing order) with its 90 degree crank need one, too? Or, Is the noise a direct result of the reduced dampening properties of any twin disc systems on a single flywheel?

 

[robvas]

I think I understand why a dual mass flywheel would be used on a flat plain crank Voodoo engine but does a Coyote engine (mustang firing order) with its 90 degree crank need one, too? Or, Is the noise a direct result of the reduced dampening properties of any twin disc systems on a single flywheel?

A lot of cars come with a dual mass flywheel now, 2018+ Mustang included (along with a factory twin disc cluth)

But when you go with something like a McLeod you put a regular flywheel back on

 

[SheepDog]

The stock twin disc is better than anything McLeod offers. If you aren't making north of 700ish HP, don't even bother with aftermarket clutches.

 

[geep81]

The stock twin disc is better than anything McLeod offers. If you aren't making north of 700ish HP, don't even bother with aftermarket clutches.

I never loved the stock clutch, but being new to driving manuals I had limited experience on what I didn't like about it.

I also have limited experience with modifying cars, but I knew if my transmission ever needed work I was going to try something new. (mainly to clean up my MT-82 issues that developed over time)

The feel of the McLeod RST is better than my stock clutch. It improved the driving feel over stock in shifting and accelerating in some small but noticeable ways.

I notice the lack of "slop" when engaging that I am being told was due to the springs that are no longer present. I really like how that feels, the car just sort of wants to take off now instead of bounce around a bit before it goes. I am really enjoying that.

 

[kz]

I had stock clutch replaced after I almost couldn't engage 1st and reverse (not a clutch issue but made sense since transmission was coming out).

It is louder, feel is similar - better is subjective - but it feels more solid at engagement point, when it grabs you know it did.

Is is loud at low RPM (I initially thought some exhaust part was loose). Personally I like it a lot.
(background - drove well over a 100 of different manual cars with all kinds clutches, in fact I didn't drive an automatic car until I was 26 years old).

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