Clutch guys

Dan Bennett · 06-05-2024, 02:31 PM

Maybe out of left field here since I worked on very adjustable pro stock clutches. But there is a truth (for me) that applies to all stick cars. The engine must always be ahead of the car. A lot of the people I worked with found that difficult to grasp or maybe I didn't explain it in a way that made sense to them.

Consider a dead hook. The engine is singing and wanting to accelerate. But then you throw the entire weight of the car on it and it simply sags (bogs) under that load. What you're looking for is the engine bringing the car along with it - the clutch comes in within the engine's torque ability and the engine is revving hard, bringing the car along with it. Wheelspeed is critical.

Stockers and SS have limited ways to do this. Leave RPM, tires, disk compound, spring weight can all fine tune the load your engine sees at any given part of the run. The lengthy post above this is saying the same thing. The only improvement I'd suggest is bringing the clutch back in quicker after a gear change. If you see the RPM drop as that happens, you've gone too far. And sometimes it's effective for the tires to spin on the change as it keeps both the rpm and the wheelspeed high.

It's just my way of thinking which won a lot of rounds. Pulling the engine down out of its range at the bottom of a gear is always slower than a small spike which allows the engine to take off again while letting the clutch catch up to it quickly.

06-05-2024, 02:31 PM	#39
Dan Bennett Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 439 Likes: 855 Liked 595 Times in 136 Posts	Re: Clutch guys Maybe out of left field here since I worked on very adjustable pro stock clutches. But there is a truth (for me) that applies to all stick cars. The engine must always be ahead of the car. A lot of the people I worked with found that difficult to grasp or maybe I didn't explain it in a way that made sense to them. Consider a dead hook. The engine is singing and wanting to accelerate. But then you throw the entire weight of the car on it and it simply sags (bogs) under that load. What you're looking for is the engine bringing the car along with it - the clutch comes in within the engine's torque ability and the engine is revving hard, bringing the car along with it. Wheelspeed is critical. Stockers and SS have limited ways to do this. Leave RPM, tires, disk compound, spring weight can all fine tune the load your engine sees at any given part of the run. The lengthy post above this is saying the same thing. The only improvement I'd suggest is bringing the clutch back in quicker after a gear change. If you see the RPM drop as that happens, you've gone too far. And sometimes it's effective for the tires to spin on the change as it keeps both the rpm and the wheelspeed high. It's just my way of thinking which won a lot of rounds. Pulling the engine down out of its range at the bottom of a gear is always slower than a small spike which allows the engine to take off again while letting the clutch catch up to it quickly. Last edited by Dan Bennett; 06-05-2024 at 02:37 PM.