blackwolf wrote:

Ian,

For the benefit of those of us who are not clutch experts, can you outline the advantages of a paddle clutch (I imagine that the name refers to the fact that the friction material is discontinuous?) compared to a normal type?

I notice that the springs on the driven plate are shorter and appear to be much less likely to take on a permanent set and fall out. Does this mean that this is a suitable replacement for the standard clutch on all Defenders, or is it really only appropriate on fire-breathing tuned monsters?

Thanks,

Roger

Skeggy 90 wrote:

Just out of interest, what engine management are you running on the TDV6, if you can get a 3.0 to run as well in a Defender as a Disco 4 I would be very interested in a conversion.

Porny wrote:

blackwolf wrote:

Ian,

For the benefit of those of us who are not clutch experts, can you outline the advantages of a paddle clutch (I imagine that the name refers to the fact that the friction material is discontinuous?) compared to a normal type?

I notice that the springs on the driven plate are shorter and appear to be much less likely to take on a permanent set and fall out. Does this mean that this is a suitable replacement for the standard clutch on all Defenders, or is it really only appropriate on fire-breathing tuned monsters?

Thanks,

Roger

Apologies - I hadn't noticed the other replies...

The advantages (due to both the design and material used) is the higher clamping loads and frictional co-efficient of the friction material. It is designed to be suitable for upto 40 % increases in torque over the standard clutch.

The springs are much shorter than a standard centre (is a HD centre pack) and are capable of taking a higher shock loading.

The downside of a full race paddle clutch is its aggressive nature... however, due to the number of pads/paddles used on this one (full race typically has 4 pads) - when fitted it is virtually no different to drive than a standard vehicle. There may be a slight increase in noise at idle (when clutch not depressed) - but apart from that, no other downsides.

It is suitable for all applications - from mild to wild... although if you go really mad then there is another option.... but will see how long this ones lasts first on my Puma (200bhp/565Nm... well that is what it used to make).

This clutch would be ideal for an IRB450 upgrade (so 450nm).... but equally at home on a standard vehicle that is worked hard.

Skeggy 90 wrote:

Just out of interest, what engine management are you running on the TDV6, if you can get a 3.0 to run as well in a Defender as a Disco 4 I would be very interested in a conversion.

Its took a while but we have an aftermarket ecu that is actually capable of running the engine properly and will also allow proper integration with an auto gearbox if needed.

A few people have tried using a UK offered standalone ECU - but from experience, the ECU capability is about 30 years out of date... and can not run a Tdv6 properly, and would more at home on a lawn mower. I ended up give a UK vehicle builder their car back with this ECU as I would not put my name to it. Cold start control was shocking, turbo control shocking and fault detection none existent.

The ECU we have finally sourced has almost as much capability as the OEM Bosch ECU... and will be calibrated so that is drives as well (actually better) than a standard TDV6 - and will definitely not have the dip in power/torque that you see on the Disco 4 when running on a rolling road (due to turbo switching/control)... and low speed pick up with hugely different - i.e it actually pulls away when you give it boot full pulling out at islands etc.

By the looks of it there will be 3x 3.0 Tdv6 builds on going this year - and one in a very special none LR application.

Ian