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Test and reviews WERKS RACING Powerclutch |
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Test and reviews WERKS RACING Powerclutch |
Click on the pictures to enlarge them
What is a POWERCLUTCH?
The WERKS RACING
POWERCLUTCH is an adjustable clutch!
Yes adjustable!
If your are struggling with breaking scissor spring style clutches and blowing
clutch bearings then this WERKS
RACING adjustable clutch might be an option.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The four shoes are positioned in between pins and a top plate and have a
45 degree edge on top and bottom..
The top plate keeps the shoes compressed in position with a large single clutch spring at idle speed.
As soon as the rotation speed is high enough the pressure from the clutch spring is not
enough anymore to keep the shoes inwards and the top plate will be pressing
against the spring and the shoes will move outwards and touch the inner side of
the standard clutch bell.
If you look at the pictures it looks a little like a CENTAX style clutch as
designed by Serpent for 1:8 scale on road cars.
But with this clutch there are no small trust bearings to get defective by dust
and dirt.
Also the shoes of a CENTAX
clutch are in a 45 degree angle so you need special clutch bells too.
With the POWERCLUTCH the shoes engage sideways as we are used too with normal
scissor spring style clutches so you can use normal style clutch bells.
CAN IT BE ADJUSTED?
Yes it, can by means of:
1] A clutch nut that puts more or less pressure on the main
spring.
2] The thickness of the used clutch spring
3] The material used for the shoes.
4] The mixing of number of shoes types used.
The pressure on the spring determents the point of engagement of the shoes.
The thickness of the clutch spring determents the transition timing of the
clutch
The material of the shoes determents the grip/slippage the clutch has.
So there are many variables to get the clutch adjusted to your engine, car and
driving style performance.
To do so you have to remove the clutch bell from the engine.
At this point of writing 22-11-2004 WERKS RACING has a new clutch nut
WRX 6516 so
the clutch can be externally adjusted without removing the clutch bell.
Just drill a single 2 mm hole in the side of the clutch bell.
Adjusting the clutch then becomes easy as you can insert a small 1-1.5mm rod
(hexagon tool, piano wire etc.) through hole of the clutch and the clutch nut.
By holding the flywheel with one hand and
rotate the wire or tool to the right (clockwise) for later engagement or to the left
(anti-clockwise) for earlier engagement.
By means for Ron Hopkins from WERKS
RACING we received a complete POWERCLUTCH
package to review and to track test.
The WRX 6503 clutch kit came as one complete package containing:
* A purple flywheel in 35 mm diameter (33 mm flywheels are available too for
Xray XB8)
* 4 white TEFLON shoes
* 3 different thickness springs 1.3 - 1.7 and 1.8 mm (standard in each complete
clutch kit)
* We also received a package WRX 6512 with 4 red RULON and WRX 6511 with 4 black CARBON composite shoes
The package!
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The three package with their part numbers: |
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All the parts take makes the clutch. |
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The manual front side. |
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The manual rear side |
Building the POWERCLUTCH
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When using the manual and the drawing supplied nothing can go wrong. Take the engine in our case a STS D21B and place the bronze cone that comes with the engineon the crankshaft. |
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Now fit the flywheel. |
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Put some medium strength thread lock on the thread of the crankshaft and screw the flywheel nut on the crankshaft and tight it with hand force all the way on the crankshaft. |
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Clamp the flywheel with a large pliers and tight the nut with a 10 mm tube tool. |
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Put the engine with the crankshaft again pointing upwards for easy assembly
and fit the four shoes of your choice. A combination of two white shoes and two black shoes or any other mixing combination is possible to determine you desired way of working of this clutch. |
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Place the top plate |
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Place one of the springs (start with the gold one of 1.3 mm) |
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Put some medium strength thread lock on the top of the flywheel nut and
place the clutch nut and tighten it until the nut is level with the top of
the flywheel nut using a 10 mm tool. Remove all excessive thread lock instantly and let it dry for minimal 30 minutes so the thread lock can do its work. |
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The WERKS RACING POWERCLUTCH ready to use. |
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Place the clutch bell and secure it with a 3 m washer and 3 mm hexagon screw. |
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Make sure the clutch bell cover the shoes completely. This picture shows a wrong an incorrect way. |
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This picture shows a correct mounted clutch bell which covers up the
full width of the clutch shoes. Make sure the clutch bell free horizontal movement of 0.5 mm on the crankshaft. |
Maintenance, set up and tips
| spring adjustments | ||
| point of clutch nut | point of engaging | |
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Clutch nut flush with flywheel nut Starting point! |
earliest engaging |
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Clutch nut turned clock wise | latest engaging |
| TIP | The WERKS
RACING POWERCLUTCH
can be used with standard clutch bells. However beside the setting of the clutch spring the inner size of the clutch bell determents the starting point of engagement too. So if you have adjusted your clutch, always use the same inner size diameter clutch bell for same repeatable performance. For a list with clutch bell inner size diameter look here. |
| TIP | After some usage check for glazing of the shoes and in case of glazing
deglaze them with sanding paper and denatured alcohol. Also clean the clutch bell inner side with sanding paper and denatured alcohol. |
| TIP | These clutch has to come on a working temperature for
optimal working. Only make changes after the clutch has been working for more then one minute on track only! |
Verdict
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A to easy assemble clutch with loads of
variable settings available by using springs, shoes and combination of
them all. As it uses one thick spring shoes pressure is constant and this spring will never break! With the external adjustable option it is easier to adjust as clutch bell does not have to be removed. For new bies this clutch might work too if all mentioned in the user guide and patience is taken in consideration. |
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Comment by |
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Performance
Performance
We asked David Laun from Germany
for testing this clutch for TEAM TWF8.
Problem is David has become official test driver for VITA TUNING clutches
distributed by RMV after he received the clutch.
David was not allowed to do the testing and so an other objective German driver
was given the clutch we received from Ron Hopkins from Werks Racing USA.
Tester: Jürgen Appel from Hemsbach Germany
Racing: Hobby Class for 6 years (1:8th scale buggies)
Fame : Jürgen spends more time helping others on race weekends then
working on his own buggy, often to his own detriment. he spends a lot of
time teaching and helping others, especially kids and beginners. One of the most
popular drivers in Central-Germany.
3rd April 2005:
Now that the winter has gone, and the track at our club (Ober-Mörlen) is ready
I can finally test the Werks adjustable clutch.
It was a fine Sunny Spring day and a lot of club-members were out to drive their
new rides.
I had never seen this brand of clutch before and was quite curios about it.
Really nice was that in package Paco sent us we had several springs and all 3
types of shoes.
I decided to first try the clutch on a classic WS-7 engine and my Mugen MBX-5
and a 13-tooth K-Factory ventilated bell.
Using an engine and car combination I know so well would let me better
understand the clutch.
Assembling:
Here I had my first easily solvable problem. With so many possible
combinations which should I start out with?
A friend recommended using the softest spring and black shoes.
The installation was very easy without any other problems.
I mounted the retaining nut with green thread lock to avoid unwanted changes.
****
Initial Adjustment:
I tightened the adjustment nut till app. 2 1/2 threads were visible.
Adjustment seems easy, but the package did not include any suggestions for an
initial setup.
Comment from Paco Raap:
The original clutch came with a
set up sheet as shown above but I forgot to include that when I send it!
Where to start seems too be the biggest problem
**
First Run:
The clutch seemed to initially engage a bit too late with lots of
slippage.
I drove the car anyways as the clutch shoes and bell were brand new and needed
to break in.
After two laps i had no more slippage and the clutch engaged very well but a
little later then i liked.
After running 1 and 1/2 tanks I decided to try adjusting it to see how the
clutch reacts to changes.
Unfortunately my Receiver started having intermittent problems on throttle and
brake, and I was unable to gather further impressions today.
*****
Conclusion of first Tests:
The clutch impresses by being well made and seemingly endlessly
adjustable.
After initial break-in it engaged very nicely with minimal slippage.
How well it reacts to adjustments I couldn't find out due to my receiver issues.
I will probably use this clutch in all my races this year :)
The clutch as I received it does have a problem.
There was no description/pamphlet on where to start.
Comment from Paco Raap:
The original clutch came with a
set up sheet as shown above but I forgot to include that when I send it!
Without a decent starting-point finding a working adjustment could take a long
time, especially if the engine and bell need to be removed every time.
It was good that some users published good initial setups on the Starting-Grid.
Next Tests:
On my next run I plan to modify the retaining nut so I can adjust the clutch externally
as with the newer models.
Report #2
Tester : J.Appel
Date : 16th April 2005
Track : Ober Mörlen Germany
Once again a training session before the start of our racing season. At home I had taken the clutch apart and tested for wear. Everything was fine.
I also cut a small notch into retaining nut in order to be able to adjust it externally.
To get a good starting point for my tests a screwed the nut on with green thread
lock with 1 mm of thread showing.
On the track: perfect. With 1mm of thread showing along with the soft gold spring
I had found an adjustment that suited my WS7 and my driving style perfectly.
The weather was excellent and so we just raced our buggies against each other for quite some time.
By the time we finished I had already started a second Gallon of fuel. Next I mounted the
clutch on my almost new Sirio Evo 2 engine. Without readjustment the clutch worked perfectly for me. I did try to
'externally' adjust the clutch, but it was near impossible to do. The green
thread lock was to strong to allow me to adjust it via the little notch I had cut into the nut.
I now have 1 1/4 gallons (app. 4 liters) on the clutch. At home I took it apart, bearings fine and no
visually discernable wear on the clutch.
Need I say I am very happy :)
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Report #3
Tester : J.Appel
Date : 23-24th April 2005
Track : Hartenrod germany
Race : 1st Race of the Hessencup and Qualifier for the Nationals
Hartenrod is located in the Hills of North Hessen. One of my favorite venues. The weather on Saturday was excellent despite a
forecast of rain. I only got in 1 run during practice on Saturday. I was busy helping 3 kids. One was a 14 year old girl at her first race. As usual Onkel Jürgen was in demand.
On Sunday the weather held. And the racing proceeded with 68 drivers wanting to win. All of my 3 qualifiers ran great and
I qualified directly for the semi-final. I was elated as I normal don't make it belong
the 1/4 final. Clutch and Engine harmonized very very well. The clutch was still set at the 1mm mark :)
I won the 20 minute semi-final. Then my first ever main final in the Hessencup. A 30 minute run. Unfortunatly I made a few big mistake on the first laps. I fell back a whole lap. I managed to fight my way to the front and was leading the race at the 22 minute mark. Then my concentration staring letting go and
I had to reduce my pace. I was more then delighted with my 3rd place. On the podium! Engine-Clutch perfect!
I now have 2 gallons down on the clutch including the grueling finals. At home I
dismantled the clutch. No signs of wear. the bearings were ok but felt a little gritty, so
I put in new ones. These bearing lasted 2 Gallons!!
I Like this clutch!
