1.5T Has the clutch system of the 11th generation Civic weakened?

[PangziXin]

Hello friends, recently I've been upgrading the clutch system of my 11th generation Civic because I encountered clutch slipping during the power upgrade process. So, I'm planning to replace it with a more powerful pressure plate. Several experienced 10th generation Civic owners recommended Ralco's reinforced pressure plate to me, which they have been using for many years in their 10th generation models. This pressure plate is claimed to have a pressure of 950kg (the OEM is approximately 500kg, I believe). I'm using brand new OEM clutch discs and release bearings. After everything was properly installed, even when I adjusted the stroke of the clutch master cylinder to the longest, I couldn't properly disengage the clutch when the engine was cold, making shifting very difficult. However, the situation improves significantly when the engine（maybe the brake system） is warm, closer to the OEM feeling. I noticed that the clutch master and slave cylinder models are different between the 11th and 10th generation models, but the clutch in the 11th generation model is supposed to be compatible with the FL5. It's hard to understand why its performance would decrease.

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[cwtechshiz]

So I know I'm late but I just replaced my clutch and flywheel two days ago. I was really surprised based on the slipping and no concerning noises that the oem clutch disc looked normal for the amount of miles. It was not even close to the rivets. Also blown away the oem clutch disc has no springs on it at all. All of the dampening for the oem system comes from the dual mass flywheel and I think is what the real point of failure is when you increase the power. I can move the two peice flywheel by hand and I bet it was causing the pressure plate to be out of spec. I will take some pictures and a short video of the junk I replaced explaining the therory better.

After deleting the oem flywheel/clutch in favor of the rv6 fk8 retrofit single mass flywheel + exedy stage 0 clutch kit I can't tell a difference in vibrations(even with a upgraded rear mount) or in clutch pedal feel. The car feels like normal... WHY did honda decide to do the dual mass flywheel bs vs a normal sprung clutch blows my mind.

I even deleted on the stupid in-line clutch damper and replaced the rubber oem clutch line prior to doing the clutch job.. No real difference in feel to me other than the bite point was more consistent when releasing the pedal fast or slow. Again makes me ask WHY did honda do that.

 

[PangziXin]

So I know I'm late but I just replaced my clutch and flywheel two days ago. I was really surprised based on the slipping and no concerning noises that the oem clutch disc looked normal for the amount of miles. It was not even close to the rivets. Also blown away the oem clutch disc has no springs on it at all. All of the dampening for the oem system comes from the dual mass flywheel and I think is what the real point of failure is when you increase the power. I can move the two peice flywheel by hand and I bet it was causing the pressure plate to be out of spec. I will take some pictures and a short video of the junk I replaced explaining the therory better.

After deleting the oem flywheel/clutch in favor of the rv6 fk8 retrofit single mass flywheel + exedy stage 0 clutch kit I can't tell a difference in vibrations(even with a upgraded rear mount) or in clutch pedal feel. The car feels like normal... WHY did honda decide to do the dual mass flywheel bs vs a normal sprung clutch blows my mind.

I even deleted on the stupid in-line clutch damper and replaced the rubber oem clutch line prior to doing the clutch job.. No real difference in feel to me other than the bite point was more consistent when releasing the pedal fast or slow. Again makes me ask WHY did honda do that.

Thank you very much for your detailed response. Upgrading the FK8 clutch kit is an excellent choice, but considering the cost, we usually only upgrade the clutch pressure plate, using greater pressure to address the slipping issue. I think I will consider replacing the FK8 kit when the engine is rebuilt to challenge higher horsepower. By the way, I’d like to ask, how did you remove the damper? Did you use N1's product? Thank you!

 

[cwtechshiz]

Yeah because I wanted to be lazy about it and do it quickly. My thought was by the time I could figure out the size, fittings and the speed bleeder alone was guna cost so why not just spend the extra and save time. While installing it I realized how short the hard run is and that I could have reused the fittings on the car and bent up a new hard line. I believe its just 5/16 brake line and I own a flare tool... Shame on me.

Also noticed when I had the splash sheild off the delete kit is just hanging out behind the wheel looking goofy and taking on the weather. Guess I'll find out how rust proof it is over time.

Can't recommend getting rid of the damper enough though. Helps the muscle memory.

 

[PangziXin]

Yeah because I wanted to be lazy about it and do it quickly. My thought was by the time I could figure out the size, fittings and the speed bleeder alone was guna cost so why not just spend the extra and save time. While installing it I realized how short the hard run is and that I could have reused the fittings on the car and bent up a new hard line. I believe its just 5/16 brake line and I own a flare tool... Shame on me.

Also noticed when I had the splash sheild off the delete kit is just hanging out behind the wheel looking goofy and taking on the weather. Guess I'll find out how rust proof it is over time.

Can't recommend getting rid of the damper enough though. Helps the muscle memory.

Got it. My initial question was to find out whether the clutch master cylinder of the 11th-gen Civic had been weakened, but it seems that’s no longer an issue. If I replace the pressure plate with a stronger one, I’ll also upgrade the clutch master cylinder, or simply go with the FK8 kit. Thank you again for your response—your point about the damper being pointless is very insightful.

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