I am the individual whom had the work undertaken on my car. An awful lot was completed in addition to the flywheel, work for which I may elaborate on in another post so as not to take this thread off topic.
I am a UK based customer of RS Barn Pete, I purchased a lightweight flywheel and spring centred clutch plate. Overall, I am satisfied with the products that were supplied, a couple of teething issues re installation – but ones that Pete advised me of, and also my mechanic, although one issue did take longer and was not expected –see later with regard to the timing position.
Bob – I took some offence that you consider my mechanic ‘scammed me’, although you were responding in a defensive manner to the previous posts.. My mechanic has gained his experience and reputation via Porsche motorsport/Porsche dealer, and I respected and accepted advice and decisions made by him on my behalf. His integrity is solid, and to be perfectly frank is just about the best I have experienced here in the UK – I have been let down in the past by more highly rated, better publicised and presented better than this one. Bob, personally, I would have posted something a little less confrontational along the lines of…usually the products are plug and play, did you consider phoning Pete, etc. No hard feelings though, hope it is mutual.
Rather than modifying the guide sleeve, my mechanic undertook alternative work which was my/his decision, cost me more £, but one he was more at ease performing – its simply down to personnel choice – I want to make two things clear here.
1. I am not qualified to say whether the reduction of the length of the guide tube is right or wrong – Pete is qualified, and I assume is satisfied with the modification, is fundamentally correct, is not detrimental to the performance of the car etc. My mechanic made an alternative choice, at his/my discretion, cost me more £, and he got on with it, which leads me to number 2.
2. I have spent an inordinate amount of time getting involved in the detail, sourcing, finding out how things work, fit, need to be modified etc on my extremely modified car. For once, I did not want to get involved in any of this ‘detail’, my car was having a huge amount of work completed, lots of parts replaced and my principal aim was to buy the main parts, hand the car over to someone, have the parts fitted, have lots of other consumables, preventative maintenance type items replaced etc (my car is tracked heavily). Hence, why I did not go into detail on every item to be replaced, modified etc – I wanted to deliver my car, collect it a week later and pay a bill from a respected and trusted mechanic – and one whom did a fantastic job with all the other work, replacing what he felt was necessary as he went along (the subsequent 150 miles on-track hard use was testimony to this). It is not often that you have the confidence to give such a mechanic a ‘free reign’ and not get carried away unjustly. Ignorance – certainly not, should I determine exactly what was done to satisfy this thread – possibly, but any reservations were taken up and responded to at source at the time in an expedient and professional manner, which from what I believe included a phone call to Pete on one of the issues.
I have since, some queries/have some questions that might be worthwhilst seeking answers to, to put everyones mind at ease. Initial thoughts upon delivery of the flywheel and clutch plate. Clutch plate appeared well made, but friction surface appeared to be of a smaller diameter than the original and does not achieve a full diameter contact area on the flywheel/pressure plate mating surface. Pete advised me that this is ok and should not be detrimental to its performance. Pete – can you advise on the clutch material, i.e., is it an improvement on the original, thoughts on longetivity, is there anything else you can add re the diameter.
Re the flywheel, yes, there were disappointments when I first opened it – I was under the impression that it was as pictured on the RS Barn site previously and not a Fidanza. As has been noted, I could have sourced a Fidanza for less money here in the UK (ironically I was speaking to the Fidanza UK supplier face to face just a couple of months ago). Something that I was going to ask – and I note Pete has already beaten me to it – and thought it would be very beneficial to clarify is that of the advantage the RS Barn one offers over the standard Fidanza. The RS Barn one weighs the same as the original motorsport item, as opposed to the lighter standard supplied Fidanza type. (is this with/without ring gear?) Pete has elaborated on the weight difference and the benefits of the heavier one (19lbs?) etc. I’m quite clear what benefit I have purchased – a lighter one for combined road/track use would simply have not been a sensible choice. The 19lbs appears to be about right for this use – the description of the previous poster of the experience with his RS Barn flywheel/clutch is spot on – and for those reading, and perhaps contemplating going even lighter – the effects noted would simply be exaggerated – perhaps ok for just track use, but not for road/track. If indeed there is a provable weight difference between the RS Barn one and the stardard Findanza, then I must hold up a thumbs up to Pete for this. This is notwithstanding the great work he/Bob have achieved with the spring centred clutch plate – I am quite sure that this has had a pronounced reduction on the drive chain clatter that I experience – again, I agree with the previous poster, but would add that it is noise from the rear of the car that you experience (subtle/limited noise at certain revs like a bag of nuts and bolts in your box)
The criticism I do have of the flywheel, is that of the timing marks, these without any doubt required alteration/some work. My mechanic knew what he was doing and could get on with it, but it did take some time to get it spot on whilst it was installed in the car – again, he is a perfectionist and had the flywheel in/out several times to ensure the fine tolerances he wanted to achieve were met. I did not have the time to return the product, I was under tight timescales, also the cost of returning/receiving would have outweighed the cost of remedy – if there had been a problem that a solution could not be determined/was not obvious, my mechanic would have been straight onto the phone with Pete. I think BigDave has a fair point – as he has, I too have undertaken much of my own ‘spannering’, and indeed, if the flywheels go out to individuals whom also undertake their own ‘spannering’, the work involved for ‘amateurs’ could be a problem. Myself, could cope with it, others may not be able to do so (equally you could also be asking why are they undertaking this work then). The point is, the timing marks are fundamental – in particular can TDC be addressed in shop, or even pre-delivery to yourself from the manufacturer?
One of my initial concerns with going with a Fidanza flywheel, was that of limited experiences of others – Porsche and other – whereby remediation/additional work has taken place to assure correct installation/operation. I am certainly not alone in having my opinion of this make ‘tainted’, but lets be honest, it is probably fed by a small very number of negative instances widely disseminated on the interweb forums.
Over here in the UK, people turn there nose up at Skodas – badge snobbery. Great cars, value for money, reliable, manufactured by VW, perfectly good machines doing what they should do well……but that badge. Are there similarities here with Fidanza – is this the image that is portrayed?
Pete, I don’t want you to think that we are asking awkward questions, being critical of your products etc – as you know from my mails to you, overall i have a huge smile on my face from the changes that you have brought about to my car, and overall I am positive about what you sell. I perhaps should have asked more questions beforehand, Caveat Emptor. Equally there may be learnings from this for us all, certainly the depth of knowledge of the products available for our cars will be pushed to a higher level and hopefully spark some sensible debate, and perhaps more importantly educated knowledge in lieu of the ‘internet experts’ that we become, emphasising the realities of as opposed to hearsay etc.
Whats the bottom line? Lightweight flywheel and spring centred clutch plate is a great performance mod, recommended – but only for those who are ok with the little noise/chatter – its not huge or prolonged, and only effects a small amount of the rev range. There maybe some that like a soft, quiet daily drive – but for those looking for some more ooooommph, go for it – one of the huge benefits for me is that it also highlighted the need for a new (again!) clutch plate (too much track driving?), and so acted as some well placed preventative maintenance. Have experienced a disintegrated clutch once, not again.
Pete - without prejudice, and genuinely all the best,
Frogisland.
(Pete - since it appears easier to get hold of you online, did you receive my email - any thoughts (on all points)
