a lighter clutch

[mongoose]

has anyone ever managed to make the rv8 cars clutch operation lighter?im talking about modifying rather than the effects of a repair.different master or slave cylinders?different type of clutch unit?anything else?!!any ideas then?

[2 Smokin Barrels]

I've never found it to be a problem? They do get very heavy just before they die in my experience. Otherwise perfectly OK?

[mongoose]

2 Smokin Barrels said:

I've never found it to be a problem? They do get very heavy just before they die in my experience. Otherwise perfectly OK?

i can live with it to,its the wife thats the problem if you know what i mean

[hazzaboy69]

As the pressure in the oil to the slave which makes the clutch disengage is equal to the force on the master times the area of the master, increasing the surface area of the master would mean that you wouldnt have to press as had to transmit the same force through the oil to the clutch so i would imagine that the clutch would be lighter. Thats the theory I dont know if it works but it should according to a-level physics. Ask a garage if a master cylinder with larger surface area on its piston would make it lighter.

Cheers Harry

[2 Smokin Barrels]

mongoose said:

2 Smokin Barrels said: I've never found it to be a problem? They do get very heavy just before they die in my experience. Otherwise perfectly OK? i can live with it to,its the wife thats the problem if you know what i mean

Get one with bigger legs

[razorman]

2 Smokin Barrels said:

Get one with bigger legs

Or one that can't drive

[tahiti450]

hazzaboy69 said:

increasing the surface area of the master would mean that you wouldnt have to press as hard. Cheers Harry

Erm 'scuse - me sorry to be a pedant, but, it would need to be the other way around: i.e smaller master cyl diameter or larger slave. Disadvantage would be that there would be a proportional increase in the travel of the clutch pedal, which already has quite a long travel (for that very reason I guess).

[mongoose]

tahiti450 said:

hazzaboy69 said: increasing the surface area of the master would mean that you wouldnt have to press as hard. Cheers Harry Erm 'scuse - me sorry to be a pedant, but, it would need to be the other way around: i.e smaller master cyl diameter or larger slave. Disadvantage would be that there would be a proportional increase in the travel of the clutch pedal, which already has quite a long travel (for that very reason I guess).

This is interesting.I must admit,i thought hazzaboy was right.On my old tr7,a common mod to improve rear wheel braking was to fit a smaller slave cylinder,so this sounds plausible?im no physicist though,thats for sure.

[hazzaboy69]

I think im right, if for example you have a master with an area of 2 and you have a slave with an area of 1 (ignore units) and you apply a force of 10 to the master then the force that the slave will exert is 20. If you then increase the area of the master to 4 and exert the same force of 10 then the pressure transmitted throught the oil will be double meaning that the force exerted by the slave will be doubled making it 40. Also why would you have to push the pedal further if you changed the size of the master cylinder?

Harry

[GreenV8S]

No, sorry Harry but you are wrong. Double the master piston area means half the pressure on the fluid, so half the force at the slave.

[hazzaboy69]

O yeah now i see, oops i got the formula wrong for pressure, you would need to half the size of the master or double the size of the slave.

Harry

[victormeldrew]

Not sure about that! A favourite mod of mine on bikes is to swap the brake master cylinder with a larger one, and this always makes the brake response much sharper.

Although this might have been just because the lever travel was reduced to a few mm ...

... maybe you are right!

[tahiti450]

victormeldrew said:

Although this might have been just because the lever travel was reduced to a few mm ...

Yes exactly, stroke reduction would be proportional to the increase in diameter of the cylinder and vice versa.
(think: volume of fluid being displaced...)

[tpo]

If you think of an hydraulic jack, you are using a small piston to move a large one. Apply this to a clutch and it would be as light as a light thing but take 2 minutes to change gear ;-)

Tee Hee