Clutch Selection Can Be Confusing. We Clear The Air With McLeod

During the muscle car era, performance junkies wanted to dump the clutch on their killer four-speed in their new car. Amid those years, the manual transmission was not exclusive to the hot-rodder. It was the standard option in most cars and was a way of life. Automatic transmissions were a luxury that many did not feel was needed.

Now, many enthusiasts want the experience of grabbing gears in their classic, but also want a clutch that doesn’t require enough force to cause leg cramps when holding the pedal. To learn more about clutch design — why some have a harder-to-push pedal than others and selecting the best parts for your need — we reached out to the folks at McLeod to get some insight.

So Many Clutch Choices

Digging into clutch selection, one of the first things noticed are the many designs and styles available. A cursory search finds single-disc units as well as multi-disc designs, coupled with several pressure plate options. But when is a single disc sufficient? When is a multi-disc required? And, why are there different pressure plates?

“When deciding on a clutch, horsepower ratings are just one of the variables to consider,” says Bob Scheid, vice president at McLeod. “If you are going to operate the car on the street with occasional track use, or more so at the track with occasional street use, you need to appraise your driving style. Different people drive cars differently and/or launch cars differently at the track. An honest assessment concerning the stress and load on the clutch is a big factor in choosing the right one.”