[Hi Tech Exotic]

11 years later. How did it last?

I believe he sold the car and the clutch was still good after many years.

 

[Hi Tech Exotic]

Could you drive an 04 Gallardo with eGear in automatic mode as your daily driver? Would the Kevlar clutch make this possible. I’d be using it as a city daily driver in automatic mode.

Yes, you can drive it in AUTO but we recommend that you don't use the AUTO mode. AUTO mode slips the clutch more so it's up to you.

Our Kevlar clutch is very street friendly. It has less bucking and jerkiness and it takes off smoother than a stock clutch.

 

[BA Baracus]

Thanks for the reply. It seems like the Gallardo might not be the car for me because I’d only want to drive it in automatic mode and it would be city driving and used as an everyday car. Thanks again.

 

[Hi Tech Exotic]

We wanted to thank Randy for purchasing our lightweight HT350 and our lightweight flywheel. He has a Gallardo with E-gear. He loves the way it shifts. It has a very positive engagement. He's very happy with our clutch. I will have him post his feedback here.

 

[Hi Tech Exotic]

I wanted to post some pictures from another happy customer(mike) of ours. He got our lightweight HT350 with out lightweight flywheel. He is extremely happy and can't believe how much better it drives than an oem clutch.

 

[scott-ahlmanperformance]

I thought this feedback would be relevant for the Gallardo community


Why we chose the Hi Tech Exotic Kevlar HT350 for our 2012 Audi R8 V10 6MT - Sister car to the Gallardo

• Years of positive feedback by customers on R8Talk, LamborghiniTalk and beyond.
  • Including torque capability, pedal feel, very smooth engagement and durability in R8's and Gallardo's.
  • Specific feedback to the R8 was very important because of weights, configuration and the refinement of the R8.
    • Another company tried selling their ceramic clutch at much lower cost than my chosen HT-350 (they didn't recommend their Kevlar clutch for the track as they noted failure issues at the track), but with little understanding of their application in the R8 due to lack of testing or R8 customers.
      • Instead this competitor to Hi Tech Exotic has sold primarily to kit car customers, which are very different cars that lack the refinement of the R8, Gallardo or Huracan.
• This is a complicated and refined system not just parts with Hi Tech Exotic clearly having the long term experience and results with our R8's and sister cars.
  • Anyone who works with these clutches knows that just 0.005" of clearance difference, for example, makes a big difference and performance and function of the clutch.
• Straight answers to my questions by Sean of Hi Tech Exotic.
• Labor for replacement of the clutch alone is a big and expensive endeavor on the R8 (just over 18 hours transaxle alone in and out) so I wanted a very high confidence and durable solution.

Of note - I and Ahlman Performance have no affiliation with Hi Tech Exotic. This is an important and expensive item that I thought was worth giving feedback on.

My Stock Clutch

• The clutch pedal feel was light and smooth engaging in the middle of the throw.
• The engagement felt very soft and had started slipping at times on full throttle.
• The clutch was inspected because I ran into a transaxle build issue (apparently repaired prior and the 3rd gear synchro retaining nut had back off ruining the synchro and the 4th gear shift fork was missing it's set screw.)
  • Upon inspection of the stock clutch it was glazed and nearly out of friction lining at 27,000 miles
  • I am sure my 6 track days so far added a lot of heat to the stock clutch and reduced its somewhat limited life further.

I purchased from Hi Tech

• Hi TecHT350 Billet Housing Kevlar Clutch
• Hi Tech Lighter Billet Flywheel (8 pounds vs 10 pounds stock)
• Throw out bearing

Shout out To Audi Dealer Owings Mills in Maryland

• Bonnie from Owings Mills parts had my 3rd Gear Synchro and 2nd Gear Bearing rushed to me (5 days) from Germany for a better price than the Graziano distributor in the USA.
  • And this Graziano distributor would not guarantee any timing after delaying for a few weeks.

My Feedback

• HT350 Break-in
  • 500 miles of half throttle and under 4000 RPM break in with a lot of shifts per mile
    • I talked to Sean and slowly ramped up throttle and RPM through 1000 miles total of break-in because of intended track usage.
    • I always rolled in the throttle and didn't mat it during this break in period.
  • I sure wish this break-in was shorter in mileage, but it is worth it to me for the performance, feel and durability.
• Full Throttle Since
  • I have done hundreds of hard full-throttle and redline accelerations from 1st gear since break-in and the HT350 feels extremely solid and I can feel a small improvement in hard acceleration with the lighter flywheel.
    • Of note, we run our Ohlins TTX Stage II suspension, which improves power down to allow hard full throttle 1st gear starts without wheel-spin so we are taxing the clutch and driveline more than the stock setup.
• Normal Shifting/Driving The Same or Better
  • No difference in shift feel and function noticed at normal shifting/driving with this Hi Tech Exotic HT350 Kevlar clutch and lighter flywheel.
  • My newly rebuilt gearbox has a very smooth and positive feel in each gear.
• Clutch Pedal Effort
  • The clutch pedal effort is a little heavier (~10-15%) than my stock R8 clutch pedal feel at 27,000 miles.
    • I thought my stock clutch pedal effort was quite low for a 530 HP engine.
    • But the throw and feel on the HT350 is as smooth as stock.
    • And frankly the extra effort reminds me to put it in neutral at stop lights instead of holding in the clutch causing a lot of unnecessary wear.
  • Further, the extra effort is worth it to me if I get the performance and typical HT350 life.
• Clutch Engagement
  • Smooth as stock, but much more firm clutch engagement at the same point as stock.
  • The clutch engagement ramps in and out quite smoothly, but more firm than stock.
  • My stock had minimal lock up feel starting at 17,000 miles.
• More Damped
  • The Hi Tech HT350 clutch engagement and driveline now feels more damped than stock.
• Neutral Rollover Rattle - A Little More Noticeable - Lighter Flywheel
  • I am guessing many don't notice this phenomenon of neutral rollover rattle during idle in a stock R8 (common in manual gearboxes - an interaction between the engine firing order and the gearbox transmitting the noise) that goes away with clutch engaged.
    • We ran into neutral rollover rattle on the Ford GT - some transaxles showed it more than others.
  • Neutral Rollover Rattle is not a performance or functional issue - just noise.
  • I took a video, but need to do one with clutch engaged to show on and off to make the rattle noise much more obvious.
  • I am just noting this for those who are particular about noises (NVH), like me.
  • The acceleration gain at full throttle with the lighter flywheel is worth this noise increase to me

 

[Hi Tech Exotic]

I thought this feedback would be relevant for the Gallardo community


Why we chose the Hi Tech Exotic Kevlar HT350 for our 2012 Audi R8 V10 6MT - Sister car to the Gallardo

• Years of positive feedback by customers on R8Talk, LamborghiniTalk and beyond.
  • Including torque capability, pedal feel, very smooth engagement and durability in R8's and Gallardo's.
  • Specific feedback to the R8 was very important because of weights, configuration and the refinement of the R8.
    • Another company tried selling their ceramic clutch at much lower cost than my chosen HT-350 (they didn't recommend their Kevlar clutch for the track as they noted failure issues at the track), but with little understanding of their application in the R8 due to lack of testing or R8 customers.
      • Instead this competitor to Hi Tech Exotic has sold primarily to kit car customers, which are very different cars that lack the refinement of the R8, Gallardo or Huracan.
• This is a complicated and refined system not just parts with Hi Tech Exotic clearly having the long term experience and results with our R8's and sister cars.
  • Anyone who works with these clutches knows that just 0.005" of clearance difference, for example, makes a big difference and performance and function of the clutch.
• Straight answers to my questions by Sean of Hi Tech Exotic.
• Labor for replacement of the clutch alone is a big and expensive endeavor on the R8 (just over 18 hours transaxle alone in and out) so I wanted a very high confidence and durable solution.

Of note - I and Ahlman Performance have no affiliation with Hi Tech Exotic. This is an important and expensive item that I thought was worth giving feedback on.

My Stock Clutch

• The clutch pedal feel was light and smooth engaging in the middle of the throw.
• The engagement felt very soft and had started slipping at times on full throttle.
• The clutch was inspected because I ran into a transaxle build issue (apparently repaired prior and the 3rd gear synchro retaining nut had back off ruining the synchro and the 4th gear shift fork was missing it's set screw.)
  • Upon inspection of the stock clutch it was glazed and nearly out of friction lining at 27,000 miles
  • I am sure my 6 track days so far added a lot of heat to the stock clutch and reduced its somewhat limited life further.

I purchased from Hi Tech

• Hi TecHT350 Billet Housing Kevlar Clutch
• Hi Tech Lighter Billet Flywheel (8 pounds vs 10 pounds stock)
• Throw out bearing

Shout out To Audi Dealer Owings Mills in Maryland

• Bonnie from Owings Mills parts had my 3rd Gear Synchro and 2nd Gear Bearing rushed to me (5 days) from Germany for a better price than the Graziano distributor in the USA.
  • And this Graziano distributor would not guarantee any timing after delaying for a few weeks.

My Feedback

• HT350 Break-in
  • 500 miles of half throttle and under 4000 RPM break in with a lot of shifts per mile
    • I talked to Sean and slowly ramped up throttle and RPM through 1000 miles total of break-in because of intended track usage.
    • I always rolled in the throttle and didn't mat it during this break in period.
  • I sure wish this break-in was shorter in mileage, but it is worth it to me for the performance, feel and durability.
• Full Throttle Since
  • I have done hundreds of hard full-throttle and redline accelerations from 1st gear since break-in and the HT350 feels extremely solid and I can feel a small improvement in hard acceleration with the lighter flywheel.
    • Of note, we run our Ohlins TTX Stage II suspension, which improves power down to allow hard full throttle 1st gear starts without wheel-spin so we are taxing the clutch and driveline more than the stock setup.
• Normal Shifting/Driving The Same or Better
  • No difference in shift feel and function noticed at normal shifting/driving with this Hi Tech Exotic HT350 Kevlar clutch and lighter flywheel.
  • My newly rebuilt gearbox has a very smooth and positive feel in each gear.
• Clutch Pedal Effort
  • The clutch pedal effort is a little heavier (~10-15%) than my stock R8 clutch pedal feel at 27,000 miles.
    • I thought my stock clutch pedal effort was quite low for a 530 HP engine.
    • But the throw and feel on the HT350 is as smooth as stock.
    • And frankly the extra effort reminds me to put it in neutral at stop lights instead of holding in the clutch causing a lot of unnecessary wear.
  • Further, the extra effort is worth it to me if I get the performance and typical HT350 life.
• Clutch Engagement
  • Smooth as stock, but much more firm clutch engagement at the same point as stock.
  • The clutch engagement ramps in and out quite smoothly, but more firm than stock.
  • My stock had minimal lock up feel starting at 17,000 miles.
• More Damped
  • The Hi Tech HT350 clutch engagement and driveline now feels more damped than stock.
• Neutral Rollover Rattle - A Little More Noticeable - Lighter Flywheel
  • I am guessing many don't notice this phenomenon of neutral rollover rattle during idle in a stock R8 (common in manual gearboxes - an interaction between the engine firing order and the gearbox transmitting the noise) that goes away with clutch engaged.
    • We ran into neutral rollover rattle on the Ford GT - some transaxles showed it more than others.
  • Neutral Rollover Rattle is not a performance or functional issue - just noise.
  • I took a video, but need to do one with clutch engaged to show on and off to make the rattle noise much more obvious.
  • I am just noting this for those who are particular about noises (NVH), like me.
  • The acceleration gain at full throttle with the lighter flywheel is worth this noise increase to me

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Thank you for a great write up and your kind comments about our lightweight Billet clutch!!!

 

[Hi Tech Exotic]

Thread updated:

Why We chose the Hi Tech Exotic Kevlar HT350 Stage I...

Why The Hi Tech Exotic Kevlar HT350 Clutch? Years of positive feedback by customers on R8Talk, LamborghiniTalk and beyond. Including torque capability, pedal feel, very smooth engagement and durability in R8's and Gallardo's. Specific feedback to the R8 was very important because of weights...

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