If you've done your share of burnouts and passes down the old 1320 in your T56-equipped Fourth Gen F-body, then chances are if you haven't replaced your stock clutch, you will soon need to. The stock units were never meant to provide much holding power to begin with, and earlier versions such as our '98 test car were pretty much the bottom of the barrel. These units were nowhere near as strong as the LS6 clutch that came in later models or a high-quality aftermarket unit. However, when you've logged as many street miles as our test car and look forward to many more, there becomes a reluctance to replace the stock clutch with something that could very well turn daily driving into a chore because of increased pedal effort and decreased pedal feel. Thankfully, the folks at Textralia have got us covered.
The Australian-based company has made a reputation among picky Corvette owners for producing clutches that feel like stock, but hold a ridiculous amount of power. Founder Peter Haylock started the company a few years ago after putting together a clutch that held up on one of the fastest LS-based cars in Australia. Upon hearing word of his success, Jarrod Cunningham began inquiring about importing a few of Haylock's clutches to the United States. Soon after, what began as sort of a cottage industry has now taken the market by storm. Peter assures us, though, that it is no fluke. Meticulous adherence to tolerances, extensive quality control, and the right combination of matching materials is how Textralia has achieved its hallmark of stock pedal feel and manners.
Though it is the Z-Grip model for high-horsepower applications that really earned Textralia its fame, we chose the OZ700 X-Grip disc (PN GMOZ700SBX, $1,079) for our mostly stock test car. This particular disc has a double riveted, bonded organic material on the flywheel side, and sintered ceramic facing the pressure plate. The optimized graphite content of the cerametallic helps resist shudder or chatter while holding up to 700 ft-lbs of torque. The organic side does its part as well, using a high-performance friction material and adding 33 percent more surface area. The interior of the disc is lined with the same Super Duty spring basket as on the hefty Z-Grip, and a chrome plated hub for faster shifts. Using matching materials such as the Belleville spring, balanced pressure plate, hat, and billet steel flywheel also enable a linear pedal feel while limiting pedal effort to only a 12 percent increase over the stock clutch (though clamp pressure increases by 33 percent). Peter says that because of the stack height the clamp (or engagement) is set to go all at the last minute to take away the roughness or "clutchyness" normally associated with the engagement of aftermarket clutches. In adhering closely to the stock stack height, pedal travel and effort is decreased as well.
 |  or up to 700 lb-ft holding...  or up to 700 lb-ft holding capacity and a near stock feel, the Textralia OZ700 X-Grip clutch (PN GMOZ700SBX) was chosen to liven up our F-body. This clutch manages to resist shudder or chatter by using a double riveted and bonded organic material on one side and a cerametallic material (consisting of sintered ceramic and graphite--a dry lubricant) on the other. A stock-like engagement and pedal travel are also maintained by using a perfectly matched, zero-balanced pressure plate and billet steel flywheel, not to mention tight tolerances on all aforementioned parts. Textralia founder Peter Haylock says in keeping the stack height as close as possible to stock this keeps installers from having to shim the slave cylinder in order to make up for using the wrong pressure plate. It is in this manner that Peter says Textralia has established its hallmark as having stock pedal feel and manners, back a few years ago when it began making clutches for Corvettes. | |