Clutchin'

As the gymkhana trainings went, it became more and more obvious that Hagane's clutch was getting more and more worn out. The fact that when I bought the car it had a thick floor mat that did not allow full travel of the clutch pedal probably did not help in giving the clutch a long life. Aside from the acrid smell of the burning clutch plate that filled the cabin every time I gunned the throttle, the clutch was slipping more and more, and it was time to do something about it.

The clutch options for the '06 and earlier generations of Toyota Vios is not that wide, and since Hagane is in the first place my daily driver, I opted to stick to an OEM clutch. Furthermore, with Singapore's road conditions and long traffic jams during the peak hours, I thought I would be the wiser without a hard racing clutch or something the like.

Thus I procured myself an Exedy clutch and headed to LTM Performance for a helping hand in installing the new parts.

It's a rather straightforward affair, that only takes about 4 hours when you know what you're doing and you have the right set of tools. All there is to it is to unlpug the airbox (to reach the gearbox under it) and the starter, then lift the car, remove the driveshafts and bring the gearbox down. Once this is done, the clutch will be exposed and all after removing a few bolts, can be taken off to reveal the flywheel. Seeing the plain heavy stock flywheel was a poor sight, and I was very tempted to go source a stronger and lighter one, but this will be for another time. The clutch was the priority.

 Above, left: The old clutch in place. Right: The gearbox separated from the engine.

 Above, left: The stock, heavy flywheel. Right: the new clutch in place.

Once the gearbox is brought down, there is direct access to the clutch so all there is to it is to take it apart, have a good laugh at how worn out the old clutch is, put the new one in, reattach the gearbox, the driveshafts, starter and air box and voilà job done!

 

The old vs the new. note how faded and flat the old clutch is - no wonder it was slipping!

The result is beyond words - I rediscovered a new car, more responsive and powerful. Love it!

Keep Rolling!

The SPARKS Motorsports Gymkhana Course done, I returned to my everyday life with Hagane and my everlasting hunt for affordable deals to continue the build.

I strongly suspect that Hagane has spent a lot of time at open air carparks before I bought her, and the front seats' so-called "leather" was starting to blister and peel off, especially on the driver's side where the daily use caused it to wear off almost completely. It was definitely time to do something about it, especially since gymkhana practices had me slide left and right in the seat which had me I waste a lot of energy into trying to stay behind the wheel of my own car instead of focusing on my driving. Thanks to a friend, I managed to get a set of second-hand SSCUS sports seats at a good price and instantly dropped them in. 

SSCUS is a Malaysian brand that devotes itself to making seats that have a great bang for buck and buying them second hand got me an even better bang for my buck, with is exactly what I needed.

I forgot to mention that just before the SPARK Motorsports Gymkhana Course that took place in May, I did some further last minute "showoff" mod.

The two stock strengthening bars that were behind the back seats were calling out to me, and their grunge/rusty look asked for a more flashy intervention.

With a smirk and a can of white spray paint, I thus resprayed them white, giving the bare back of my car a more sporty look - for a handful of dollars, I just can't help but laugh when even now people ask me where I got the aftermarket bars in the rear.

To complete the rugged look, I removed the centre armrest and cup holders and uncovered the gear selector and handbrake in the process. I wrapped white duct tape around the handbrake to avoid pinching my fingers with the revealed lock-spring on the underside of the lever, and admired the gear selector. Although in its purest stock form, the uncovered shifter impresses and more than one time I have been asked if it is a sequential shifter. Go figure. I then bought a small round black knob from Autobacs to complete its looks and feel.

Did I mention how much I love my car? :)