SES88
Well-Known Member
As some know, I demolished both my clutch and flywheel last sunday, so bit the bullet and went for a SMF conversion with Carbon/Kevlar HD clutch kit(the fact it was £200 cheaper overall also swayed me a little).
Drove it the 80 odd miles back up Norf today, on a mixture of roads, so here's what i've noticed...
Instantly, I noticed how light the clutch was (my previous had been on the car from new, approaching 83k miles over 8.5 years), across the travel of the pedal, it was so light, we're talking small hatchback realms of lightness (SWMBO has a 2011 Fiesta Zetec S, and its as light as that), the old setup used to get wearing on the thigh when using the clutch regularly, in stop start traffic etc. This may have been down to the old clutch wearing towards the end of its life, but i'm pretty sure a std Freelander doesn't have a super light clutch.
When crawling along at barely above tickover and then accelerating there's always been a bit of vibration going through the car, but this was slightly more pronounced with the SMF, as soon as the turbo boosts up though it disappears. If doing say 20mph in 4th gear at around 1000rpm (I have bigger tyres and therefore longer gearing so this won't be the same for all people) there's quite a lot of vibration, but dropping to 3rd first and then accelerating is fine with nothing at all. Would seem its just the fact of very low revs and no boost, as soon as the boost kicks in there's nothing there. It is however happier to crawl along at low rpm on tickover.
When accelerating away, 30-60 for example, it feels smoother and pulls better, maybe even accelerates slightly faster. Gear changes are a lot smoother too, clutch engagement and release is much more accurate and not as sloppy (may again be a sign of my previously worn clutch, but the difference was very noticeable).
At higher speeds, 70 etc, its smoother too, picks up faster when burying the loud pedal too, just seems more refined.
All in all, very happy, got the flywheel, clutch kit and top & bottom hydraulics (master & slave cylinder along with slave bearing) done for £849 parts and labour.
Drove it the 80 odd miles back up Norf today, on a mixture of roads, so here's what i've noticed...
Instantly, I noticed how light the clutch was (my previous had been on the car from new, approaching 83k miles over 8.5 years), across the travel of the pedal, it was so light, we're talking small hatchback realms of lightness (SWMBO has a 2011 Fiesta Zetec S, and its as light as that), the old setup used to get wearing on the thigh when using the clutch regularly, in stop start traffic etc. This may have been down to the old clutch wearing towards the end of its life, but i'm pretty sure a std Freelander doesn't have a super light clutch.
When crawling along at barely above tickover and then accelerating there's always been a bit of vibration going through the car, but this was slightly more pronounced with the SMF, as soon as the turbo boosts up though it disappears. If doing say 20mph in 4th gear at around 1000rpm (I have bigger tyres and therefore longer gearing so this won't be the same for all people) there's quite a lot of vibration, but dropping to 3rd first and then accelerating is fine with nothing at all. Would seem its just the fact of very low revs and no boost, as soon as the boost kicks in there's nothing there. It is however happier to crawl along at low rpm on tickover.
When accelerating away, 30-60 for example, it feels smoother and pulls better, maybe even accelerates slightly faster. Gear changes are a lot smoother too, clutch engagement and release is much more accurate and not as sloppy (may again be a sign of my previously worn clutch, but the difference was very noticeable).
At higher speeds, 70 etc, its smoother too, picks up faster when burying the loud pedal too, just seems more refined.
All in all, very happy, got the flywheel, clutch kit and top & bottom hydraulics (master & slave cylinder along with slave bearing) done for £849 parts and labour.
The DMF is fitted to add refinement to something that is a bit agricultural. 
