# AP Racing race clutch

- Source: https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/ap-racing-race-clutch/
- Publisher: Racing Car Network (racingcarnetwork.com), the race car marketplace
- Type: gearbox · Brand: AP Racing
- Discipline: parts
- Era: 1990s
- Last updated: 2026-07-06

AP Racing's competition clutches are the other half of Coventry's grip on motorsport: 5.5- and 7.25-inch paddle and multi-plate units transmitting everything from F1 history to club rally — the establishment alternative in every serious driveline.

## Specifications

| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Competition clutches (paddle/multi-plate) |
| Range | 5.5"/7.25" families, CP-numbered |
| Materials | Cerametallic paddle, sintered multi-plate |
| Application | Rally, formula, touring, GT, historics |
| Wear | Published stack specs = measurable state |
| Servicing | Rebuild parts via dealer network |
| Years | 1995–present (heritage decades longer) |
| Class | Establishment competition clutch |

## History

AP Racing's clutch heritage runs as deep as its brakes: Coventry has supplied competition clutches to Formula 1, world rallying and touring cars for half a century, and the customer catalogue distils that lineage — cerametallic paddle clutches for rally and race four-cylinders, small-diameter (5.5-inch, 7.25-inch) multi-plate units for formula and sports-racing applications, and matched covers, plates and release systems catalogued by CP number like the brake side of the house.

The market position is the establishment's: where Tilton speaks American club racing's dialect, AP's clutch catalogue is British and European motorsport's native tongue — rally builds (the paddle-clutch-behind-a-YB-or-Millington default), historic single-seaters, touring cars and GT machinery specifying AP by tradition and dealer network alike.

Used AP clutch hardware follows friction-market law: stack measurement against published specs (plates, floaters, diaphragm condition), heat-history honesty on cerametallic paddles (blued hubs tell tales), and CP-number fitment verification — with AP's rebuild-parts catalogue keeping cores serviceable and the used trade priced against readily available new units.

## Palmarès

Transmitting World Championship power across F1, WRC and touring-car history; inside British and European rally and race champions at every national level for five decades — the establishment clutch record, written in CP numbers.

## What to check before you buy

CP numbers settle identity: verify the exact clutch model, diameter and spline against AP's catalogue and your flywheel/gearbox combination — paddle versus multi-plate versus twin-plate families serve different lives. Measure the friction stack against published wear specs where possible; inspect diaphragm fingers and paddle-lining condition (cerametallic linings chip visibly when abused), and read heat discolouration honestly. Release-bearing compatibility (travel, contact pattern) belongs in the same purchase. New availability through the dealer network anchors used pricing — pay for measured condition and matched assemblies, never for patina.

## Did you know

- AP has supplied clutch and brake hardware to Grand Prix racing across half a century — Coventry's two product lines bracket the racing car's energy in and energy out.
- The cerametallic paddle clutch behind a rally four is such a British-rally default that 'AP paddle' functions as a spec-sheet noun.
- Small-diameter clutch stacks are measured like brake discs — published wear specs turn used AP purchases into arithmetic, the friction trade's honest corner.

## Related entries

- Tilton race clutch — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/tilton-race-clutch/
- AP Racing Pro 5000R brakes — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/ap-racing-pro-5000r/
- Millington Diamond engine — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/millington-diamond-engine/
- Cosworth YB engine — https://racingcarnetwork.com/wiki/cosworth-yb/