Clutch failing symptoms...

[A80Avant]

Hello,
i was wondering what are the main symptoms of a clutch failure.I know some are overwhelming such as not getting into gear,grinding etc,but im curious..

My RS2 has a strong petal in refference with my mothers RAV4 and my previous audi 80 1.6 which had recently new clutch in.
However i have no loss or rattle when i change gear,no high consumption gear changes seem firm and hook nicely.
since i dont know what is in there,could this be an indication of an aftermarket,possibly a racing clutch in there that i am unaware of?the car has 132.000km so far,neither of the previous owners had ever fiddled with the clutch.
thanks
vasilis

[Jeffer]

A firm clutch is useual on the RS2 and S2's. Even more compared to an RAV4 and 1,6 80.

hth

[A80Avant]

thanks jeffer!that eases my mind a bit.
do these things have a life span with normal driving?When should i concider a clutch change(besides looking out for symptoms)?

[Jeffer]

When the clutch slips, change it. Or when you go for big power.

[S2 Ant]

To give you some idea, my clutch failed after ~150k and that was a genuine item and i have no records of it being replaced previously so they last a long time!

[Ski]

im on 190k on original clutch. But i NEVER hammer the clutch as advised by this fine community!

[s2driveruk]

yep 150+k miles on my first one just started to slip as the rear crank oil seal was weeping. After having it replaced (by Tom aka audiman - top job btw) its much lighter than the old one. Infact our A6 avant has a much heavier clutch than my s2

[A80Avant]

thanks guys!I just hope now everything else keeps in good condition for about that time frame,so that i can manage to recondition the engine in about 160-190k...and not sooner...