Recommendation: the most reliable Clutch

[20Vcqdriver]

Looking into peoples experiences with uprated clutches. In particular, reliabilty and consistent performance and longevity of the likes of Sachs, SPEC, Southbend etc. Looking at a uprated clutch when my 2309cc block goes in and after the most reliable and not overly heavy. No intention of taking it out again....

[Rusty]

Sachs seems to be widely regarded as the way forwards but you pay for the quality.

[SteveH]

Yep, Sachs and Southbend are the vendors with good ratings from S2 users. SPEC seem to have mixed results, some get on well with them and others have issues. Expect to pay 500GBP + for an uprated Sachs version. Clutchnet are also ok and well priced.

[Error404]

Sachs Race Engineering or Southbend seem to be the options. IIRC the Southbends use an SRE pressure plate and their own friction disc.
I've heard nothing but bad things about Spec.

[Rocco]

My personal experience is :
SPEC stage 3+

Comfortable as the original,long durability and.holds lots of power like 580 hp.
Also I am using it for ages with Rs2 turbo and now with K26/27...

About southbend ...I'll never buy one ,a friend of mine bought one good up to 400 hp ,he was using it nicely for 10000 kms with stock turbo,then he installed hoffer's Rs2 hybrid and it couldn't hold the tuning session ,ask Prj here....to see how a piece of shi* .

This is my personal experiences
I paid 625$ for my spec stage 3+ ...nice price for a very very good clutch

[Jamo]

Sachs or Southbend best option, clutchnet are good too but harder to get hold off. Specs I wouldn't wipe my botty with too many failures for no known reason

[Ross]

I found my 400 ft/lb clutchnet mostly great, but had a couple of instances where it slipped at peak torque in high gear.

Spec - Rocco has a good one so they can't be bad, personally I'm wary of them due to the number of failures as Jamo said.

I have a Southbend (rated to 480 ft/lb) which is great, mine came with an uprated Sachs Racing pressure plate, they seem to have changed their range now so not sure if that is still the case.

[20Vcqdriver]

Thanks all, so start saving for a Sachs it is then.
Just need to find out how much weight I can take off the 3B flywheel without it causing driveability issues

[SteveH]

You can take off 7lb or more without issues

[macspring]

I have a Southbend clutch from EFI, and while I don’t yet have enought power to “test” it, I found sometimes when maneuvering the car at very slow speeds, i.e. or three point turns, it judders slightly.

It has different material on either side of the clutch disc. Not sure whether it is me or the disk. The pressure plate is uprated and the Avant has a 3b flyweel.

If you drive the car very assertively, the clutch is fine, but for slow stop start driving in town it takes a conscious effort and finesse with your left foot to operate it smoothly.

If you’re not planning on too much power a clutch disc with standard type friction material on both sides, with an uprated pressure plate with a higher clamping force might be the answer.

Car, (and me), only has only approx. 3k miles on the new clutch and flywheel set up.

Not yet sure of the 3b flywheel, need to drive another std Avant with a fresh standard clutch and d/m flywheel for a back to back comparison.

Above is only my personal feedback, but hopefully it adds to the thread, but is not gospel just my experiences with my new set up to date.

One last thing is that I have found is that the bite point of the new clutch is very high and not down near the carpet. Is this because the ABY spacer between the gearbox and the engine is taken out when using a 3b flywheel ?

And is the bite point adjustable at all ? I would prefer it to be closer to the carpet.

Thanks.

[20Vcqdriver]

Dragging this one up again as after anyone who may have used this uprated 'Helix' clutch.
http://www.performanceclutch.co.uk/p...992/232436.htm

[Costash]

Southbend let me down totaly used stage 4 but presure plate is gonne , using now Sachs 07 pp and rs4 6 puch syntered disk with springs and 7A single mass flywheel.Hope this time it is gonna hold

[20Vcqdriver]

So no-one used one of these Helix clutches yet then. Might be the guinea pig then

[prj]

I am not quite seeing the logic of asking for the most reliable clutch, then ignoring everyone's advice and going for some random thing no one has experience with...

[20Vcqdriver]

I am not quite seeing the logic of asking for the most reliable clutch, then ignoring everyone's advice and going for some random thing no one has experience with...

Don't worry, just seen the price did not include VAT so just ordered a Sachs