Do I have a stock clutch?

[JACKAL]

Hey folks, I've been a longtime lurker and very sparse poster but I'm looking for some thoughts on whether my current clutch could be stock or is likely upgraded. I understand there are numerous factors that impact clutch life and ability to hold torque so with that said, I'm trying to get a gauge of how likely it is that I have something upgraded in the car. Why? My next steps are a ported blower and an ultracharger/larger throttle body (as well as cooling and fuel pump) but I'm wondering if a clutch will also be in the mix when I pull the trigger on the next mod.

Relevant details:
- Car has 85k miles (I have owned it for the last 15k and it gets a mix of city and highway driving but no launches, no dragstrip, no track, just the occasional spirited pull. I have no idea what happened in it's previous 70k).
- The car had a smaller pulley on the SC when I purchased it. I recently (<1k miles) upgraded to a dual pulley setup
- There is no slipping at WOT today in gears 1-4 (I do not run WOT in 5 or 6)
- The pedal feel is rather firm. I know this is completely unquantified but in the most recent manual trans vehicles I've owned (2006 Mazdaspeed 6, 2011 Legacy GT, 2013 GLI), it is much stiffer than those in their stock form. I built the Legacy GT and when I upgraded that clutch and pressure plate, it had a similar feel to how the S4 feels today.

I appreciate your input and thoughts! Also want to extend a general 'thank you' for the many, many helpful threads and DIYs I've discovered on the forum. I recently did a home headlight blackout, front brakes, and fog grille mesh thanks to write-up's I found and all three projects went smoothly and were quite enjoyable.

[ALAN12186]

inst there an access panel for tightening the flywheel bolts? its on the bottom of the transmission close to where it bolts to the motor. Maybe you can see something from there?

[Jflow23]

Through that panel, you can see the flywheel. If the flywheel is upgraded (fancy colors or shiny aluminum) you could assume the clutch is upgraded. If an OE style flywheel was used, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking through the access panel.

[hgparrish]

Another way to tell is LWFW will have quite a bit of clutch chatter over stock DMFW.


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[JACKAL]

Appreciate the responses everyone. I will be installing my ported blower early next week and my assessment of my clutch will be based on how well it holds up to that added increase in air volume.

[JACKAL]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20181106/101908928a4d1c9f33ec72892379fcfb.jpg

This is now installed and still no slipping. Makes me think I either have the stoutest OEM clutch that made its way to production or someone upgraded.

[B8Addict]

Hey! When I bought my car CPO nearly 5 years ago I also had the exact same symptom of the clutch pedal being firm. Especially when compared to other vehicles that had similar/more power. I launched it maybe 2-3 times but it never ever slipped. When the clutch got replaced last year, my SA showed me the clutch had numerous heat spots and it seemed like the previous owner launched the car multiple times or just beat the crap out of it. The clutch pedal feel after getting it replaced was night and day. Extremely light in contrast to how it was before. Since then the pedal change hasn’t changed much at all. Still light.

[killer_s4]

Are you running dual pulley and ported blower on stock cooling?

[JACKAL]

Are you running dual pulley and ported blower on stock cooling?


Yes, but that is a temporary condition. I only did it because I don't track the car and I figured I could get away with it due the the cool weather. I plan to upgrade this spring though.

[chi123]

Just like the other person mentioned, when I purchased my S4 with higher miles, the clutch pedal felt pretty stiff compared to other clutches. I thought it was maybe upgraded. It lasted until about 110K miles when it got really hard to get into gears. When the clutch was taken out, the flywheel had lots of heat spots and it was a stock clutch. The mechanic also said the self adjusting mechanism failed and something else causing it to lose hydraulic pressure and making the pedal firm. I had the Southbend Stage 2 Endurance clutch put in and the pedal felt much lighter than stock.

[JACKAL]

Appreciate the feedback everyone. I just ordered the iABED 75mm throttle body so that will be yet another test of the clutch but it’s interesting to see how *potentially* stout the stock clutch can be. Seems to be somewhat inconsistent though as I can recall posts with people having issues at just stage 2. Lots of variables that contribute through.

[ModItNow]

I'd be surprised if it's a oem clutch. Mine starting slipping at stage 2 (single pulley) with only 25,000 miles on the car. Mainly on launches and at high rpm in cooler weather.

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[JACKAL]

I'd be surprised if it's a oem clutch. Mine starting slipping at stage 2 (single pulley) with only 25,000 miles on the car. Mainly on launches and at high rpm in cooler weather.

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Yeah, that's been my thought as well. Just seems unlikely with almost 87k miles and still no signs of slip. I'm sure not complaining though. It's nice to be on the receiving end of someone else's investments.