2013 S5 6MT - New Clutch Time (Yes I know this is the S4 forum)

[Rusty Axle]

Hey gang, hopping over here as it seems the S4 crew has a great deal of mod experience.

It is clutch replacement time for my 2013 3.0T S5. 85K miles on the original with a lot of city driving, so no complaints.

My needs are simple. Car is a daily driver, APR Stage II and the stock clutch held just fine until recently.

Has anyone had good experience with any particular brand?

Considering Sachs Performance Xtend or South Bend Stage 1 HD for starters.

Do I need to replace the flywheel as well? The car was never driven hard and there is no looseness or bouncing when engaging clutch from stop.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[king_j]

Stage 2 DP?

Extend, south bend, ringer racing.


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[Atrevido]

I'm running the APR Stage II single pulley tune and went with the Sachs Performance XTend Clutch. Hopefully your flywheel is fine and can be re-used, but be prepared in case it needs to be replaced as well.
Mine did, and I went with the ECS Lightweight Flywheel. A little bit of chatter the first few weeks, but then it went away. If you're running a dual pulley tune, then I defer to king_j, and others.

Food for thought: also consider upgrading to a stainless steel clutch line. Clutch engagement is more precise and solid.

[Rusty Axle]

Thanks everyone, much appreciated.

I do have the dual pulley.

Also have the stainless clutch line, just never had time to install it.

[ZGskibum]

Prefacing this with I baby my clutch. I never ride it, never do race starts, always match revs downshifting. No track days. Definitely plenty of spirited mountain driving with snapped off shifts at redline. But I respect my car and drive it like I want it to last forever.

My stock clutch did good for a while after I went stg-II, but in the end it started slipping, rev hang became an issue. I replaced it with Sachs X-Tend with Luk flywheel.

Lasted 20k miles. In fairness, about 5k miles in I let a friend drive my car, and the first thing she did was leave the gas mashed through the 1-2 shift and slipped my clutch THE ENTIRE WAY through second gear. Smelled like burning clutch for days, the works. From there it was only a matter of time.

So abusive driving, sure, but this highlights the basic issue with the Sachs X-Tend clutch: it simply is not deigned to handle Stg-II power/torque levels.

After that I bit the bullet and put in Southbend Stg III Enduro. I was a little concerned about it being too heavy, for a daily driver, or about the single-mass lightweight flywheel resulting in chatter. My worries were unfounded. The clutch is perfect.

And once broken in, you CAN (I have) hold the gas through a 1-2 shift. And you CAN (I have, which is something I’ve never done with any other clutch, ever) drop the clutch from 3500 RPM with revs rising to embarrass NA muscle cars from a dig. It handles it fine—no slip, no fuss. And still daily drives as mannerly as you could want. Totally worth the extra money.


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[bakedziti]

I went with a ringer S3+ and their billet flywheel with aluminum insert. I’m still breaking it in so there’s a bit of chatter but it’s getting less and less with each drive (thankfully). I just couldn’t spend the coin on the Sach Xtend kit with the capability to hold only ~15% more power than stock, anyone running a pulley or especially two should be looking at something with a much higher TQ rating IMO.

[acceler8n]

I went with Sachs Xtend and a new Luk dual mass flywheel in mine. Also did the stainless steel line. Been very happy with this setup and pedal feel. I don’t drive it that hard often or launch. But i have and it handles the torque very well. 25k miles in.


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