Clutch story/questions

[badjoke]

OK, here's my story. (cliffnotes at the bottom)

I got my A4 about a month or two ago which has a "Stage 3, 8-panel unorthodox racing clutch" and a lightweight 11lb aluminum flywheel in it. It was changed roughly 30k miles ago.

Admittedly, this is my first manual transmission car that I've owned, but not the first I've driven. Prior to owning the A4, I learned on abot 3 cars and drove a Mk3 Jetta around for a week or two.

When I testdrove the car, everything felt great. The clutch engaged very smoothly except I noticed it was a little high. I've been told Audi clutches are relatively high so I didn't fret over it.

I'm not bad at working the clutch/gears but obviously I'm no pro. I asked a friend to teach me how to take off quickly (like off a line, to race). We spent a couple hours in the middle of night practicing, moving spots when kicked out, practicing some more, etc.

The next morning, I turned the car on while in neutral and heard a strange chattering sound. I pushed the clutch in, let it back out and the sound was gone. I noticed something off about engagement. It was either jerky or shuddering but this went away after 2 days. Now the clutch just shudders a bit when engaging into first from a dead stop. I've noticed that the engagement point has moved back a bit, as well.

So a day or two after the chattering, I took it to my local shop where they took a spin around the block. The tech said that the engagement point did feel a bit high and it's a sign of the clutch going out. I asked for clutch recommendations and he said Southbend is pretty good for OEM/Stage1.


Cliffnotes:
30k old Stage 3 clutch in car when I got it
Some launch-learning didn't treat it well
Now it's going out. (Shuddering while engaging into first, engagement point receding)


Which brings me to my questions:

Which clutch should I get? I'm too poor right now to go BT, so really I just need something that will be durable, and engage smoothly. I want to be able to rev up and drop the clutch every once in a while without it destroying something and it also needs to take the small amount of abuse that comes from me learning the subtelties now.

Secondly, do you think I'll need to change the flywheel, and how much should the entire job run me (parts and labor seperated).
Thanks a lot!

[njm23]

Well, if your running the Unorthodox LWFW and want to keep it you should replace the friction plate ($130 from unorthodox). The LWFW will definately be not as smooth and create chatter over the stock dmfw. but that is normal.

As far as clutch goes, looks to me like your just chipped correct? I would go southbend stage 3, in case you felt the need to go a little bigger, plus that will be more than enough for your car and will handle some abuse just fine.

I run the unorthodox flywheel with a SouthBend stage 4 clutch and I love it. But I am also in the process of going to a much bigger turbo which is why I have a stage 4.

[mike-2ptzero]

I wouldn't go any lower then a South Bend Stage 3 for any A4 1.8t and seeing that your new to manuals and will most likely launch it often the Stage 3 would be your best choice since you wont be goiong BT. If you need one let me know, having a back to summer sale for the month of June.

[badjoke]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't clutches less durable as they increase in Stages? Aren't racing clutches relatively fragile?

[njm23]

Not at all, the clutch has less life when you switch over to a PUCK design. The OFE stage 3 clutch is a street clutch, not a racing puck style clutch. It will last plenty long

[badjoke]

Huh. I wonder why mine went out so quickly. I'm not THAT horrible.

[mike-2ptzero]

Huh. I wonder why mine went out so quickly. I'm not THAT horrible.

Quickly, it is 30k miles old.

[badjoke]

Quickly, it is 30k miles old.

Hm. I guess I expected them to last much longer.

[sean1.8t]

Quickly, it is 30k miles old.

hey mike, speaking of clutches, check your PM's

[Fuzz_Duster]

Not to thread jack but the exact same thing just happened to me. I was just about to make a thread too. I took my car in to the shop and the guy told me both my front controll arms were shot and I need new ones for 2G's, and he also said it feels like I needed a new clutch. I ignored the clutch cause everyone says that when they feel the engagement point on audi's. But in the past week I noticed it engages basically where the pedal stop moving , or in other words I have to have my foot off the pedal for it to catch. And it also shudders and bogs reallll bad now out of 1st gear. I have to rev it close to 2300 RPMS and feather the clutch for like 5 seconds just to get a smooth start without any shaking or bogging. If I start normal the rmps drop to about 900 then slowly come up.

So do what I'm doing right now, and order yourself a Southbend SS OFE clutch from eurocode. My shop quoted me $850 for the OEM clutch + install., so just install. should be like $100-$250 at the most i would guess? Depending on the shop, state, etc. etc.

[njm23]

^^no no... An OEM clutch meaning stock is only like $200-$300.. Your probably looking around $500-$600 atleast for a clutch install for JUST labor.

[mike-2ptzero]

hey mike, speaking of clutches, check your PM's

I have the guys looking into it. Will let you know once I hear back from them.


BTW you going to Vegas this weekend?

[Squarrl]

Not to thread jack but the exact same thing just happened to me. I was just about to make a thread too. I took my car in to the shop and the guy told me both my front controll arms were shot and I need new ones for 2G's, and he also said it feels like I needed a new clutch. I ignored the clutch cause everyone says that when they feel the engagement point on audi's. But in the past week I noticed it engages basically where the pedal stop moving , or in other words I have to have my foot off the pedal for it to catch. And it also shudders and bogs reallll bad now out of 1st gear. I have to rev it close to 2300 RPMS and feather the clutch for like 5 seconds just to get a smooth start without any shaking or bogging. If I start normal the rmps drop to about 900 then slowly come up.

So do what I'm doing right now, and order yourself a Southbend SS OFE clutch from eurocode. My shop quoted me $850 for the OEM clutch + install., so just install. should be like $100-$250 at the most i would guess? Depending on the shop, state, etc. etc.

they charged $2,000 for two new control arms?

[njm23]

I read that too, Just ignored it cause I sure as hell hope he knows better than that. BUT if you don't you are getting ripped off BIG TIME.

[Fuzz_Duster]

they charged $2,000 for two new control arms?

not 2, all 4 on both left and right front wheels. The guy said with quattro you can't just replace 1 or 2, you have to do all at the same time.

So its 2g's for 2 on the left and the other 2 on the right + labor

and he quoted me $315 on install. for the clutch I ordered....

I know the guy real well, we've been taking our cars to him since I was a kid. He owns 2 audi's, and one VW, and his shop is core for german cars. I trust him, so its all good.

[sean1.8t]

I have the guys looking into it. Will let you know once I hear back from them.


BTW you going to Vegas this weekend?

sweet. thanks!

i was planning on going down there. but with my car being down for almost 3 weeks now and all the money i've spent to get it back up i've decided to skip it.. maybe next year

[sean1.8t]

they charged $2,000 for two new control arms?

it's amazing how much ass raping goes on in the world for regular maintenence. i don't see how these people take there cars in without knowing they're going to get scewed..

one guy on here was close to paying $6000 to fix his cracked head .. luckily he posted up about it first and we could set him strait. he was suprised when we told him he could buy a built 2.0l engine for less than that

[Squarrl]

not 2, all 4 on both left and right front wheels. The guy said with quattro you can't just replace 1 or 2, you have to do all at the same time.

So its 2g's for 2 on the left and the other 2 on the right + labor

and he quoted me $315 on install. for the clutch I ordered....

I know the guy real well, we've been taking our cars to him since I was a kid. He owns 2 audi's, and one VW, and his shop is core for german cars. I trust him, so its all good.

Thats more then the dealer would charge to do all the control arms. There are 2 top 2 bottom control arms on our cars, making 8 control arms. Parts should cost around $400 for the control arms + 6ish hours of labor. To me that is at most $1000.

[Fuzz_Duster]

hmmmmm well let me go look at the invoice he gave me. Maybe there's other things he's planning on doing that I didn;t see/he didn't mention?

[Fuzz_Duster]

The quote reads:
Replace Left Side Control Arms All 4 and Outer
Labor- QTY:4.25/List:$80/Total:$340
Part- Left Lower Control Arm/$154
Part- Left Side FRT POS Upper Control Arm/$76.52
Part- Left Side Rear POS Upper Control ARm/$106.98
Part- Front Lower Control Arm/$155.82
Part- Left Outer Tie Rod/$73.60

Job Subtotal: $907.42

Exact same on right side. So another 907.42

[Squarrl]

well here are the parts

http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=1013

he also seems to take his sweet time for a pro. I hadn't done it before and it only took 6 hours to do all of mine.

[Fuzz_Duster]

well now that you guys brought this up, I'm going to call around to shops in our state capitol (only a 2 hour drive) since they have PLENTY of specialized audi/vw shops there and see what I get. Maybe he's going downhill....

anyways, sorry for the thread jack!
Get the stage 3 south bend!