SouthBend Clutches

[treemolecule]

I want to upgrade my clutch and I was just just curious if anyone had any feedback on the southbend clutches from www.034motorsport.com
I wasn't looking at anyone in particular but i drive a stage1+ 04 a4 6 spd, gonna upgrade turbo soon, but thanks in advance

[Papachristou]

i have their stage 5 FE clutch disc with SS pressure plate... very happy with it.

[Tgr_Clw]

i have their stage 5 FE clutch disc with SS pressure plate... very happy with it.

Same here. So far it's holding. We'll see if it'll handle a trip to a 1/4 mile track better than the OFE SS did.

[sean1.8t]

have had 2.

blew my stg 4 OFE clutch. had probably ~25,000 miles on it. but one too many 5k rpms launches

now i have the stg 5 FE. happy with it so far. i mean, it works i guess. but i haven't beaten on it at all to really tell.

very little bad reviews on southbend products

[HIERLEVELZ]

Bought a stg3 for my B5 and works well and ill be buying a stg4 for my B6 in the next few weeks.

[Tgr_Clw]

Bought a stg3 for my B5 and works well and ill be buying a stg4 for my B6 in the next few weeks.

Skip stage 4 and go directly to stage 5.

[wolfdog]

Everyone goes to 11 right off the bat. I have to wonder sometimes.

[whiteUSPflow]

how is the stage 5 for daily driving? is it really stiff?

[Tgr_Clw]

how is the stage 5 for daily driving? is it really stiff?

Feels the same as a stage 4.

[MikTip]

I'm going to phone SB, and ask'm if they use the same pressure plate(SS) for the stage 4 & 5.

[Tgr_Clw]

I'm going to phone SB, and ask'm if they use the same pressure plate(SS) for the stage 4 & 5.

They do.

Stage 4: OFE SS
Stage 5: FE SS

SS pressure plate for both setups.

[Papachristou]

tgrclaw has it nailed... im going to break it down fo ya!

FE is the clutch disk...feramic (this material grabs better, wont tear like organic and dissipates heat much quicker
OFE is the other clutch disc organic-fermaic (one side is organic the other feramic)

SS is the heavy duty pressure plate to help with the higher friction grabbing power clutch discs have.. its a 50lb pressure plate vs the stock 30.

Soo put them all together and what do u have? FE SS or OFE SS! compare to the OFE HD they offer which uses the similar to stock pressure plate (HD)

Now onto driveability... both the OFE SS and FE SS will require the same pedal effort to push it down the only difference is the FE SS will "grab" quicker so its a tad trickier to drive but i picked it up really quick not to mention my 115lb wife didnt have too much trouble either! so if she can do it, anyone can...

also to note, i got used to the pedal effort really quick too.. the first day i thought i was going to hate it but a day later it felt just like stock...

[mike-2ptzero]

SS is the heavy duty pressure plate to help with the higher friction grabbing power clutch discs have.. its a 50lb pressure plate vs the stock 30.

I think those #'s are way off. Most high clamping pressure plates are around 2200 lbs, I run a dual diaphram pressure plate that is 4800 lbs. So it would be hard for theirs to be rated at 50lbs and 30lbs. Maybe you meant 1300 lbs which IIRC is the rating of the OEM pressure plates.

[CO AVANT]

It is very possible that the FE won't hold the power I'm making combined with the aasco 16lb steel fly. I have launched a couple times and held the power and have spun the disc going into 2nd a couple times while launching. This was with never rev'n past 5000rpms for the launch. During normal driving it's perfect though. Even my audi tech buddy couldn't use it on his 460chp B5S4 and had to go with a 6 puck to launch it. I even have the tapered surface of the PP ground flat so there was "virtually" no break-in.

[Tgr_Clw]

Well that's lovely. If my FE SS blows up the way the OFE SS blew up (drag strip) I'll be saying goodbye to SB.

[treemolecule]

thanks papachristou, i know i want OFE SS i just dont see too much importance for a full feramic disc, i also wanted to ask if i throw a 16lb flywheel on there, am i beatin a dead horse or will i actually launch?

[dougyfresh]

It is very possible that the FE won't hold the power I'm making combined with the aasco 16lb steel fly. I have launched a couple times and held the power and have spun the disc going into 2nd a couple times while launching. This was with never rev'n past 5000rpms for the launch. During normal driving it's perfect though. Even my audi tech buddy couldn't use it on his 460chp B5S4 and had to go with a 6 puck to launch it. I even have the tapered surface of the PP ground flat so there was "virtually" no break-in.

ru-ro I hope my OFE will be okay but something tells me it won't last too long if I start launching the car.....





The ONLY time the increased pedal pressure bothered me was driving around in Manhattan for an hour in stop-and-go traffic. But I did have fun setting off car alarms [with my exhaust] rolling around in 2nd gear at 3krpm

[CO AVANT]

You will launch but you will get chatter at idle with ac on. SB has a 20LB LW fly option that might get rid of more chatter over the 034/Spec/Aasco 16lb. The FE is VERY driveable. I would not even chance on the organic discs anymore with over 300chp.

[dougyfresh]

You will launch but you will get chatter at idle with ac on. SB has a 20LB LW fly option that might get rid of more chatter over the 034/Spec/Aasco 16lb. The FE is VERY driveable. I would not even chance on the organic discs anymore with over 300chp.

I wouldn't have the AC on. In fact, I rarely have it turned on.

We'll see how long the organic disc lasts me

[Papachristou]

[QUOTE=mike-2ptzero;2670120]

SS is the heavy duty pressure plate to help with the higher friction grabbing power clutch discs have.. its a 50lb pressure plate vs the stock 30.
QUOTE]

I think those #'s are way off. Most high clamping pressure plates are around 2200 lbs, I run a dual diaphram pressure plate that is 4800 lbs. So it would be hard for theirs to be rated at 50lbs and 30lbs. Maybe you meant 1300 lbs which IIRC is the rating of the OEM pressure plates.

sorry i miswrote that.. 50lb pedal effort!


i thought the FE SS was rated for over 500hp? time will tell with some of you getting up there in power

[CO AVANT]

well if the high elevation under powered B6 and B5S4 can't handle it I don't know what to tell you. I do know that I make over 300whp uncorrected up here now. I don't think it will necessarily fail on me but it will spin sometimes if I launch it.

[mike-2ptzero]

sorry i miswrote that.. 50lb pedal effort!


i thought the FE SS was rated for over 500hp? time will tell with some of you getting up there in power

Actually you mean 50% increase.


That power rating is while rolling, not while launching.

[sean1.8t]

^and it's rated in torque. not horsepower

Well that's lovely. If my FE SS blows up the way the OFE SS blew up (drag strip) I'll be saying goodbye to SB.

you and me both.

[treemolecule]

mike, gimme a week or two and i'll pick up a OFE SS stage 4 from your shop, funds are ridonkulous now

[old guy]

SS is the heavy duty pressure plate to help with the higher friction grabbing power clutch discs have.. its a 50lb pressure plate vs the stock 30.

Chris was referring to the force required to fully depress the clutch pedal to the floor. The stock pedal pressure is 29lbs. The Southbend SS pressure plate requires 50 lbs.

[102487thedude]

i love mine but go direct to southbend and tell them your setup and they will point you in the right direction. no need to go through a middle man becuase price goes up and if you run into a problem it will take that much long to resolve.

[Papachristou]

thanks fletcher, long time no see... u still got the audi?

[mike-2ptzero]

Chris was referring to the force required to fully depress the clutch pedal to the floor. The stock pedal pressure is 29lbs. The Southbend SS pressure plate requires 50 lbs.

I have never seen or heard of anyone using that and I have been dealing with A4 clutch setups since 2001. Usually I just hear people using clamping force #'s of the actual pressure plate.


I would hate to see what it is for my setup. It is very hard to hold the pedal mid way up for more then 30 seconds.

[B6Lovin]

You will launch but you will get chatter at idle with ac on. SB has a 20LB LW fly option that might get rid of more chatter over the 034/Spec/Aasco 16lb. The FE is VERY driveable. I would not even chance on the organic discs anymore with over 300chp.

truth. my OFE HD ate shit on a launch (dumped on the upswing to 4500) with my GTRS... spun 1 2 and 3 letting off the gas more and more each time trying to catch the clutch. (this whole process took about 20 seconds lol)

long story short, FE SS ftw - 6puck ftmfw

[member]

i had a southbend clutch, u can ask the guy to have one side be "softer" for a better pedal feel and the other side be "harder" to handle power. thats what i exactly what i had

[old guy]

thanks fletcher, long time no see... u still got the audi?

Well it's still in the family so to speak. My son is driving it. Now that he is home from college for the summer I still manage to get a cruise in every once in a while just to "check things out"!

[old guy]

I have never seen or heard of anyone using that and I have been dealing with A4 clutch setups since 2001. Usually I just hear people using clamping force #'s of the actual pressure plate.

Hi Mike. That was never intended to be any sort of performance measurement. The reason I originally posted that information was to give people an idea as to the difference in clutch feel between the HD and SS pressure plate. It is fairly significant. In fact it is one of the reasons why my son is now driving the A4. The additional force was causing me problems with my knee and I didn't feel like changing the clutch out again for a third time. (Plus he needed a car since his crapped out!)

Cheers!

[audipotential]

Southbend conrols the market for clutches on our cars...

[Papachristou]

Southbend conrols the market for clutches on our cars...

is it a conspiracy?

[mike-2ptzero]

Hi Mike. That was never intended to be any sort of performance measurement. The reason I originally posted that information was to give people an idea as to the difference in clutch feel between the HD and SS pressure plate. It is fairly significant. In fact it is one of the reasons why my son is now driving the A4. The additional force was causing me problems with my knee and I didn't feel like changing the clutch out again for a third time. (Plus he needed a car since his crapped out!)

Cheers!

Good to know. So basically it almost doubles the pedal pressure. How did you get the measurement? It would be cool to see how much pedal pressure is needed for my setup I run on my car.

[skeeball]

Strange. I've only got a Stage 3 and it's held up to repeated 5k launches just fine. And pedal feel is totally stock.

[mike-2ptzero]

Strange. I've only got a Stage 3 and it's held up to repeated 5k launches just fine. And pedal feel is totally stock.

How much power do you make?

[skeeball]

That's a fair question that I don't really have the answer to. I would say it's slightly more than Roman's car though, which is why I made the statement. I'm surprised he broke his clutch. I suppose his torque spike is much nastier than mine though.

[-Audi_tuning-]

is it wierd that my stage three southbend feels like its going out after 10k lol? i wish i had just gone rs4...

[Tgr_Clw]

That's a fair question that I don't really have the answer to. I would say it's slightly more than Roman's car though, which is why I made the statement. I'm surprised he broke his clutch. I suppose his torque spike is much nastier than mine though.

8 "1/4 mile" runs back to back will do that.
No cooling down in between.