The clutch Argument

**andru1313** · 08-13-2008 09:16 AM

OK I am getting ready to order another clutch. I found a decent shop to do the work. I just don't have the time. I at the point of selling but will replace the clutch. It matters to me just in case I keep it but not sure I am sick of the money pit right now...

Now comes my issue. I was about the pull the trigger on a Vast Stg 3 with resurfaced fly wheel. My mechanic is telling me that is a mistake. He said that I will be back in 10k to do this again due to the ceramic compound chewing up the pressure plate.

I am not to well versed with clutch technology so I am not sure if this is true or false. all I know is that I have an RS4 clutch in there now with a vast fly wheel that went in less than 20k so what good did that get me.

What is the longevity of a stg 3. My car is currently Stg 2+ My thought is if I end up selling would be a better selling point to have that in there already for someone that is going to be doing a Stg 3 upgrade...

could someone please give me some insight. Thanks.

**ewuzh** · 08-13-2008 10:51 AM

VAST told me one of their stage3+ cars was still on the first vast stage3 clutch after two years of use. That was plenty good enough to convince me especially cause I'm still stage0.

**rcjustin** · 08-13-2008 11:05 AM

i would stay away form the vast stage 3 clutch. Right now i have one and it melted itself to the flywheel from a hard launch. It does not dissipate heat well enoug and in turn melts itself and adheres the the flywheel. Not a good situation so now i am moving onto a clutchmasters stage 3 kevlar setup. Has a better pressure plate than the rs4 design, elimnates the SAC system, and should last me longer than the car will ever no matter how hard i launch it. BTW, im not the onyl person who has had this problem with the clutch. I called vast and they told me another customer has this problem but they were not willing to help me out with a new one at all. Try a southbend setup or a clutchmasters for reliability and a strong clutch setup.

ps- clutch melted during a 1.61 60' at full weight.

**b5s4tt** · 08-13-2008 11:10 AM

good info

**The_Jerbel** · 08-14-2008 12:00 PM

There are a TON of people with the Stage 3 clutch setup, many of which are running GT turbos, almost all of them have loved this clutch with no problems. To my knowledge, including yourself, there are 2 cases in which the clutch had serious problems.

**rcjustin** · 08-14-2008 12:05 PM

I had no problems witht he clutch during nomal use but when it heats up in racing use it just didnt hold up for me atleast. When i called vast about it they informed em this was not the first tim theyve heard of this either and told me to just floor it to brak it loose(didnt work) and besides that said nothing else abotut ater and i was pretty much shit outa luck. I think popl ned to be careful with this clutch iof they plan on using it for any racing where you launch the car. Besides this i agree it was a very goo clutch to drive when it worked. It was smooth and always held the power.

**Hatemenow** · 08-14-2008 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by ewuzh

VAST told me one of their stage3+ cars was still on the first vast stage3 clutch after two years of use. That was plenty good enough to convince me especially cause I'm still stage0.

i will bet to say that the stage 3 car is not driven daily like one of ours are.
So 2 years of them not having problems means that the clutch has been driven on for 2 years with no problems or what??
in my mind real world cars are differant then shop owned cars..unless i have no idea on this and they do drive it daily like i do mine..idk

**The_Jerbel** · 08-14-2008 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by rcjustin

I had no problems witht he clutch during nomal use but when it heats up in racing use it just didnt hold up for me atleast. When i called vast about it they informed em this was not the first tim theyve heard of this either and told me to just floor it to brak it loose(didnt work) and besides that said nothing else abotut ater and i was pretty much shit outa luck. I think popl ned to be careful with this clutch iof they plan on using it for any racing where you launch the car. Besides this i agree it was a very goo clutch to drive when it worked. It was smooth and always held the power.

JHM has over 100 1/4 mile passes on this clutch. I have about 30-40 hard 4500-5500 rpm launches on this clutch, and VAST's GT car has done a number of launches on this clutch. No problems.