Stage 3 clutch, need opinions.

[Quattrocket]

Hey guys I'm looking for peoples opinions on which clutch to get for my S4.
Im eventually gonna want full stage 3 but am gonna run stage 3- for a while. I need a clutch that will be great for a daily driver, but be able to stand up to a few hard launches once and a while. Right now Im leaning towards Southbend since I had a stage4 on my old A4 and loved it.
I don't want any chatter either. I was looking at a clutchmasters fx400 and fx300 but I wasnt sure if the 300 could hold up to the abuse I need it for and the 400 warned of chatter. Sorry if this was discussed ad nausium but Im incredibly busy and iddnt have alot of time to do a proper search. Thanks guys.

[BlueturboS4]

clutch masters stage 3, i loved mine!!

[exorcet]

southbend 'stage 3 OFE' (with stock resurfaced flywheel) and i love it. Perfect feel for daily driving - almost the same as stock. I don't get CRAZY with it..but of the ~8 or so 'clutch drops' i've done it's worked like clockwork.

[joules]

I have a Stage 4 Clutchmasters with LWFW, and yes, it chatters at low rpms, and at idle while in neutral, enough that the car sounds like a diesel tractor. If it were bulletproof, I can overlook this somewhat, but at 3,000 miles, I did a 4,500 rpm clutch-drop, drag launch, and temporarily lost the disengagement feature of the clutch. After 30 minutes, it started working again, but I'm not too happy! Does anyone know what is happening with this? My Spec Stage 3 did this at 20,000 miles, and I replaced it believing that it was damaged, but there was nothing visibly wrong... Throwout bearing, maybe?

[exorcet]

I have a Stage 4 Clutchmasters with LWFW, and yes, it chatters at low rpms, and at idle while in neutral, enough that the car sounds like a diesel tractor. If it were bulletproof, I can overlook this somewhat, but at 3,000 miles, I did a 4,500 rpm clutch-drop, drag launch, and temporarily lost the disengagement feature of the clutch. After 30 minutes, it started working again, but I'm not too happy! Does anyone know what is happening with this? My Spec Stage 3 did this at 20,000 miles, and I replaced it believing that it was damaged, but there was nothing visibly wrong... Throwout bearing, maybe?

what LWFW? I've read CM4's are sensitive to the type of flywheel.

[joules]

It is a Clutchmasters LWFW, "highly recommended" to be installed with the Stage 4 clutch, I was told.

[exorcet]

It is a Clutchmasters LWFW, "highly recommended" to be installed with the Stage 4 clutch, I was told.

well that's what i was told too.. so.. heh.. sorry to hear, that's no fun..

[rcjustin]

Had a vast clutch and resurfaced flywheel.... broke. Now im using a clutchmasters stage 3 clutch and so far love it. Very smooth clutch. Cant wait till the breakin is done(downside to kevlar 1000 mile breakin)

[andream88]

what about vast stg 3+LWFW?

[The_Jerbel]

Sounds good to me

[andream88]

yeah, jordan please be patient.
I'll order it in September ;)

Tnx

[Das General]

Had a vast clutch and resurfaced flywheel.... broke. Now im using a clutchmasters stage 3 clutch and so far love it. Very smooth clutch. Cant wait till the breakin is done(downside to kevlar 1000 mile breakin)

What VAST clutch were you running?

[Quattrocket]

So would the southbend stage 3 be a good match? I like the vast one but I think the southbend has more torque capability? plus I live in Canada and can get the southbend locally where as the vast has to come from cali and im looking at up to 2 weeks before it gets here (border bullshit + UPS rape charges). thanks for the input BTW guys. Also, the southbend doesnt have a break-in period i believe. which is good because we are planning a big roadtrip all along Georgian Bay checking out different beaches and towns and stuff. Would def be a much better trip in the S4 than the fiancee's Escape.

[rcjustin]

What VAST clutch were you running?

stage 3 with their resurfaced flywheel which also caused me huge problems in my car. Dont want to expose this without talking to them first about it though.

[The_Jerbel]

So would the southbend stage 3 be a good match? I like the vast one but I think the southbend has more torque capability? plus I live in Canada and can get the southbend locally where as the vast has to come from cali and im looking at up to 2 weeks before it gets here (border bullshit + UPS rape charges). thanks for the input BTW guys. Also, the southbend doesnt have a break-in period i believe. which is good because we are planning a big roadtrip all along Georgian Bay checking out different beaches and towns and stuff. Would def be a much better trip in the S4 than the fiancee's Escape.

The VAST clutch and the SB clutches are almost identical. I can get you the VAST clutch without the border and duty fees. I would give a ceramic clutch about 1 tank of gas to break in.

[Das General]

stage 3 with their resurfaced flywheel which also caused me huge problems in my car. Dont want to expose this without talking to them first about it though.

Interesting. I swapped out my old rs4 clutch a while back, for the stage 3 VAST situation. But it hasn't seen any action as my motor and car is being built for serious power. I am interested to see how this turns out.

[The_Jerbel]

There are TONS of people running the VAST stage 3 clutch, and only 2 cases that I know of where there has been a serious melt-down. I wouldn't worry too much about it. EVERY clutch has a failure now and then.

[Das General]

Yeah I here ya, but how many of them are pushing 650whp?

[rcjustin]

I understand there are product flaws out there and this was obviously jsut a one off clutch problem but i was kind of dissapointed that vast didnt have much to say about it. From all ive heard their customer servic had been great i expected thy would take care of the problem. Hopefully this was just a one off problm and more will not have the same problem.

[Quattrocket]

The VAST clutch and the SB clutches are almost identical. I can get you the VAST clutch without the border and duty fees. I would give a ceramic clutch about 1 tank of gas to break in.

PM'd

[The_Jerbel]

Yeah I here ya, but how many of them are pushing 650whp?

There are actually quite a few GT cars running around with that clutch, and they are doing just fine.