southbend or spec clutch??

[EuRoSp1c]

need to do clutch asappppppp... just wondering what everyone personally would get. im thinking stage 3.. i will be going big but nothing to crazy at least until i get tired of the power. i will be running stock flywheel but of course i will resurface it at work. i was leaning toward spec but some input would help.

current mods- n75 race, 007 dv, tip, fmic, 3 "tp,dp, 3in cutout, tapp stage 1

thanx for any input guyssss

[docurley]

Spec clutch are either on or off where has SB is a lot more OEM in the feel.

[EuRoSp1c]

i had a spec stg2 in my gti vr6 nd i loved it... it took a beating and never slipped, it grabbed like a champ...

pic for shits and giggles

[SpoolinPelican]

I went southbend, but I just put it in and havent driven it yet, but I have never had bad luck with southbend. You do know you cant resurface our dual mass flywheel like a single mass, right? I only ask because not a lot of places have the proper equipment for it.

[EuRoSp1c]

yeaaa.. now that u remind me, i have to make sure in the shop we can do that...

[bassed]

Spec has qa/qc issues more often than not over the past couple years. If you are not going to go BT or BAT look at the 034 kit as well (contact Issam). The Southbend clutches are awesome I run the DXD Track STG5 and a 12lb AWE LWFW, I have the 1st gen 034 sitting around with the flywheel still if you want to save some money, it has 20k on it and is in perfect shape (Poopie can valch for this and I can take some pics), pm me if you are interested you can have first dibs before I list it in the classifieds.

[MJM Autohaus]

The MJM in-house shop stable consists of:

B6 A4 APR Stage III+ 1.8T
MK4 GTI 1.8T with GT2871R
MK3 GTI VR6 Stage II T3/T4
Corrado 3.0L VR6 Turbo with GT35R with Haltech

......of all which run SPEC clutches with no problems at all. None.

Feel free to stop by the shop if you're in the San Antonio or Austin areas for test rides.

[UN-PIMP-Z-A4]

southbend because i rock it...

[blmlozz]

I wish my SB experience was as smooth.. been through ripping the tranny out 7 times tracking down what is likely a Pressure Plate issue now, replaced the Slave cylinder twice, master cylinder once, and gone through about 3-4 throw-out bearings..when it kinda worked, I suppose it worked fine, but when you spend $1.2K on a clutch and FW combo, I just expect it to work first time every time. I've called them once and Andy is a nice guy, helped me diagnose possible problems and sent me a new t-o bearing (which is probaly causing some of my problems now..) for free.. have to call them tomorrow.. kinda done with the thing and I'm hoping they'll give me a major discount on a stage I or something so I can get the car sold. I suppose I should be lucky I can do this myself otherwise I'd be out a couple grand instead of a couple hours of my time.

/end rant.

[bassed]

The MJM in-house shop stable consists of:

B6 A4 APR Stage III+ 1.8T
MK4 GTI 1.8T with GT2871R
MK3 GTI VR6 Stage II T3/T4
Corrado 3.0L VR6 Turbo with GT35R with Haltech

......of all which run SPEC clutches with no problems at all. None.

Feel free to stop by the shop if you're in the San Antonio or Austin areas for test rides.

Only the B6 comes close to not being apples to oranges. Most of the B5 community is anti-Spec. AWE switched to SB for good reasons hmmmm.

[bassed]

I wish my SB experience was as smooth.. been through ripping the tranny out 7 times tracking down what is likely a Pressure Plate issue now, replaced the Slave cylinder twice, master cylinder once, and gone through about 3-4 throw-out bearings..when it kinda worked, I suppose it worked fine, but when you spend $1.2K on a clutch and FW combo, I just expect it to work first time every time. I've called them once and Andy is a nice guy, helped me diagnose possible problems and sent me a new t-o bearing (which is probaly causing some of my problems now..) for free.. have to call them tomorrow.. kinda done with the thing and I'm hoping they'll give me a major discount on a stage I or something so I can get the car sold. I suppose I should be lucky I can do this myself otherwise I'd be out a couple grand instead of a couple hours of my time.

/end rant.

Step away from the car and start paying a shop to do your installs. The first and only time in 6 years I have heard of any situation like this with SB. Sounds 99.9% like installer errors.

[blmlozz]

Step away from the car and start paying a shop to do your installs. The first and only time in 6 years I have heard of any situation like this with SB. Sounds 99.9% like installer errors.

but the same problem so many different times? The clutch worked fine for about 100miles.. after that it never was right. At this point though I hope it was me that messed something up.. I really do. lol, I hope I find out what it is next time, I'm So tired of ripping that tranny out you've no idea.

[a4mafia(Red)]

south bend street stage 5 for me......good for daily drivers but catches when you need it to.

[bassed]

but the same problem so many different times? The clutch worked fine for about 100miles.. after that it never was right. At this point though I hope it was me that messed something up.. I really do. lol, I hope I find out what it is next time, I'm So tired of ripping that tranny out you've no idea.

Yeah pulling the trans is a PITA, are you sure you torqued to the proper specs? I just can't believe you went through all the multiple items that you did. Did you reinstall with the same hardware over and over? Almost positive all the hardware is one time use. Hmmm now you have me thinking. Good luck, hope it all works out for you;)

[EuRoSp1c]

im leaning toward spec.... just have to choose the right stage for me

[Kyle H]

im leaning toward spec.... just have to choose the right stage for me

from the replies in this thread, how could you be leaning towards spec??


Southbend stage 3 would be full of win, that's what I run on my chipped car.

[t1demont1]

southbend stg5. only way to go. Spec sucks at making clutches for quattro.

[m5racer]

spec is garbage, had a buddy with a 240, fucken thing exploded on him. Not the only person either, I have herd other people talk about specs exploding clutches. Go southbend, they seem to be the best for us. and no explosions.

[blmlozz]

Yeah pulling the trans is a PITA, are you sure you torqued to the proper specs? I just can't believe you went through all the multiple items that you did. Did you reinstall with the same hardware over and over? Almost positive all the hardware is one time use. Hmmm now you have me thinking. Good luck, hope it all works out for you;)

I was fairly carefull the first time I installed the FW and clutch.. used a torque wrench and all that fun stuff. Never acutaly *removed* the clutch all the times I did it since the symptoms were telling me it might be other places.. but this time I'm going to fork over the $40 for some new bolts and inspect the clutch. Regardless if I find anything or not.. in order to sell the car I'm going to try to get a less harsh clutch than a stage 5.. might scare away buyers if they have the heave their whole body weight into the pedal of their german luxury car haha.

[djwimbo]

spec is garbage, had a buddy with a 240, fucken thing exploded on him. ... Go southbend, they seem to be the best for us. and no explosions.

southbend stg5. only way to go. Spec sucks at making clutches for quattro.

Spec clutch are either on or off where has SB is a lot more OEM in the feel.

im leaning toward spec.... just have to choose the right stage for me

I know this is going to make me the AntiChrist, but I Love my SPEC. I have zero regret from buying it. My car is Quattro, I've done a LOT of launches with my car, and it's had a LOT of abuse. Many AutoX races, one good track day, 3-4 Test and tune days, and >24K in the last year.

As far as an on/off feeling, that depends more on the clutch material, stage and pressure plate, than the brand. Any company can make a clutch like that, go drive an Aussie twin disc, that's a bitch. My Camaro had a stcky as f..k clutch in it, and IIRC it was SouthBend.

Sure, SPEC does somethings a bit different, and has had a few issues over the years. Everything I've seen involving their product and a failure is due to operator error, installer error, or just overpowering the damn thing. I'm not talking about just VAG cars either, Ford's and Chevy's too.

I bought the Stage 2+ Pressure plate/disc and the 16lb Steel Flywheel, they sent me all the hardware and an OEM release bearing. Shipping was fast and product showed up perfect. Zero fitment issues and a happy customer.

[djwimbo]

And as far as the trans being a PITA to pull, I do it on my back, and it's on the ground in <2hrs. That's w/o dropping the rear half of the subframe too.

[bassed]

And as far as the trans being a PITA to pull, I do it on my back, and it's on the ground in <2hrs. That's w/o dropping the rear half of the subframe too.

Same here last time Poopie and I did it, but it's still a PITA (I can think of 1 beeeeeelyon things I would rather do car wise yet alone for an afternoon).

[djwimbo]

Same here last time Poopie and I did it, but it's still a PITA (I can think of 1 beeeeeelyon things I would rather do car wise yet alone for an afternoon).

Nah, I don't mind. I'd rather get paid for 5hrs of a clutch/flywheel swap than 5hrs worth of oil changes. I like bigger jobs like that b/c I can keep focused on them. The little piddly shit bugs me.

[Militant-Grunt]

I had a spec stage 2 on my 98.5, the car had over 140 launches on it. I beat the living shit out of the clutch on a daily basis, when the car was totaled the disk was still at about 45% and it had 45k miles on it of constant abuse. I guess its a hit or a miss.

[maxspeed]

I had the spec stage2+ in my car for about 12,000 before it literally disintegrated. ived had the spec stage IV in my car problem free for 20,000k mi at this point.

[le91688]

I will never understand stage 5 clutches on stock 1.8ts.

[mike-2ptzero]

There is always the Clutch Masters option and if you do go Spec there is the 240mm clutch/lwfw option.

[a4mafia]

I will never understand stage 5 clutches on stock 1.8ts.

for ppl going BAT....they wanna be able to use the power with the new turbo and get used to the clutch before having a huge increase in power...

[Tifun]

My spec stg3 slips with my apr stg3. I shouldve went SB stg5. It doesnt slip under spirited driving, just the launches and sometimes I can feel it a tad in 2nd, usually for just a blip. Im not satisfied though.

Also should note I have the APR LMLW flywheel. The clutch itself has been reliable, only think I complain about it the slipping during a launch. Might be an issue with any clutch though considering the force being put to such a small area.

[B5 SLPR]

ACT just released some clutch set up's for our cars, I havent heard anything about them yet but I know they have a very good rep with other cars. Im interested to see if anyone starts running their clutch and how it will hold up/compare

[Tifun]

ACT just released some clutch set up's for our cars, I havent heard anything about them yet but I know they have a very good rep with other cars. Im interested to see if anyone starts running their clutch and how it will hold up/compare

I've used 3 different ACT clutches and loved them all. I really hope they do well in our market. I may consider one from them.

[mike-2ptzero]

I've used 3 different ACT clutches and loved them all. I really hope they do well in our market. I may consider one from them.

They dont really offer anything for an A4 that makes any power and wants a street clutch. They basically offer 1 street clutch that is pretty much like stock or stage 1 and then 2 kits that use a puck disk. Not exactly a great selection.

Here you go.

DESCRIPTION - AUDI A4 FWD/QUATTRO 1.8T PART # TORQUE CAPACITY CLAMP LOAD
ACT STREET CLUTCH KIT. "The ACT Street Clutch Kit combines the HD Pressure Plate and a Performance Organic Disc".

AA1-HDSS 278 lbs/ft 38%
ACT RACE CLUTCH KIT (4 PUCK) AA1-HDR4 356 lbs/ft 38%
ACT RACE CLUTCH KIT (6 PUCK) AA1-HDR6 356 lbs/ft 38%

Even a chipped K03 comes very close to producing that 278 lbs/ft and way over that when being launched. So their street clutch would pretty much be good for a 100% stock K03.

[EuRoSp1c]

what sb clutch can i run on a stock flywheel... i want to stay sock flywheel

[mike-2ptzero]

what sb clutch can i run on a stock flywheel... i want to stay sock flywheel

Any of the full face kits which is the Rally, TZ, OFE and FE. All of those can be ordered with a unsprung disk. The DXD and DXD-F are 6 puck and can only be ordered in a sprung disk which can only be used with a lwfw.


The Stage 5 FE can also be ordered with a 8 pad segmented ceramic unsprung disk, I think SB calls it a Stage 5 B.

[Tifun]

They dont really offer anything for an A4 that makes any power and wants a street clutch. They basically offer 1 street clutch that is pretty much like stock or stage 1 and then 2 kits that use a puck disk. Not exactly a great selection.

Here you go.


Even a chipped K03 comes very close to producing that 278 lbs/ft and way over that when being launched. So their street clutch would pretty much be good for a 100% stock K03.

Well that's disappointing. Maybe in the future they will put something out. I will probably go SB next time around.

[andyrew]

I've worn in my SB stage 4 pretty good now and it feels awesome... Its really funny going from it to a standard clutch though...