Down to these: Southbend Stage 4 FE or Clutch Masters stage 4...

[jibberjive]

I'm going to be running RS6's on E85 tune and need a clutch to handle that. It will be my daily driver 1st, weekend road racer 2nd, and very rare trip to the drag stip distant 3rd. So after much research there were a bunch of people who liked their FE SB clutch, with one reported incident of a fused disk to the flywheel. The research on the stage 4 fx400 CM had a lot of people that liked it as well, one reported case of it not disengaging, twentyvalveb5 went through his stage3/4 in about a year, and I've heard that it chatters even with the stock flywheel. So if you have experience either directly or indirectly with these setups, give me your input. If you don't, then don't give me your random guess:) What would you pick in my situation and why?:

1. Southbend Stage4 FE disk w/ resurfaced stock DM flywheel.
2. #1 but with fidanza FW
3. Clutch masters stage 3/4 segmented disk (8 puck) with stock dual mass flywheel (only disk that will work with the stock flywheel)
4. #3 but with the 6 puck disk and the CM lightweight flywheel

[Sleeeper X]

Personally I recommend a southbend clutch. I know a few people with S4's and some CRAZY setups and they all love em. My CM stage3 is on its way out from 12 track runs, few pulls, about 15-17 launches, 15-25 wot shifts. On a side note a friend of mine had a CMstage4, its a really harsh engagement, and it went after 30K or pure abuse.

[jibberjive]

Yeah I know the stage 3 CM and stage 4 and other stages SB have vastly different responses as well, that's why I'm trying to keep this strictly SB FE and CM stage 4 fx400 (6 puck most likely, just threw the stage 3/4 segmented disk up there as an option). 30k of pure abuse is pretty good at those power levels, no? (actually, what power level?)

[Papachristou]

southbend is now offering a stage 5 with a 8 puck fe/ceramic disk i believe. mike2ptzero can get it......

several of the b6 guys have slipped or welded the FE SS clutch kits and are now going to the pucks.. i have the FE SS but not near enough power to slip it

[98a4]

South bend hands down.

[laxman851]

I have SB stage 3 OFE, and haven't had a problem yet, although I haven't tracked the car and I've only put about 3k on the new clutch. I would check with SB and make sure that you can run that Fidanza LW flywheel with that clutch first.

[sean1.8t]

stg 4 is OFE. stg 5 is FE.... fwiw

but i would steer clear of the OTS southbend setups if you are going to track/drag the car. but the OFE stg 4 is an amazing daily driver compared to the stg 5.

if you are going to be aiming for 500whp that those rs6's will dish out, then you need a better setup than a clutch that has been getting people with 300-400whp by.

look into the DXD 8 puck/full faced disk like mentioned before. or spend some coin on a twin disk setup.

disclaimer: i've driven both the stg 4 and stg 5 clutches for over 25000 miles between the 2. and both with the Eurocode 800psi pressureplate option.

[jibberjive]

stg 4 is OFE. stg 5 is FE.... fwiw

but i would steer clear of the OTS southbend setups if you are going to track/drag the car. but the OFE stg 4 is an amazing daily driver compared to the stg 5.

For the A4's your stages are correct. Not for the S4's stage 4 is FE and stage 5 is the segmented disk(?). Definitely not going to go with OFE setup, nor a twin disk, so it's FE, pucks or bust.

[jibberjive]

Interesting, the one getting the least votes is the one I'm leaning towards the most, CM stage 4 with CM flywheel

[sean1.8t]

ah right. i guess i should have checked that before i posted. either way, stay away from the FE. far away.....

[jibberjive]

Still leaning towards CM stg 4 w/ CM LWFW, any more input?

[Evilevo]

I am doing the Southbend Stage 4 with LWFW. I have heard about people fuzing the clutch to the flywheel, but that has only happened when people slip the life out of the clutch. And well if you are holding the revs high and slipping it, you shouldnt be driving stick in the first place Car is getting it installed tomorrow and Greg will be breaking it in before the tune, so you are welcome to ask him about it when he installs it and i can give you feedback when i get the car back

[Silence]

I have number 3 and I love it.

[sean1.8t]

I am doing the Southbend Stage 4 with LWFW. I have heard about people fuzing the clutch to the flywheel, but that has only happened when people slip the life out of the clutch. And well if you are holding the revs high and slipping it, you shouldnt be driving stick in the first place Car is getting it installed tomorrow and Greg will be breaking it in before the tune, so you are welcome to ask him about it when he installs it and i can give you feedback when i get the car back

mine was on a 6k rpm drop. the only thing that slipped was my tires


ok, well obviously the clutch slipped a bit on it otherwise it wouldn't have welded the way it did. but it was not more slip than you will normally see at a track visit