Southbend stage 3 endurance review

[hyetiko]

Like most my stock clutch was not holding DP power to well, would slip when shifting fast or launching. After alot of research I decided to go with SB stage 3 clutch....power mods include 57/183 GIAC tune, meratop headers, roc euro intake. I’m currently 1900 miles into the break in procedure and it still slips. Anybody else have the same clutch and experience longer break in than what SB says (1200) city miles? Also posted on FAcebook audi page with pictures.

Just want to give people an update on how the clutch break in is going. I’m currently at 1900 miles with 3-4 hundred being highway which doesn’t count. Clutch feels great driving around town no (push to start issues). Unfortunately the clutch still slips, I’ve been easy on the clutch and followed southbends and others instructions. I never raced hit boost or went about 3500 rpm for the first 1000 Miles. Once I hit 1000 miles I tested it per southbend recommendation to see if it slips which it did. I keep testing the clutch every 200 miles and each time when progressively getting on it would start to slip around 5K rpm and about 15psi of boost. When on highway in 6th around 3k rpm anything more than 50% throttle and slips instantly. I’m going to do couple hundred more city driving till I reach 2500 miles and if it still slips I’m removing the clutch. This unfortunately has been very frustrating since my stock clutch was holding better and I haven’t enjoyed the car for the past 2 months. I also have to pay for labor twice and be with out a car for possibly 1-2 weeks. Southbend did say they will replace the disc with a full face ceramic, if it continues to slip. Not happy with getting a ceramic clutch also not happy with the outcome after spending 4K on clutch/install.


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[RWD2quattro]

Sorry to hear that, at least my SPEC 3+ lasted 9 months and I started loosing clutch pedal to floor. I've replaced clutch master and slave, still same issue. I just bought the JHM kit 3R to install shortly, lets see how that one holds. Maybe hit traffic on purpose for the next few hundred miles and see what it does.

[bhvrdr]

I fucken hate aftermarket clutches.

Get a sachs

[Ford Prefect]

$4k for clutch install??


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[hyetiko]

$4k for clutch install??


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Clutch+install


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[jbain2]

I was seriously considering this setup for an APR DP setup. Your experience seems to be contrary to what south bend advertises for power and performance thresholds. Outside of covering the cost for the clutch disc did they have anything else to say?


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[hyetiko]

I was seriously considering this setup for an APR DP setup. Your experience seems to be contrary to what south bend advertises for power and performance thresholds. Outside of covering the cost for the clutch disc did they have anything else to say?


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They said they would inspect the kit and upgrade me to a full face ceramic disc. Which they say holds 750tq, I suggested full face organic which would hold 600tq. I just know organic isn’t as harsh as ceramic and lasts longer. I went for an alignment and spoke to the Audi tech that did the install. He took pictures of the disc before install and it showed little chips on the edges. I sent southbend the pictures and they said it’s fine and wouldn’t cause the disc to slip. It was their old rivet machine and since have gotten a new one. My question is did it cause high spots or not bed in properly and glaze or not let the full disc make contact??? I’m sorry but spending as much as I did I wish he had showed me pics before hand I would have requested a new clutch disc.


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[hyetiko]

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[RWD2quattro]

^^ Not bad but, that shouldn't cause an issue. Did you ask the tech if he cleaned the flywheel with brake cleaner in order to remove residual oils/grease from manufacturing on LWFW?

[hyetiko]

Wanted to give another update: clutch is broken in and feels amazing!! Talked to Jon over at southbend he actually designed this clutch for our cars. Gave me some instructions to try before sending out a replacement. His instructions worked and helped fully bed in the clutch! Finally able to enjoy DP power and feels faster than before with a LWFW!


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[B8Addict]

Wanted to give another update: clutch is broken in and feels amazing!! Talked to Jon over at southbend he actually designed this clutch for our cars. Gave me some instructions to try before sending out a replacement. His instructions worked and helped fully bed in the clutch! Finally able to enjoy DP power and feels faster than before with a LWFW!


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Good to hear that everything worked out. What were the instructions?

[EstorilS4]

Can't leave us hanging like that!!! What'd he say??

[hyetiko]

His thought was that clutch had not fully bed in yet. So he purposely had me slip the clutch for 4-5 seconds and hold down the clutch pedal for 30-60 seconds and to repeat it 4-6 times. As soon as I did that 3 times clutch didn’t slip the 4th time. This morning on my way to work, redlined 1-4 gears and didn’t slip once just hooked. I guess after putting 1700 city 400 highway miles I had just been too easy with it.


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[fitzydude]

^Wow that is some good info, never heard of bedding a clutch before.

[EstorilS4]

Awesome. I put a Southbend in my G35 6mt and loved it! Their bed-in instructions for me were drive it easy for 500 miles, then romp on it to complete the bed-in process. Happy ripping!!

[A.C.]

Good stuff here. Now I know what type of clutch I need after months of contemplating. I have the ss line and new slave cylinder installed. Next would be the forks and test pipes when the tranny is out. Thanks for the review!


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[hyetiko]

Being a Kevlar disc they recommend doing 1200 city miles, I think they should change that to 1500-1700 city miles


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[hyetiko]

Good stuff here. Now I know what type of clutch I need after months of contemplating. I have the ss line and new slave cylinder installed. Next would be the forks and test pipes when the tranny is out. Thanks for the review!


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Highly recommend this clutch! Driving around town feels like oem with the clutch pedal only being slightly heavier. No chatter that I’ve heard so far. It is the most expensive but when talking to southbend they were going to ship me a brand new LWFW disc and pressure plate with multiple options for disc material. I would obviously send the old unit back, and if anything was wrong they would potentially even cover labor costs. I never had this kind of support from any company!!!!!


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[RWD2quattro]

That will take months for me to bed in clutch since all of my driving is HWY, hardly any city hence why I have 77k.

[hyetiko]

I purposely took the city instead of highway on my commute to work and it sucked! Added on about an hour each day to my commute, and it still took about 2 months to break in. But it was worth it since clutch is broken in and haven’t had a single issue.


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[sierraquattro]

Highly recommend this clutch! Driving around town feels like oem with the clutch pedal only being slightly heavier. No chatter that I’ve heard so far. It is the most expensive but when talking to southbend they were going to ship me a brand new LWFW disc and pressure plate with multiple options for disc material. I would obviously send the old unit back, and if anything was wrong they would potentially even cover labor costs. I never had this kind of support from any company!!!!!

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Great info!! My factory clutch is going out so I'll contact Southbend immediately. What did your mechanic quote you for the labor costs btw?

[ALAN12186]

$1,300 was my install with stainless clutch line

[sierraquattro]

Just to piggy-back off what others have said and then some-
So.... My Southbend Stage 3 Endurance clutch is broken in!! It took about a month to drive about 750 city miles and I had to do the “Southbend Slip” method a few times to get it biting like it should. I’m happy to report that there is absolutely zero chatter and thanks to the stainless steel clutch line kit from USP, the drivability is way better than stock- smoother and more ‘responsive!’ Performance is EXCELLENT due to the Stage 3-ness and the LWFW. Even with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, you can easily get her to break loose. Rev matching seems to hit different and even more so on Thursday nights. Overall, I have to say that I’m very impressed and I strongly recommend it if you’re making that stage 2+ dual pulley on corn power. If y’all have any questions, hmu. Later, gents!!


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[curr0138]

Just to piggy-back off what others have said and then some-
So.... My Southbend Stage 3 Endurance clutch is broken in!! It took about a month to drive about 750 city miles and I had to do the “Southbend Slip” method a few times to get it biting like it should. I’m happy to report that there is absolutely zero chatter and thanks to the stainless steel clutch line kit from USP, the drivability is way better than stock- smoother and more ‘responsive!’ Performance is EXCELLENT due to the Stage 3-ness and the LWFW. Even with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, you can easily get her to break loose. Rev matching seems to hit different and even more so on Thursday nights. Overall, I have to say that I’m very impressed and I strongly recommend it if you’re making that stage 2+ dual pulley on corn power. If y’all have any questions, hmu. Later, gents!!


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Did you have chatter while breaking in? Mine has over 2k miles but has bad chatter at low rpms. Can you describe how you did the “southbend slip” before it felt solid?

Thanks


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[sierraquattro]

Did you have chatter while breaking in? Mine has over 2k miles but has bad chatter at low rpms. Can you describe how you did the “southbend slip” before it felt solid?

Thanks


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No chattering whatsoever to report. During the SB Slip, I noticed the RPMs remain constant when it was not broken in; when it was finally broken in, the RPMs will drop significantly.


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[XLR8 Craig]

We do a ton of SouthBend clutches in shop and have always had great luck with them!

Thanks for sharing the info, and glad to hear everything ended up the same for you OP.

If anyone else is looking to get one on order for themselves you can find them on our website HERE.

If you have any questions on what kit you should go with, or would like some help getting setup, feel free to shoot me a PM!

Happy modding!

[proxemus]

This might be a different story but i bought a southbend clutch for my fiero ( i did a sbc 383 swap into it) but i ran a stage 3 southbend clutch in it. it was good.. for about 4000km.... it was so bad it looked like a cat ripped up a ball of yarn while getting ran over by a lawnmower bad. It was rated for 450 Torque ( which i was making about 450) so i took that out and went with a stage 4 SPEC clutch (which is rated for 440). I have around 120,000km on it and i have never had it slip on me once and still going strong. And i ABUSE the living shit balls out of it. till this day ill refuse to buy certain products that they wont warranty even if they say ( WARRANTY) ... Southbend can eat shit. My two cents! SPEC even makes a pressure plate and a stage 2+ for our platform. If i was standard and had slipping. 100% id go spec. Great product... and i am a shitty critic.

[FromRagsToS4]

This might be a different story but i bought a southbend clutch for my fiero ( i did a sbc 383 swap into it) but i ran a stage 3 southbend clutch in it. it was good.. for about 4000km.... it was so bad it looked like a cat ripped up a ball of yarn while getting ran over by a lawnmower bad. It was rated for 450 Torque ( which i was making about 450) so i took that out and went with a stage 4 SPEC clutch (which is rated for 440). I have around 120,000km on it and i have never had it slip on me once and still going strong. And i ABUSE the living shit balls out of it. till this day ill refuse to buy certain products that they wont warranty even if they say ( WARRANTY) ... Southbend can eat shit. My two cents! SPEC even makes a pressure plate and a stage 2+ for our platform. If i was standard and had slipping. 100% id go spec. Great product... and i am a shitty critic.

Yeah, that MIGHT be a different story. Not sure I can tell though...

I've heard more horror stories about spec clutches on this platform than South bend, so... That MIGHT be a different story too.

Not sure your story about a Fiero really applies here ...

[jbain2]

I’ve had multiple southbend clutches across different platforms. They have always kicked ass!


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[Nor_Cal_Driver]

I’ll chime in here too. I had a SB stage 3 on a tuned B5 A4 and it was awesome. I could launch so hard, taking bounce off the rev limiter and sidestep the clutch and chirp all four tires. Not good for motor mounts but the clutch held up without complaint.