MASTER CLUTCH APPLICATION GUIDE - WHAT DO WE REALLY NEED?

[HYDE161]

I’m a statistics guy and I wanted to take some time to research what MK6 owners were using to hold their various power levels. I’ve not only tested 3 different clutch setups but I’ve followed all of the clutch threads for a while now. I felt that I should condense everything I found in a single thread for those who may have questions or want more feedback/recommendations for their particular applications. Below should be a pretty accurate list to show what users are running, you can search for their threads or reviews if you want more information. It’s amazing to see which units are the most popular. If I’m missing anyone let me know and I’ll add you to the list. At the end of the day I’d love to add what power level you’re at and if you feel it’s overkill/not enough for what you need.

Lilfleck's Clutch Discussion Thread: Let's Discuss Clutch Options (Disc, Pressure Plate, Flywheel) - Summary of discussion:
http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52388

Bully:
Erwan
HandGrenade06

CM FX300:
kurupt_hawaiian
mikochu

CM FX350:
abraxas - Clutch started slipping WOT 5th/6th @ 16,500 Miles, CM FX350 Installed @ 18,400 Miles
APRMK6GTi - Clutch started slipping WOT 5th/6th @ 9200 Miles, CM FX350 Installed @ 10110 Miles
GTIpilot
D Darko
Dom
zelev217
FLtrooper
Lou Maiuri (drop-in disc & pressure plate, not flywheel)
MaliciousMK6 (drop-in disc & pressure plate, not flywheel)
realcyberbob
SRT2GTI
veedub_drvr (drop-in disc & pressure plate, not flywheel)

CM FX400:
09Gitty
2010_Jersey_GTi
Bender
BIG FAT UNCLE PAULY
Cotizi
drtechy
DTF40
erball
excelevant
Gabriel
HardCandy
kern417
patarch
U-20T
Wood
zhijjawi10

Sachs:
Burny
carsfeverguy
daz_pd

South Bend Stage 2 Daily Silent:
chinqutie - K04
HYDE16 - broken
jspirate (with Wavetrac LSD)
intoflatlines
Mustache rash - latest silent design

South Bend Stage 2 Daily Non-Silent:


South Bend Stage 2 Endurance Non-Silent:
Cryptic1911
k3nnst3r
mdhollis

South Bend Stage 2 Endurance Silent:
dadasracecar
fraydknot
JT64
socal87
Trogdor

South Bend Stage 3 Daily Silent:
zsno

South Bend Stage 3 Daily Non-Silent:
apa11393
Dom - switched to FX350
stevenchkim

South Bend Stage 3 Endurance Non-Silent:
boochi
Halvie - broken
zhijjawi10 - broken
skully

South Bend Stage 4 Endurance Non-Silent:
Halvie

South Bend Stage 3 TSI Disk (Drop-In):
A_Bowers
allset - 30,000 miles on the drop in as of 1/14/13 half at stage 2 half at KO4.
HYDE16 - Stage 2
Jeff43 - Stage 2
jmnj - K04
Leiito
Merkle
OldDirty - Holding strong at 17k miles, Stage 2
ryanrich - Stage 2
trd420 - Uni Stage 2

South Bend Unknown:
BeauG
BLD
BoomBoy
lamb110
newtovw
project92raddoslc
SpaceyJacey
The Butcher

Spec:
nino196
Stigar

OEM VW / No Slipping:
chc29 - 45,000 miles stock and then 7200 miles, Stage 1
Dadasracecar - 90k miles on the stock clutch, Stage 2 since 83k miles ,slight slipping when rolling on in 4th
JansonChan226 - Stage 2
Thumper - Stage 1 or 2
Troyguitar - 23k miles including 100 octane track days, Stage 1
TXBDan - Stock clutch, no slipping, Stage 1 for 37,000, Stage 2 for 6,000, 3 HPDEs, 10 autoxes, daily driven in Boston traffic

For those of us that still have slipping clutches or plan on going for more power, it seems that we all have the same concerns: what kit should I run to hold my power level A and how will it change the feel of my car? I figured I could go a step further to help everyone out. Aside from reading threads and sending PM’s to various members, some people have received a lot of their clutch recommendations from CTS Turbo (paid vendor/sponsor here). To cross-check what I found out on my own I called them to find out what they are using for each power level. Below is what they are recommending for any level of power. At the end of the day I’d love to stack these recommendations up against what power level people are running with what kit listed above.

CTS Turbo Recommendations for Stock, Stage 1 (includes steel flywheel):
FX100 / FX200 / FX250 / FX300

CTS Turbo Recommendations for Stage 1, Stage 2, K04 kits (includes steel flywheel):
FX350 Full Face Disc - highly recommended, great pedal feel
FX400 8 puck option- smoother engagement than 6 puck - highly recommended
FX400 6 puck option- aggressive clutch for high power cars

CTS Turbo Recommendations for Big Turbo Kits, Stage 3/3+ (includes steel flywheel):
FX400 8 puck option - smoother engagement, good daily clutch for big turbo cars
FX400 6 puck option - aggressive clutch for high power cars
FX400 4 puck option - very aggressive engagement - recommended for very high power cars
FX500 - harsh engagement & special order, unsprung disc

Clutchmasters Torque Ratings as per Website:
FX100 - 350 ft lbs
FX250 - 390 ft lbs
FX300 - 480 ft lbs
FX350 - 480 ft lbs
FX400 - 570 ft lbs
FX450 - 635 ft lbs
Source: http://clutchmasters.com/custom/documents/17375_PR.pdf

South Bend Stage 2:
Daily - 400 ft lbs
Endurance - 450 ft lbs
Drag - 520 ft lbs
Source: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51834[/QUOTE]

South Bend Stage 3:
Daily - 475 ft lbs
Endurance - 485 ft lbs
Drag - 575 ft lbs
Source: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51834[/QUOTE]

South Bend Stage 4:
Extreme - 600+ ft lbs
Source: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51834[/QUOTE]

Spec Torque Ratings as per ECS Tuning:
Spec Stage 1 - 350 ftlbs
Source: http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.0T/Drivetrain/Clutch/ES2575809/
Spec Stage 2 - 410 ftlbs
Source: http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.0T/Drivetrain/Clutch/ES2575820/
Spec Stage 2+ - 450 ftlbs
Source: http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.0T/Drivetrain/Clutch/ES2575821/
Spec Stage 3 - 500 ftlbs
Source: http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.0T/Drivetrain/Clutch/ES2575824/
Spec Stage 4 - 500 ft lbs
Source: http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Golf_VI--2.0T/Drivetrain/Clutch/ES2575825/

Other:
I asked about Bully, Sachs, South Bend and Spec but they could not offer any recommendations on these units. If anyone has input from other shops on specific power levels, I’d love to add it here.

Lastly, after speaking with CTS Turbo they said they are offering their kits shipped to our community for $1,195 with coupon code: CTSTURBO. This is NOT a GB or an organized order list. I thought people who need to resolve their weak clutches would like to know of a coupon code from a paid vendor/sponsor on this forum. We’re all about saving money for other mods...

 

[project92raddoslc]

I'm very surprised to see the amount of CM users. I guess when the issues related to SBC's kits went public a lot of people jumped on the CM units instead.

 

[DaveSTR]

Sachs thread by user Carsfeverguy here:
http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46971

 

[HYDE161]

Awesome, added.

 

[Jeff43]

I'm very surprised to see the amount of CM users. I guess when the issues related to SBC's kits went public a lot of people jumped on the CM units instead.

^This. And from this I'm feeling like it's been a pretty reliable solution since we're not hearing a lot of negative feedback about them. When there's a problem, people are always vocal; when something just works, a lot of times the majority are silent.

FWIW, I'm on the SB disk soltuion right now; I keep paying attention to these threads in the case that a) it starts to slip, or b) i have a bit of extra cash around and want to do a complete kit with a lighter, SMF.

 

[CTS Turbo]

I'm very surprised to see the amount of CM users. I guess when the issues related to SBC's kits went public a lot of people jumped on the CM units instead.

To my knowledge Clutch Masters TSI clutch kits weren't available as quickly as the SBC clutch kits. We're working closely with CM to finalize the Golf R clutch kit on our project car.

As a paying vendor on GolfMK6 we would like to offer a coupon code/discount for the Clutch Masters TSI clutch kits. If anyone is interested to purchase feel free to use the code "CTSTURBO" for FX200-FX400 clutch kits for $1,195.00 with free shipping for a limited time of course.

 

[HYDE161]

Added you Jeff.

 

[kurupt_hawaiian]

FX300 is also rated to hold K04 hp/tq levels, which I plan on doing in the near future, I am currently APR Stage 2. My friend also has a 2010 GTI with the FX300 and he has been K04 for well over 15k miles with no clutch issues.

 

[lilfleck]

Nice. I also made a clutch thread to consolidate some of the threads I've read:
http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52388

I added this thread to my collection of useful links in the first post.

@HYDE - You've gone through a bevy of clutch setups. Which has been your favorite? I know you had issues with a SB failure... but lets assume they fixed that.

 

[HYDE161]

@HYDE - You've gone through a bevy of clutch setups. Which has been your favorite? I know you had issues with a SB failure... but lets assume they fixed that.

To be honest, I've only tested and owned South Bend kits....

Original Stage 3 TSI disk - held fine with OEM PP and DMFW
Stage 2 Silent Design - busted and could not get into gear
Latest Stage 3 TSI disk - went back to the OEM PP and DMFW

I have tested the various Clutchmaster kits in MK5 and MK6 setups from my club members. They are extremely quiet compared to SB full clutch kits I've seen, the pedal input is a tad lighter and has pretty smooth engagment for the non-puck kits.

 

[intoflatlines]

You can add me to the South Bend list. I have the SB Stage 2 Daily Silent kit with light(er) flywheel).

 

[HYDE161]

added

 

[kern417]

@HYDE - You've gone through a bevy of clutch setups. Which has been your favorite? I know you had issues with a SB failure... but lets assume they fixed that.

I'm interested too, and in general it would be nice to see who ran previous setups. maybe order it like this

CLUTCH MANUFACTURER
user.....clutch......hp......rating

that way you can split up even the southbend units into daily/silent/endurance and see if people switched to another company and are happier. from what i've seen everyone that ran non-silent sb units were satisfied

 

[HYDE161]

Great idea,...I just broke out the South Bend list too.

 

[lilfleck]

Worth noting that Lou went with the CM disc & pp option (OEM dmfw).

Hyde, you still liking the drop in? Does it shudder more/less than the Southbend Stage 2 on initial engagement?