Southbend Stage 2 Daily Review

So after having my clutch replaced once by a dealer and having it start to desentigrade with just stage one tune i decide to bite the bullet and get a solid flywheel and a proper clutch. After lots of research I decided to go with Southbend Stage 2 Daily kit. I just got the car back from the shop and overall I am very happy so far. I am very very picky about any extra noises in my car. I am so picky that the reason why I decide to get a new clutch is because of the noise that the stock clutch/ flywheel made. The biggest problem was the pulsation and strange feedback i got in the clutch pedal when revving the engine and pulling away from stop signs. I knew the issue was with the stock flywheel and i was right. When the shop pulled the stock flywheel out it was shot. Only 5000 miles on it with normal driving on stage 1 APR tune. The rotational free play is about 2-2.5 inches and up and down is about half inch. Apparently up to 25 degrees is normal amount of rotational play. Not only it had a ton of play but it was blue around the edges of the main barrel that connects to the crank shaft, indicative of overheating. Disk however was not burnt or glazed as well as flywheel and pressure plate surface.

Now onto the new clutch:

1. NOISE at IDLE- Not much noise to speak of to be honest. Granted I am in Minnesota and its 15 degrees out I can't really get AC to kick in. With heated seats full blast and blower fan on max and lights running there is just a tiny bit of chattering noise every few seconds. Here is a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZq_lOGmoVI&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-5IyIalSD5tCYxMo0A_ENw

2. GEAR LASH NOISE- Again very minimal but a bit more noticeable than chatter at idle. Absolutely not noticeable if the windows are up and radio is on even on low volume. The noise is kinda hard to explain so I will post a video of it in a couple of days. The noise is only there when acceleration in first gear from about 1200-2200 rpm and when decelerating in second at about same rpm. Again its really not that big of a deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY18G9iq-xs&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-5IyIalSD5tCYxMo0A_ENw

Driving around. Shows a little bit of the gear lash. Its very hard to hear with windows up.

3. PEDAL EFFORT- Pedal feels exactly like stock. It grabs almost at the same spot as before. I feel like there is just a bit more free play now but not really noticeable.

4. CLUTH GRAB- Certainly feels a lot more grabby. It feels good...period. It feels exactly how a sporty car should feel.

5. Spin down noise when shifting is gone as well. So far I can't hear it.

First thing i noticed when driving the car is how much quicker the engine revs, its awesome just feels so much more direct and connected. So far i have not gotten into boost and don't plan on it for 500-700 miles. I have a 30 mile daly commute and can take all back streets and not get on the highway. It will add about 15 minutes to my commute but I am committed to doing this right and breaking in this thing correctly.


I will post pictures of the stock components tomorrow and will post a video of gear lash noise as well. I will be updating this thread with my experience.


Stock parts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiTGzRLb84E&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-5IyIalSD5tCYxMo0A_ENw

Inspected the stock clutch and flywheel parts a little more. It all does not look that bad actually. The flywheel does have quite a bit of play but it does not feel like its actually broken. Its worse. It actually looks like it should be this ****ty. A ton of play and all just looked like crap. Just can't believe this is considered appropriate for a pretty much a $40k car.



Would like to know what this little tab is for? In the video you can see it totally loose.


Possible overheating on the flywheel

Great review. Amazing quality photos and video! Thanks for sharing. Do you wish you would have gone with the endurance instead?

Tapped from the Men's room

lilfleck said:

Great review. Amazing quality photos and video! Thanks for sharing. Do you wish you would have gone with the endurance instead?

Tapped from the Men's room

Click to expand...

Thank you! I will be adding more videos later with better audio quality.


You know i did not even look into endurance clutch. I don't even know what the difference is. I would guess its the material on the disk and maybe less spring hub?

oh and btw, pictures and video of the flywheel shoot on iPhone ;-)

I'm breaking in my Southbend stage 2 endurance as we speak.. I love it so far. Slight chatter from a stop since its so new and tight but the pedal feel is almost identical to stock except for the fact that it grabs MUCH earlier, which after 100 miles I am starting to like. Makes rev matching on downshifts much easier. I noticed a HUGE difference right off the bat though. I'm going easy on it to break it in right, but basically just driving normal the car responds so much better. I also noticed the engine seems to rev up much faster.. Could be the new flywheel?

If I'm correct I believe the only difference between daily and endurance is that the endurance is rated to hold slightly higher torque.. Either way very happy with it do far, can't wait to fully boost in a few weeks!