bebersol
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It seems my clutch is starting to slip (in 6th at WOT) a little. I have some mods, but I’m running the stock tune and I drive easy most of the time, only occasionally going WOT. So at 39,900 miles this was extremely surprising. I’m been driving manuals for nearly 50 years, and usually get well over 100,000 miles from the OE clutch, and it’s the friction material that wears out. I learned at the beginning of my driving career to not rest a foot on the clutch and wear out the throughout bearing.
So I’ve been researching this and here’s what I’ve found out:
The clutch system in our R’s is a weak point. I’m guessing the VAG did their engineering work on the engine upgrades and AWD system and went to the parts bin for the transmission and clutch using the golf Dual Mass Flywheel (DMF) system that’s used for all manual golfs.
From what I’ve been able to figure out, the DMF allows the 2 flywheels to spin somewhat independently until the springs engage. The springs are centrifugally activated.
This system is good, actually great, for most Golfs, but modded GTI’s, R and TDI that put out torque in the 250+ range seem to be able to easily cause slippage between the flywheels. Judging from the number of clutch replacements noted on this forum and the VW Vortax the friction material often looks like new. The probable cause of this problem is that the springs engaging the centrifugal clutches are too weak, and they probably weaken with age. Tuned R’s and TDI’s quickly wear the OE DMF design.
Two solutions:
An oversized DMF set up, the HS RSR is an oversized set up and a lot of people seem to have good luck with this…
http://www.hstuning.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_18&products_id=3888
or
Convert to a Single Mass Flywheel (SMF), which may have a little chatter when engaged in neutral but will not be susceptible to the failure of the DMF and will probably last 100,000 miles. The SMF is a must if you plan on tracking your car.
Example: https://www.sachsperformance.com/en...lutch-sachs/clutch-with-flywheel-883089000034 the SMF on this is less than 16 lbs.
Sticking with the OE DMF (reconditioned or new)seems to be an unacceptable solution unless you like doing clutch jobs….
So I’ve been researching this and here’s what I’ve found out:
The clutch system in our R’s is a weak point. I’m guessing the VAG did their engineering work on the engine upgrades and AWD system and went to the parts bin for the transmission and clutch using the golf Dual Mass Flywheel (DMF) system that’s used for all manual golfs.
From what I’ve been able to figure out, the DMF allows the 2 flywheels to spin somewhat independently until the springs engage. The springs are centrifugally activated.
This system is good, actually great, for most Golfs, but modded GTI’s, R and TDI that put out torque in the 250+ range seem to be able to easily cause slippage between the flywheels. Judging from the number of clutch replacements noted on this forum and the VW Vortax the friction material often looks like new. The probable cause of this problem is that the springs engaging the centrifugal clutches are too weak, and they probably weaken with age. Tuned R’s and TDI’s quickly wear the OE DMF design.
Two solutions:
An oversized DMF set up, the HS RSR is an oversized set up and a lot of people seem to have good luck with this…
http://www.hstuning.com/product_info.php?cPath=15_18&products_id=3888
or
Convert to a Single Mass Flywheel (SMF), which may have a little chatter when engaged in neutral but will not be susceptible to the failure of the DMF and will probably last 100,000 miles. The SMF is a must if you plan on tracking your car.
Example: https://www.sachsperformance.com/en...lutch-sachs/clutch-with-flywheel-883089000034 the SMF on this is less than 16 lbs.
Sticking with the OE DMF (reconditioned or new)seems to be an unacceptable solution unless you like doing clutch jobs….