Exactly HOW long will it last? It depends....Thank you so much for your input! It was a huge help. If I do decide to upgrade clutches, what stage clutch would you recommend?n1das said:RC3 tune alone --> clutch may be OK with it. No guarantees.
PP520 nozzles alone --> clutch may be OK with it. No guarantees.
RC3 tune + PP520 nozzles = clutch upgrade.
The amount of torque you can produce with RC3 and PP520 nozzles will be enough to easily exceed the rating of the stock clutch. It will last for a while provided you're kind to it. It will be hard because you're going to LOVE the performance with RC3 and PP520 nozzles.
You'll have to be careful with your right foot to help avoid clutch slip. Be especially careful in 5th and 4th on the highway. Modding is a slippery slope and the power increase from RC3+nozzles will make you think about doing that clutch upgrade sooner than originally planned.
Good luck and Welcome to TDIclub.
South Bend Stage 3, SMF version, rated to hold 425 ft-lbs (not ft/lbs or lbs/ft) is a good way to go. TDIparts has the SBC 3 SMF clutch.tysingleton34 said:
Since the whole point of the upgrade is more power, why bother if you can't use it?DBDieseler said:
Great read here, helped out a lot! If I eventually get a new turbo (vnt 17/22), will the SBC 3 clutch still be fine to hold the nozzles, tune, and new turbo?n1das said:South Bend Stage 3, SMF version, rated to hold 425 ft-lbs (not ft/lbs or lbs/ft) is a good way to go. TDIparts has the SBC 3 SMF clutch.
The decision to upgrade will be an easy one....you definitely WILL need a clutch upgrade with RC3 tuning and PP520 nozzles. You'll eventually WANT to do the upgrade and do it sooner than planned to be able to take full advantage of the tuning and nozzle upgrade. The TORQUE is addictive.
The SBC 3 is waaaay better than the G60/VR6 clutch and uses the same (G60) SMF. I have the G60/VR6 clutch in my 02 Golf and it's held up fine for my mods until I went to RC4b tuning and a VNT-17 turbo upgrade. Now I can easily make the VR6 easily slip in 4th and 5th. I'm not surprised since I'm right at the edge of its rating (~ 300-330 ft-lbs) and I've already got 190k miles of modded performance on it. It's probably about due for a new clutch anyway. It will last for a while provided I'm kind to it.
An important lesson many of us on TDIclub have learned is to get a clutch that's way stronger than you'll ever need now and in the future, taking into account future mod plans plus allow some headroom for de-rating for long life. Clutch jobs are hard and expensive and not fun on these cars and you don't want to do a clutch upgrade more than once if you can help it. Many of us upgraded our clutches after performance mods because of slippage, then did more mods and then later faced having to upgrade the clutch AGAIN because of slippage. Best to do a clutch upgrade only once and be done with it. I went with the G60/VR6 upgrade because it was a popular and recommended upgrade at the time. I've done more mods since the upgrade and I'm now facing having to upgrade the clutch AGAIN because of my mods. I would have been better off to have put a stronger clutch in the first time around. A South Bend Stage 3 SMF upgrade is what I'm going with when I eventually have to change the clutch. The good news is a lot has been learned over the years about modding our TDIs and the mods are becoming more refined and making the cars a lot faster than they were a few years ago.
Good luck.
Yes it will be fine.tysingleton34 said:
Another thing to consider since you live in a cold climate: the clutch will be more prone to slipping even under moderate driving conditions in cold weather than in warm weather. You may find yourself tooling up a hill in 4th/5th and the RPMs may suddenly skyrocket.tysingleton34 said:
If you drive the car in such a way as to not exceed the oem clutches clamping pressure, as long as an unmodded TDI would last. When your clutch is "slipping" that is the sign to "back off".tysingleton34 said:
There was a time not too many years ago where the G60/VR6 clutch upgrade was probably the most recommended clutch upgrade and THE clutch setup to have. It worked well for the modding state of the art back then. Since then people have figured out how to get more and more torque out of the ALH engine such that the G60/VR6 is not enough clutch anymore for the current modding state of the art.bogievw said:
How does the SBC 3 clutch feel? Is the pedal feel and engagement height like stock?bogievw said:
The SBC 3 is significantly lighter than the VR6. I would say the SBC is very close to to the feel and engagement of the stock clutch. I do note a bit of shudder in the SBC when starting slowly from a dead stop. I'm assuming that the shudder will go away after it's broken in.n1das said:
Starting slowly from a dead stop. Some of us would never notice a problem like thatbogievw said:
But that just re-itterates a point from above: what's the point of modding if you can't take advantage of the mods. It would be like putting snow tires on a car that you garage for the winter.ruking said:
Don't egg me on. I'm trying to be good for a few hundred miles to break it in.ChippedNotBroken said:Starting slowly from a dead stop. Some of us would never notice a problem like that