S3 Sachs performance clutch update

Hi all,

Just thought I'd put an update on here for the benefit of anyone else in future regarding the Sachs performance clutch.

I had my car ( a 57 plate S3) remapped by Revo at 1 year old/10000 miles, it managed to do two years/22000 miles before the standard clutch started to slip.

So I bought the sachs performance clutch kit (clutch & clutch cover) for £560 from sachs performance in germany, and had it fitted by a local independant garage.

When they split the engine and gearbox they found that the DMF was also knackered (it had a lot of free rotational play), so a new one of these was bought (for £289) along with a new clutch slave cylinder (£49) and new flywheel bolts (£9.99). The whole lot was fitted for £350 in labour. The total cost came to just under £1400.

I got the car back today, and the clutch seems great, a much more positive action (it feels lots more 'decisive' than the stock clutch), the bite point is nice and low on the pedal, no slippage at all. There is a small amount of judder that is only noticable in reverse, which I gather is normal and should ease off over the next 1000 miles. The pedal is noticably heavier than before at the point where the clutch engages/disengages, which is not really a problem for me, but I can see that some may find it too heavy compared to the standard clutch.

Anyway, all in all, it seems like a worthwhile change once your standard clutch has worn out, just dont expect it to feel exactly like the stock clutch.

Now, hopefully the DMF wont fail prematurely again.

It is noticably snappier, ie less progressive than the standard clutch,and therefore I guess more likely to stall, but its by no means as extreme as a racing clutch.

You'll very quickly get used to it I would think. If the car left the factory like this, you wouldnt really think of it as a problem, its just in terms of the whole spectrum of road car clutches, the standard clutch was at the softer end of the spectrum, and the sach performance clutch is at the harder end of the spectrum, but still perfectly usable on the road.