Clutch upgrade 2008 s3 8p

[Steve175]

Hi I’ve owned my s3 for just under a month and the clutch has started slipping. It’s at stage 1 with a few other mods running 325bhp. Planning on going up to stage 2 at some point but no further. Looking at either the sachs or helix with the lux dmf. The sachs kit is coming out at £765 and the helix £860 but recommends a braded clutch line and billet bleed block bringing the cost up to £1070. Just wondered if these extras are needed and has anyone upgraded without? I’m aware of the pedal being heavier just trying to keep the cost down.

 

[ch1z64]

As far as i have read and spoken to others to go St2 stock parts would be fine

 

[samuelh_888]

The helix is the better of the two. The braided line is a nice upgrade but not essential for Stg2. I wouldn’t worry about the bleed valve.

 

[Steve175]

Awesome thanks for the replies

 

[J0N]

I have the Sachs Performance organic clutch with LUK DMF. It was fitted by the previous owner in March 2018 after the OEM clutch started to slip after going Stage 1 (311 BHP/349 FT LB). I bought the car in June 2019 and by the November I was running JBS Stage 2 (349 BHP/381 FT LB). In my ownership the car has covered around 12000 miles including a year at Stage 2 and the clutch has never missed a beat. It’s a heavy pedal though, from what I’ve read it’s heavier than the Helix.


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[Steve175]

Might go for the Helix then if the pedal is less heavy for an extra £100. My mrs occasionally drives it so might benefit her.

 

[J0N]

Might go for the Helix then if the pedal is less heavy for an extra £100. My mrs occasionally drives it so might benefit her.

Probably a good call if your Mrs drives the car, mine sticks to the Fiesta. The Sachs is a great clutch and it seems mine was well fitted and properly run in. However, I’m not kidding when I say it’s like leg day haha.

Helix are great too but I’ve heard good things about RTS also....


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[Steve175]

Yeah I’ve just been looking at them. Might do a bit more research before I make a decision

 

[prt57]

Interesting about the clutch pedal heaviness.
Recently, due to stage 2 on my son’s TT FSI on a 14 plate so EA888 gen 1 he had a Sachs fitted at Midland VW. They warned us about the heavy pedal but there were no Helix kits available.
When the Sachs was fitted, there was no judder at all and the garage staff were surprised that the pedal seemed lighter than expected. They wondered if Sachs had been listening to comments and revised the pressure plate to produce less of a leg work out. This would need checking out though with Sachs. It copes with 290bhp 355lbs ft with no problem.
The Sachs replaced a disastrous RTS clutch that lasted 400 miles.
On the other hand I have an RTS in my S3 with no problems.
No need for fancy bleeder blocks, just have the little plastic restrictor removed from the middle of the original bleeder block.

 

[Steve175]

That’s interesting. Seems like people have good and bad experiences with each one. Be interesting to know if anyone else has had a similar experience recently with the Sachs. Leaning towards the Helix as seems to be more positive experiences out there

 

[J0N]

I like to think of the Sachs as ‘reassuringly heavy’, reminds you where the money went haha....


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[purdy1984]

I had the RTS and new DMF fitted a few weeks ago. To start with the first 30-50 miles we’re horrible with judder but now I’m 350 miles in clutch is perfect. Feels standard and smooth. Still bedding in so not done any spirited driving yet but so far so good.

 

[samuelh_888]

I’ve got the RTS and SMF - I ran it in for 1200 miles. It’s fine and has a great pedal feel - but needs to be ran in properly. I’m running 360/390 and there is now no slip but I do however wonder how long it will last - personally I’ll go helix next time.