anyone have experience with the Clutchmasters FX-350 (or any fiber/carbon dic)

[Dorny1]

Well clutch in the audi has been slipping...then again i knew it would. quick story, thought the pp was upgraded to RS4, it wasn't, already ordered a 6puck disc...decided fuck it threw it in for the time being. waited till I had cash for the clutch.

Well I finally purchased a new clutch, was looking for something with a stronger pressure plate and a good disc, but wanted to stay away from the quick wearing, harsh engaging, puck clutch. Looked at Clutchmasters, saw the FX-350, the pp is the same one all the way up until they're multi-disk solutions. AND the disc will give a little slip so finally the car wont need massive rev's otherwise bucking will occur. It's enroute right now, and amid other issues that I am fixing, this will be going in thursday.

Question is has anyone had any experience with a "button" clutch? or this kit in general? or the pressure plate?

Link to clutch->http://clutchmasters.com/index.php?module=site&action=GetPage&id=82&nav=leftnav_products.tpl

[derek072887]

Had that exact clutch in my Stg. 3 S4. It will hold your power with no issues but the chattering you are trying to get away from on take off most likely will happen. The clutchmaster wasn't horrible with chatter but it was still there for me.

[Dorny1]

Had that exact clutch in my Stg. 3 S4. It will hold your power with no issues but the chattering you are trying to get away from on take off most likely will happen. The clutchmaster wasn't horrible with chatter but it was still there for me.

Chatter can't be as bad as a 6 puck...but thanks for the reply breeds hope in this clutch...only thing different possibly might be that I NLS 3-5 and 2-step launch, or have you run this clutch on 2-step launches?

[derek072887]

Chatter can't be as bad as a 6 puck...but thanks for the reply breeds hope in this clutch...only thing different possibly might be that I NLS 3-5 and 2-step launch, or have you run this clutch on 2-step launches?

I never launched the car with 2-step and honestly only launched the car hard about 5 times. As I'm sure you are aware there is a fine line when launching the car between it gripping and it just completely being worthless and slipping to all hell. If you are comparing it to a 6 puck then yes your chatter should be significantly reduced.

[Dorny1]

yeah just trying to get the most power holding capability with the best amount of drivability, so a little less chatter would be nice.

But yeah found that just right launch last time i was at the track, pulled sub 1.8 60fts with stage 3- and apparently the stock clutch...and the wotbox @3750rpm

[slow ride]

What did it run back then? Stock clutch is a mutha to launch hard on. I've cut 1.8 60's on the stocker, but never put together a clean pass with the better 60's.

[Drifte]

I had Clutch Masters back in the day, the CFDF. It failed pretty quicky, springs in the hub all came out. My favorite clutch has to be the Spec stage 3, it was a sprung hub 6 puck, could engage right off idle in the Talon. Slipped easily if you wanted and gripped hard when shifting. the ACT clutches I ran were pretty heavy, and never failed, the Spec was very light pedal pressure.

[Dorny1]

What did it run back then? Stock clutch is a mutha to launch hard on. I've cut 1.8 60's on the stocker, but never put together a clean pass with the better 60's.

I put down a 13.1-13.3 with the car...tune was a base tune stage 3- from...VAST...S4 owners know why there is ellipses. The tune was very mild. Im hoping a base stage 3 with this clutch puts down 12's easy.

I've heard good and bad from clutchmasters for discs, spec for pressure plates, and a few on ACT for random crap (not heard of many Audi's running ACT) so went with what looked to be inline with what i need and want.

[derek072887]

I put down a 13.1-13.3 with the car...tune was a base tune stage 3- from...VAST...S4 owners know why there is ellipses. The tune was very mild. Im hoping a base stage 3 with this clutch puts down 12's easy.

I've heard good and bad from clutchmasters for discs, spec for pressure plates, and a few on ACT for random crap (not heard of many Audi's running ACT) so went with what looked to be inline with what i need and want.

Side note: you will love the pedal feel of the clutchmaster, very stock like.

[Dorny1]

wouldn't even mind a kind of stiff one, just want a little slip compared to the six puck...really im not picky I just wanted to know that I'm not the guinea pig...

[Ricky]

6 in the wrx chattered bad. It was a spec and the pedal was like stock. Switched to ACT full face and no chatter but heavy pedal.

The 6 puck in drifte's talon was a freak. It was so smooth lol

[slow ride]

A lighter pressure plate will help smooth out a 6 puck. In DSM's I've had a 6 puck sprung hub act 2600 and it was a trans breaker. I Liked the street disk way more, but I was making way over the rated torque on c16 so I stuck a new 2600 plate in with a clutchnet disk. One thing I noticed is that even though the pressure plate was new it had some cupping on the surface and that caused the disk to only work against the outside of the plate effectively increasing the pressure against the disk and making it harder to slip. I've used the same disk with a centerforce pressure plate and it was much better, but still slightly grabby.

I have a used rs4 plate and stage 3 disk that I made for my car like 3 years ago if I ever get around to using it. The disk is o/fe or organic on the pressure plate side and feramic on the flywheel. Both are full face and it's just like what vast/southbend would call the stage 3 back in the day. The more pucks the smoother it will be in most cases. I know some don't like the SAC pressure plate, but it's the key to a long lasting clutch. It will really let you use up most of the disk material, but I understand in all race applications it can have issues and fail.

[Dorny1]

well i have a stock pp with the 6 puck currently...that was by mistake. but I believe that most of the clutches ive seen use the sachs mechanism besides i think it was centerforce.

[Sleepy]

Interesting topic. I have been pondering picking up a full face Kevlar button disc similar to the one you are talking about. Granted I have a different vehicle, drive train, and clutch manufacturer. Currently I have a clutchnet sprung 6puck and slipping it is worthless but it has held everything I have put on it.
I have just wondered if the full face disc would hold as well and possibly be a bit more enjoyable to drive.

[Dorny1]

depends on the power man. I actually have the clutchnet disc also :D. I'd say you could run a very strong PP and a kevlar disc if you're up there a bit...just depends on what power and car.

Audi = heavy, torquey motor, 2-step launches is what im concerned about blowing this clutch up with

[slow ride]

I just don't know if people really need a two step to launch if you catch it on the upswing just right. I cut a 1.59 and a lot of low 1.6's in my old 16g dsm setup at cedar falls. I don't think a two step would have helped that at all. I do think the 2600 and street disk made that work so well on shitty all season 205/55/16 tires that were air'd down slightly. You could slip it quit a bit, but I also would do a quick scrub off burnout. Things did get harder when i needed more clutch and trying to get the power down as I neede a more agressive clutch and the powerband shifted. If I went to the track more with my S4 anymore I'd run my 16" snow tires since they are so light and have a good amount of sidewall. High performance street/track tires launch like shit and break parts from wheel hop, etc. I wouldn't even run 4 drag radials on a AWD stick car, just go stright to a bias ply.

[Dorny1]

dont know if its going to matter...found out the timing was off by two teeth on the timing belt...I think it'll be ok, ran fine, once codes were clear it idled smooth.. but preparing for the worst.

[slow ride]

A good engine with stock cams will be pulling about 20-21" of vacuum on a 2.7t at idle with no extra load on the engine.

[AutoMods]

i've always liked being cheap and simple with the single disc clutches. then i got my first twin disc and its amazing. Mcleod twin for $800ish . really light pedal, slippable and proven to 1000whp. unfortunately they only do domestic clutches

if you want a quote on spec, act or comp clutches let me know.

[Dorny1]

well it was pulling about 20ish at idle off the boost gauge...but no already have the clutch Automods...

[Dorny1]

UPDATE!!

Clutch is in and car was lucky, turned out the motor is just fine after a comp test, road test, and everything. Got a new t-belt, tensioner, and the pulleys in.

BUT clutch is SO smooth compared to a puck clutch got about 20 miles on it now, and I can go through a drive through without bucking through it. old clutch had a few issues...pressure plate was burned, and only engaging the outside corner of the disc... think i found why it was slipping.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f143/fastford5/Mobile%20Uploads/8BD19390-B8E3-4EB5-95C1-3D11EE5DFFA2_zpsilawyd4i.jpg (http://s46.photobucket.com/user/fastford5/media/Mobile%20Uploads/8BD19390-B8E3-4EB5-95C1-3D11EE5DFFA2_zpsilawyd4i.jpg.html)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f143/fastford5/Mobile%20Uploads/DC32DFE2-E935-4C1A-946C-33130EE03703_zpsaujmy8te.jpg (http://s46.photobucket.com/user/fastford5/media/Mobile%20Uploads/DC32DFE2-E935-4C1A-946C-33130EE03703_zpsaujmy8te.jpg.html)

[slow ride]

Yea, pretty normal after some heat cycles. What does the flywheel look like, was it making full contact?

[Dorny1]

flywheel looked good but was turned just to make sure it was good. Disc showed that it was making good contact on the flywheel side, but was a little feathered probably since the pp wasn't making full pressure there. got about 50 mi on the new clutch and everything seems good.

[Drifte]

All this talk of clutch net 6 pucks and the ACT 2600 is taking me back. That was a fun setup back in the day on my high school Talon.

[Dorny1]

gotta love a cheap clutch in a pinch, that clutchnet disc helped when i was broke and i could barely accelerate

[AutoMods]

Yea, pretty normal after some heat cycles. What does the flywheel look like, was it making full contact?

is the pp warping or why do they do that?

[slow ride]

I think most do this when heated in normal driving and probably worse when abused/heated more. It might be where the spring pressure is applied to the back of the cast friction material and normal heating during slipping. I've found cupping on pressure plates that had almost zero abuse so it's hard to say. Almost every clutch (even stock) I have looked at in my time had more wear on the outer part of the disk than the inside. To me it seems worse on pressure plates that have a higher or cranked up plate load. This will make a puck disk really hard to drive, but organic type disks tend to wear in faster and will have more contact with the pressure plate even when cupped like the picture above. I know when I put in a street disk in my 2600 (same plate) it felt great even after having a brutel experiance with the 6 puck.