Hi chaps - after doing a bit of searching and reading some interesting (arguementative!) threads I thought I'd start my own!

As there seem to be a few owners on here running hybrid turbos I was just wondering what clutches you are running? I'm thinking of going hybrid turbo, and the car is a daily driver with a fair bit of town driving and wont be launched up the strip every weekend.

From what I can gather you can get uprated clutches with DMF but you still run the risk of destroying the DMF quickly. SMF is a stronger clutch but gives off chatter on idle but this can be dampened by topping up gearbox oil?

It would be a massive help if you guys could post up what clutch you are running (and any problems?), where you got it from and how much (if you dont mind).

All help is much appreciated!

Cheers

Chris

Helix Organic + SMF from Unit 18, about £1,000 fitted

Strong as ****, no problems, give it hell and it's superb

Standard clutch + oem flywheel on 44480 miles and in top condition. About 10k on the hybrid turbo, restrictive map giving off 200bhp and 273ft/lb very smooth and not getting any problems with heat and stuff. I give my clutch he'll in the hope that it's gonna let go to make way for a better one but no hope yet.

Helix + smf fitted by unit 18 aswell and I've got used to the clatter now lol it just sounds normal

Sachs motorsport clutch bought from Darkside Developments. I sure hope it holds up long term as the things cost me £1,250 just to get it delivered to me

Helix Organic & SMF on mine

Sachs organic and f**ked DMF here. Torque spikes are bad, kids

Sintered clutch plate on Jabbasport 8.4kg SMF.

With the slightly heavier SMF the chatter is less, doesn't bother me at all. Just like a noisy diesel.

Even after seven hard launches in two hours at Santa Pod I had no slip at all.

Can't fault it for it's capability. Like most high capacity set ups the peddal is a bit heavier but fine unless you are in a lot of stop start traffic.

Possibly looking at the Jabba kit myself so good to know that it's a bit better chatter-wise. Could go for another DMF now I've had the map smoothed out but I think long-term I'm going to try and replace my injectors to get my car up to the 240bhp I thought I was buying so probably best to go for a bombproof setup now.

When you say sintered plate, do you mean one of the 4-puck/5-puck paddle clutches rather than a full organic plate?

Possibly looking at the Jabba kit myself so good to know that it's a bit better chatter-wise. Could go for another DMF now I've had the map smoothed out but I think long-term I'm going to try and replace my injectors to get my car up to the 240bhp I thought I was buying so probably best to go for a bombproof setup now.

When you say sintered plate, do you mean one of the 4-puck/5-puck paddle clutches rather than a full organic plate?

It might be better if you speak to Jabba about the sintered plate, because I believe it's a paddle clutch but don't want to make claims that could be wrong here... it was fitted to mine as it apparently can handle more torque than an organic. I could have used an organic, but would rather have the piece of mind while launching it.

If you are not in a rush I'll youtube a clip of the noise from the SMF when I get the car back?

Yeah, I've heard the same things about paddle clutches, which is why I'm thinking that might be whats on yours. A sound clip would be useful, Luke posted one a while back as well which I've listened to but I don't think he's got the same Jabba setup that I'm currently looking at.

I think the Sachs organic would be fine as that's rated for 400lb/ft, it's just the flywheel and the ropey map that's let my car down really. But then if I'm thinking about more power in future, it makes sense to fit the best clutch I can get/afford now while the work needs doing anyway. And I do like the sound of something that can take hard launches, I'm probably not going to get into drag racing, but I fancy doing some track days now I have a car that could handle them OK so something that can take some abuse would be good.

Cheers guys

Will get in touch with Unit 18, I dont need it fitted just delivered

I think the Sachs organic would be fine as that's rated for 400lb/ft, it's just the flywheel and the ropey map that's let my car down really. But then if I'm thinking about more power in future, it makes sense to fit the best clutch I can get/afford now while the work needs doing anyway. And I do like the sound of something that can take hard launches, I'm probably not going to get into drag racing, but I fancy doing some track days now I have a car that could handle them OK so something that can take some abuse would be good.

That's what made my mind up. Jabba quote the Stage 3 as around the 380-400 lb/ft, which is bit close to the limit of the clutch IMO. So we went for something better and I don't have to worry about it. Even if it made 350(ish) I'd probably do the same for peace of mind.

When the car comes back (shortly I hope) I'll do a clip of the SMF noise for you.

My SMF is a bit rattly, but nothing compared to my old 9lb FW. Current one is 16lb I think, and steel, not ally.

So it seems that it's not necessarily the fact it's single-mass that causes the noise, but the weight of it? I wouldn't mind having a full-weight SMF really, if it could still take some abuse, is it just the design of the DMF that causes them to fail under high torque?

By Hybrid owners, I assume you don't mean people who have a Toyota Prius?

By Hybrid owners, I assume you don't mean people who have a Toyota Prius?

On a Skoda forum?

So it seems that it's not necessarily the fact it's single-mass that causes the noise, but the weight of it? I wouldn't mind having a full-weight SMF really, if it could still take some abuse, is it just the design of the DMF that causes them to fail under high torque?

I was led to believe the heavier the SMF the quieter it is?

Edited 12 September, 201114 yr by chriswaite130

I was led to believe the heavier the SMF the quieter it is?

Yes.

Useful to know. The flywheel Jabba are advertising now with their clutch kit is a 6.25kg one which is obviously lighter than yours and Jason's.

I was just looking on the Darkside Developments website and they do a Sachs SMF clutch kit with 7.4kg flywheel. It says that although the paddle clutch plate can handle more torque (440lb/ft vs 390lb/ft for the organic), it makes driving in traffic more difficult (which shouldn't be a problem for me as I don't do a lot of stop/start) and increased wear rate. Is that something I should be concerned about, in your opinion? As I said, I only want to do this once and put "the best" in, but if there's a chance that a paddle clutch will wear quicker and possibly need replacing sooner, I think I'd rather stick with an organic plate and just accept that I can only upgrade to 390lb/ft later on.

Useful to know. The flywheel Jabba are advertising now with their clutch kit is a 6.25kg one which is obviously lighter than yours and Jason's.

I was just looking on the Darkside Developments website and they do a Sachs SMF clutch kit with 7.4kg flywheel. It says that although the paddle clutch plate can handle more torque (440lb/ft vs 390lb/ft for the organic), it makes driving in traffic more difficult (which shouldn't be a problem for me as I don't do a lot of stop/start) and increased wear rate. Is that something I should be concerned about, in your opinion? As I said, I only want to do this once and put "the best" in, but if there's a chance that a paddle clutch will wear quicker and possibly need replacing sooner, I think I'd rather stick with an organic plate and just accept that I can only upgrade to 390lb/ft later on.

So the organic plate & SMF isnt too bad for driving in traffic? I'm not wanting to go anywhere near 390lb/ft torque so I should be ok with this clutch

Useful to know. The flywheel Jabba are advertising now with their clutch kit is a 6.25kg one which is obviously lighter than yours and Jason's.

I was just looking on the Darkside Developments website and they do a Sachs SMF clutch kit with 7.4kg flywheel. It says that although the paddle clutch plate can handle more torque (440lb/ft vs 390lb/ft for the organic), it makes driving in traffic more difficult (which shouldn't be a problem for me as I don't do a lot of stop/start) and increased wear rate. Is that something I should be concerned about, in your opinion? As I said, I only want to do this once and put "the best" in, but if there's a chance that a paddle clutch will wear quicker and possibly need replacing sooner, I think I'd rather stick with an organic plate and just accept that I can only upgrade to 390lb/ft later on.

My car is a toy that only does about 3000 miles a year, even though I try to keep it looking as standard as possible.

If you are using it daily I'd probably go for the organic, the paddle clutch is a little sharp on take up. If you are not chasing big power then it'd probably make sense too.

It's all personal opinion really, but the paddle clutch is probably overkill unless you want power you can only use on a track.

Jabba must do a heavier SMF because they fitted it to my car about four months ago.

I've sent them an email to ask about the different flywheel weights, they only have the 6.25kg in their online shop but that doesn't mean they couldn't get an 8.5 made up. You're probably right about the organic plate too, I think the organic with SMF would still be fine for occasional track use and I can't see me getting seriously into quarter mile times (I prefer to be a spectator to things like Top Fuel for my drag urges). I haven't 100% decided what I'm doing about the "missing" power yet. I bought a "240bhp" car which isn't, but then I've been happy with it since I bought it so I can't be that bothered about it really. But on the other hand, I told myself when I bought the car that I'd keep it for at least the same 4 years I had my Leon (assuming nothing catastrophic) so for the sake of £1k for new injectors I might go for it in future as a way of getting a bit more enjoyment out of it when it's starting to feel a bit stale.

Chris, the organic plate will provide virtually identical pedal feel to your OEM clutch. If anything it's a little heavier, but not by much, and it's to be expected any time you replace worn parts for new really. You get used to it very quickly.

SOmeone in the USA has made a single mass flywheel the weight of an original DMF. I can see for a daily driver / mild tune it would be a great replacement for the DMF, but for a highly tuned motor there are clear benefits from having a lighter flywheel. Just don't go too light as I did.

Interesting....shame it'd cost an absolute fortune to get one shipped over! I was looking at SouthBend clutches as well, US-based so the exchange rate seems to be pretty favourable at the moment so the price of the clutch/flywheel is pretty good. But I dunno how import taxes and stuff work so I think a lot of the savings would be eaten up by those and at the end of the day I'd still have a US-sourced clutch so any kind of problem is instantly 10 times more awkward to get resolved!