HYDE16 Reviews Southbend’s Latest Volkwagen / Audi “Silent Design” Clutch Kit – Stage

[HYDE16]

Welcome to the official review thread for South Bend Clutch’s latest Volkwagen / Audi “Silent Design” Clutch Kits. These kits are being released to market for sale this week (Sept 16th, 2011) for the following applications: -VW MK6 GTIs (TSI / FSI) -VW MK5 GTIs (FSI / TSI) -VW MK4 (1.8T) -Audi 2.0T (All 2.0T applications) -Audi TT AWD Silent Design Version: South Bend has been working hard to develop a full clutch design that would be completely silent when compared to some of their past clutch designs or friction plates. South Bend has recently developed 5 new silent clutch designs ranging from Stage 2 to Stage 4 torque levels (please see below for the 5 explanations and ratings). I had the pleasure of working with Jon Pyfer at South Bend and Redline Speedworx to test the latest “Silent Design” Stage 2 Daily Driver Clutch Kit. Address: 709 W. Jefferson Blvd, Mishawaka, IN 46545 Phone: 800-988-4345 / 574-256-5064 Email: andy@dxdracingclutches.com / Jon@southbendclutch.com Website: http://www.dxdracingclutches.com/ Address: 176 Jefferson Street, Washington, NJ 07882 Phone: 908-223-7477 Website: http://www.redlinespeedworx.com/ Stage 2 Daily Driver Friction Plate within Stock Clutch Assembly: Originally I had the South Bend Clutch Stage 2 Daily Driver Friction Plate installed on my 2011 MKVI GTI. New “Silent Design” Stage 2 Daily Driver Clutch Assembly: New Lightweight Flywheel: New Organic Compound Stage 2 Daily Driver Friction Plate: Transmission with new centric slave cylinder with throw out bearing: 5 Available Silent Design Clutch Kits: South Bend “Silent Design” Clutch Kit - Stage 2 Daily Driver, holds 400 TQ, Part number: KTSI-HD-O-PD = $1,100 direct from Jon at South Bend South Bend “Silent Design” Clutch Kit - Stage 2 Endurance, holds 450 TQ, Part number: KTSI-HD-OFE-PD = $1,200 direct from Jon at South Bend South Bend “Silent Design” Clutch Kit - Stage 3 Daily Driver, holds 470 TQ, Part number: KTSI-SS-O-PD = $1,500 direct from Jon at South Bend South Bend “Silent Design” Clutch Kit - Stage 3 Endurance, holds 500 TQ, Part number: KTSI-SS-TZ-PD = $1,650 direct from Jon at South Bend South Bend “Silent Design’ Clutch Kit - Stage 4 Extreme, holds 600+ TQ, Part number: KTSI-SS-X-PD = $1,750 direct from Jon at South Bend Which version I chose: Out of the 5 new silent design clutch kits available to the market as of this week, I chose to go with the Stage 2 Daily Driver Clutch Kit (basically the first of the five). This kit holds the least torque but is also the most driver friendly. My plans are to go with APR’s K04 turbo upgrade kit and this clutch will more than suffice. I chose the kit being that it will have the best feel for daily driving without any jerkiness or too firm of a clutch pedal feel. Boy was I right. My Review of the Stage 2 Daily Driver Clutch Kit: Before starting my review, I have to say without a doubt this will be Southbend’s highest seller. I was immediately blown away with the results, what an amazing clutch kit! What's included in the clutch package? – These 5 new “Silent Design” Clutch Kits come complete with a new lightweight flywheel, new pressure plate, clutch housing and latest friction disc with organic compound, bolts, alignment tool and brand new centric slave cylinder with throw out bearing. This is a complete clutch replacement assembly for all 2.0T Volkswagen and Audi models (TSI / FSI), the Volkswagen 1.8T model and the Audi TT AWD. How light is the assembly and flywheel compared to the stock assembly? - Jon at South Bend confirmed that this flywheel is absolutely lighter. He was unsure at this time of the exact weight reduction but just for comparison the new “Silent Design” clutch assembly weighs19lbs compared to the stock clutch assembly at 27lbs! Does the engine rev quicker? – Absolutely, the new lightweight flywheel definitely revs faster. The revs are absolutely more responsive to clutch pedal input. Do the revs drop faster in between shifts? - The revs definitely drop faster than before. Between the revs climbing and dropping faster I love the new feel. Engagement point? – Not a major difference but I feel that the engagement point is a littler lower to the floor. There is definitely a great engagement tolerance level there, it’s so smooth. How much pressure to depress the pedal compared to stock? – Compared to stock, this has a totally different clutch pedal feel. It feels like I finally have a REAL clutch in my car now. This is the way it should have come from the factory. The clutch pedal is a tad more firm but nowhere near enough for leg fatigue. I drove over 300 town / highway miles this past week before I posted this review. I am in love with the pedal feel over the stock assembly. The stock assembly felt squishy and had a ton engagement tolerance which at times left me a little less confident when shifting fast. This South Bend assembly still has great engagement tolerance but I feel more confident knowing my engagement points within a narrower gap now. I feel it’s the perfect blend of predictability and tolerance. It’s so user friendly my wife drove it without and issue and she’s only an occasional stick driver in my car. Is there any “chatter”? Does it create any added noise? Is it quieter than the South Bend friction plates? – “Chatter” means a myriad of things to different people and trying to discuss this topic on the forums is a challenging situation. For the purpose of this review I will define what I consider to be “chatter”. This is NOT the place to start a “what is chatter” debate and try to correct me. This is merely what I consider it to be so that I may review the acoustic sound characteristics of this “Silent Design” Clutch Kit. “Chatter” to me is the vibration / buzzing / intrusive clicking that is unpleasant to your ears while your foot is off of the clutch and the car is not in any gear. “Chatter” can sometimes be most evident when the car has been driven for an extended amount of time the coming to a stop with the car still on and in neutral. It may be even more evident with the AC on at this time. The sound is commonly referred to as the “chopper or helicopter effect”. Sitting in your car with doors closed and windows up, you may hear a faint sound similar to a helicopter overhead in the distance. This can sometimes be the case with the aftermarket friction plates we install in our stock clutch assembly to save on cost but still retain the power of our modified cars. The Silent Design - I can assure you with 100% confidence that from start-up to driving, to driving aggressively then coming back to a stop in neutral, there is absolutely no “chatter” at all! This “Silent Design” is without a doubt as silent as can be. Redline Speedworx can also confirm that this system is completely silent. After installation, Redline Speedworx and I had to provide immediate feedback to Jon at South Bend to confirm that this was the perfect “Silent Design” Clutch Kit to release to the market. I took the change to test this kit in my car (at my own expense) in order to prove this kit would work for all of the applications listed above. You’re welcome. Ha!

[HYDE16]

New “Silent Design” Clutch Kit vs. the less expensive friction plate alternative: – Compared to the original South Bend friction plate I had installed in my stock clutch assembly, this clutch is completely different. The minute I put the car in gear and started off an ear to ear smile came to my face and major feeling of relief came over me. Knowing that this is how my car’s clutch would feel from here on out made me ecstatic. The South Bend friction plate is a great, less expensive alternative to solve the power increase slip issues some of us may experience. The Stage 2 Daily Driver friction plate I had installed originally worked perfectly and held the power all day long. It would have even held the power through APR’s Stage 2 software and APR’s K04 turbo upgrade kit. The pedal feel was a little less forgiving but still had a good amount of engagement tolerance. With the friction plate only you need to pay a little more attention to the engagement point as it is working with the stock pressure plate and dual mass flywheel. I wanted to eventually go with a lightweight flywheel so after learning about this new “Silent Design” Clutch Kit I knew I had to be the first one to test it out. Having a complete clutch kit that contains components designed to work flawlessly with each other provides such a better feeling and clutch response. South Bend really did their homework and provided one of the finest clutch systems available for our cars.

Final Word:
For some of us spending $1,000+ to replace a still functioning stock clutch may seem like madness. Some of us may or may not be experiencing the dreaded “clutch slip” that seems to happen with the tuned / chipped 2.0T cars. After going with APR’s Stage 1 software I did experience some clutch slip in 5th and 6th gear where it seems to be most prevalent. This is NOT the place to start a “clutch slip” debate or “I have a software flash with xxxxxx miles and I don’t experience any clutch slip or my clutch is fine…” Post that in the other threads out there already, this is a review thread only. I’m discussing my experience to show the whole picture of my experiences. I personally had “clutch slip” in my 2011 TSI CCTA GTI. It was not software adaptation or any other factor, Redline Speedworx can confirm this. Installing the South Bend Stage 2 Daily Driver friction plate fixed the issue perfectly as would these new “Silent Design” clutch kits. I now have APR’s Stage 2 software and I can’t get enough of it. This new clutch kit puts the power down all day long with an amazing pedal feel, great engagement tolerance, no leg fatigue and ABSOLUTELY NO NOISE!!!!

Southbend’s Latest Volkwagen / Audi “Silent Design” Clutch Kits are available for sale directly through South Bend Clutch and will be available from dealers by next week. Call Jon direct at 1-800-988-4345 or email him at Jon@southbendclutch.com with any questions, concerns or order requests.