When should u upgrade to Sachs power clutch?
 

Am in the process of rebuilding my SC to 3.2SS with 9.8 compression and larger 79 heads/ SSI/915 tranny. Spirited street driving with several track days per year. Am replacing my old clutch and trying to decide if i need to get the Sachs 'Power' Clutch vs standard Sachs. Do i need it? What are the benefits? Disadvantages? Stiffer for street use? U guys that have the power clutch, what criteria did you use? I Have no idea what kinda power my motor will make, but expect more torque than old motor. Is the Sachs power overkill? Thanks

Probably overkill. An alloy pressure plate might be a more useful upgrade. What sort of HP are you thinking? I race with an stock euro SC engine (~201 hp) and never had issues with OEM Sachs clutch disk. Just have to change them out regularly. YMMV

I just put in a Sachs Power clutch in my '86 with a 915 and spent time talking to the guys at Pelican about it. I am not increasing hp but wanted to do some track days and autocross. It doesn't seem stiffer in operation to me but I have never been sensative to clutch resistance. It might be a little overkill but it can't do any harm. I was told it's not harder on the flywheel or had no other adverse effects. I only have about 80-100 miles on it just running around town. I went with a little more can't hurt and it wasn't much more money. I wanted something that could take a little more abuse if needed and I don't want to worry about it for a long time.

Team Fee, that is pretty much what i wanted to know. I would like a little extra 'heavy duty' insurance as i will be driving the car pretty hard on a regular basis with track time sprinkled in. Do you notice any difference in how fast the engine revs up or more difficulty with street driving? I am running a slightly lightened flywheel done by the EBS boys and was concerned that the Sachs Perf clutch with an aluminum Press plate in combo with the lightened flywheel was going to become annoying in normal around town driving.

Juice, my specialist clutch guy told me a Sach Power Clutch was actually a stock Sachs clutch, cherry-picked off the production line for the top 10% of specifications. I am told that Sachs specifications are conservative - they're quoted as minimums, with 20% extra margin built in. Most aftermarket clutches quote the breakaway rating - not the same figure at all.

So if you bought a stock clutch, you might get one with exactly the same spec/performance as a power clutch, or you might not, depending on what they put in the box. You won't be able to tell the difference on the pedal, though.

John Walker says the power clutch in his 3.0 930 doesn't slip and he should know, I would think. So they'll hold up to about 265 HP (and about the same ft/lbs of torque) pretty well.

I ran one with a mild 930 (dyno'd 310 HP), and I think that's slightly over-optimistic for that clutch - friction plate was close to the rivets after 25,000 miles. I didn't think it slipped (very hard to tell with short gears on boost), but I noticed a difference when I put a Sachs 915 competition pressure plate in.

HTH.

I put a power clutch in my '84 3.2 Cab. She's making 213 to the wheels with the exhaust & chip, and I have zero issues. Pedal feel is almost identical if not so, but then I have a Clutchmasters Stage 3 / Kevlar w/ dual-diaphragm pressure plate on my daily driver modded SHO. Now THAT's a clutch, it's been on 2 prior cars of mine including one that was putting 419hp to the wheels...

At stock-ish power levels (they used the same same clutch up to 86) you are probably fine with the stock clutch.

That being said, the power clutch kit uses an aluminum pressure plate instead of cast iron, which is a nice reduction in rotating mass.

To me that was worth the ~$130 price delta.

Tom

rotating mass?

I thought the clutch cover was Al...?

juicersr, not sure but we might have meet somewhere either at VIR or at an Autocross in Laurinburg.
I got a Power Sachs clutch on my 73 with a 3.2. It work really good and no real difference in clutch pressure.
When I pull the engine out to repair the transmission in 07 the clutch was showing almost no wear even after all those AX and track event.
The original clutch on my car was with a cast iron pressure plate, so the AL pressure plate was a nice weight saver.
If I will have to replaced the clutch I will go with the Power Sachs again.

I don't notice any real measurable difference. I wanted to go with a lightened flywheel but was told I couldn't because of a magnetic DME sensor in the flywheel but I did ask if the "stickier" clutch would be harder on a lightened flywhell and was told it shouldn't. I really don't notice any daily driving driveability issues. Today I spent a lot of time in kids carpool lines at schools and it seemed the same to me. It doesn't seem jerkier and I don't need to ride the clutch any more.

I thought the ONLY difference in "regular" and "Power Clutch" was Iron vs. Aluminum pressure plate.

+1
The Pelican description says nothing about the clutch being any different - just that the pressure plate is made of aluminum for reduced rotating mass, and that it may have increased clamping force. When I changed mine, the discs looked exactly the same as far as design and material.

IMO, if you're running mostly stock horsepower, then this is an upgrade that you only need if your wallet is feeling a little too heavy.

Check the "Aluminum" specs again. I'm pretty sure the pressure plate isn't aluminum. The pressure plate cover might be though.

There's a difference.

Sherwood

Sorry. The BIG PART that's NOT in the MIDDLE. SmileWavy

Thanks guys. I'm sold on it. Ordered the Sachs performance today. Will give 'seat of pants' report on it once it's installed along with lightened flywheel.

When I ordered mine, I found that the Power Clutch comes in both steel & aluminum (at least that's the way it was back then). The weight difference between the aluminum & steel plate is @ 3.5 lbs. The friction disk IS different than the standard unit, both in friction material and surface design.

jp

I just noticed you are the 914/908 and 934 guy. Great cars. I wasn't sure about the 908 thing when I first saw the nose but that thing is turning out incredible. Great stuff, thanks for sharing it.

juicersr

Is your 3.2 SS with power clutch on the road yet? I'm doing the same mods to my 83 SC and an still waiting on P&Cs to get to build finished. I'm interested in your driving impressions.