Clutches

dc914guy · dc914guy's Garage

Hello all~
I am curious what kind of clutch you guys recommend? Vertex has the 'Power Friction' for $160! Does anyone have any experience, or should I stop being cheap and just buy the Sachs kit?

Thanks,
~Eric

Rmills944 · 10-25-2004, 01:58 PM

I have a turbo clutch in mine - in fact, the stock turbo clutch is the SAME as the centerforce for the N/A except for the weights. Just don't get a rubber-centered unit as they can cause a lot of problems.

dlknight · 10-25-2004, 02:05 PM

Hey,

I ordered a "stock" sachs clutch kit recently for my 944S and it has springs rather than the troublesome rubber centre that the original clutches had.

Cheers

Dave K.

lousailor · lousailor's Garage

Most of the aftermarket Sachs kits use the spring centers, but even the OE rubber center clutch disks will last a good long time (most made it to 15 years at least). I would check with someone who's tried a different maker's set. OEM works well but only if adjusted rightl, and I've also discovered that machining the flywheel can lead to slippage at higher horsepower.

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

The rubber-centered clutches are very underrated and get a bad rap. If you're tracking the car and/or riding your clutch like a ricer kid, that's one thing. But if you're just doing normal driving I'd recommend the rubber centered one over springed.

Why? Well, I've had both, and the springed-centered clutch was actually more noisier with more "chatter". This was annoying. I know a former Head Technician at a well-known local dealership that swears by the same thing. I've put about 70,000 miles on mine with no end in sight.

Clutches are like anything else; it you treat it right it will last a LONG time.

Taz's Master · 10-25-2004, 07:00 PM

Panzer, you may be right, but the issue is the rubber center's tendancy to deteriorate. The degredation of the rubber, from what I understand, is more time related than abuse related. If you buy the rubber centered unit that was recently produced, it should be fine, but what if you are shipped a NOS unit that was produced in 1896? I went with the spring clutch because I'm a whimp and would be sorry if in a year or 2 the rubber center went out and I was out the parts $ and all that labor time.

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

Not to worry, my friend - I can assure you that there were no NOS clutches produced in 1896. You should be fine.

lousailor · lousailor's Garage

Hmmm . . . he may have meant 1986

Zero10 · 10-26-2004, 09:01 PM

LOL, I won't even touch that one....
I believe in 1896, they still got rubber from rubber trees, and I don't think they made clutches with rubber centers, at least not for 944's =)

Taz's Master · 10-27-2004, 04:30 AM

Come on guys, I'm a victim of the Pennsylvania public school system, cut me some slack. I did indeed mean 1986.

lousailor · lousailor's Garage

Yeah Dyslexia is not ynnuf!!

Zero10 · 10-27-2004, 01:37 PM

Sorry, I couldn't resist...

Taz's Master · 10-27-2004, 06:47 PM

Still though, that actually was my reasoning (misrepresented as it was). I was concerned of the time induced deterioration of the rubber center, and no way to determine the manufacturing date of the clutch. Is that a foolish concern, or is it valid?

Panzer909 · Panzer909's Garage

It is a valid point.

Like anything else made of rubber, time will break it down. Especially if it is not used, dry rot can and will happen. However, what I'm saying is that, if you're not going to pound the crap out of it, a rubber-centered clutch is fine. It will still last for a long time and will be quieter to boot. I'm speaking from experience.

Eric 951 · 10-28-2004, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Panzer909
It is a valid point.

Like anything else made of rubber, time will break it down. Especially if it is not used, dry rot can and will happen. However, what I'm saying is that, if you're not going to pound the crap out of it, a rubber-centered clutch is fine. It will still last for a long time and will be quieter to boot. I'm speaking from experience.

Yes--he knows of what he speaks. he is running a rubber-center clutch and it is smooth as butter.

BTW--there is a guy on Rennlist--Wade who has 300K on his 944NA with the ORIGINAL clutch--I saw the car and it looks like a 50K mile car.

All that being said--I have a Sachs spring on mine

Rmills944 · 10-28-2004, 08:26 AM

I just don't trust them because the previous owner didn't drive my car much (9 years old and 23,000 miles when bought). That didn't seem to help the clutch seeing as it went out with 70,000 on the car and took the transmission with it. I'd rather not have another bill for $3500 for a tranny and clutch job. I figure the car is loud anyways (especially with the SFR system) and I can't hear it anyways, so I'm playing it safe and using a turbo clutch. Even if I was hard on the clutch doing track events on weekends, I'd expect mine to last at least 150,000 more miles!

lousailor · lousailor's Garage

Rmills,
Did you have to swap out the bell housing or change the flywheel to use the turbo clutch?

Rmills944 · 10-28-2004, 09:52 AM

fly wheel - my shop did the work on the car back then

bluebullet · 10-28-2004, 10:37 AM

I used a sachs spring kit. Had no problems so far and its a joy to heel-toe downshift. I broke the clutch in for about 600 miles of stop and go driving and most of this cars miles is highway miles. so the clutch hardly gets used. The OE clutch had 75k miles on it and lasted 20 years

AaronM · 10-29-2004, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Panzer909
The rubber-centered clutches are very underrated and get a bad rap. If you're tracking the car and/or riding your clutch like a ricer kid, that's one thing. But if you're just doing normal driving I'd recommend the rubber centered one over springed.

Why? Well, I've had both, and the springed-centered clutch was actually more noisier with more "chatter". This was annoying. I know a former Head Technician at a well-known local dealership that swears by the same thing. I've put about 70,000 miles on mine with no end in sight.

Clutches are like anything else; it you treat it right it will last a LONG time.

Yes the rubber center is quieter. That's the _only_ recommendation I've ever gotten in favor of it from any mechanic.

Still, the extra noise from the spring center clutch is all but imperceptible. I went from a rubber center to a spring center and there was not so much an increase in noise as a change in the character of the noise.

Anyone who has a problem with the extra noise of the spring-center clutch should really re-consider their rationale for having a sports car. I mean, the extra noise doesn't even necessitate bumping up the volume of the stereo by one unit. I've had tires make far more noise.

Aaron