Ok guys,

Ive been talking about it for long enough and by jeeves ive had this Sachs clutch long enough in my possession (sitting on top of one of my filing cabinets) so i thought to myself the other day if i don't get this thing in by xmas i may as well turn it into an office paper weight or a permanent office decoration.. My only excuse being away so frequently this year which unfortunately stifled my focus somewhat getting my car into shape for some serious fun .

So, loading it into the trunk i drove my beloved 997tt into my favorite P car dealer to get it fitted up....after making a booking of course.

Aaaanyways, picking the beast up today after three days in the shop....yes i had a few other things on my list to get done at the same time....i took delivery of the finished job . Well. I must say i found the difference very hard to pick. In fact had i not been so familiar with the characteristics of a 997tt chances are i could have got out of another 997tt with a stock clutch straight into mine and not noticed a thing.

The only difference i could pick was the clutch take being (i think) a smidge (teeny weeny) closer to the floor and, the take up felt a tad more decisive/responsive than stock....which is a good thing if anything else. Its definitely nothing to the degree that it will create any sort of jolt or jerk upon slipping the clutch as normally done on regular stop start traffic. I think to conclude on that point the ever so slight difference in take up has gone toward restoring a better feel to the clutch whereas before with the oem clutch one may say its a little vague at times.

So for any of you out there with any hesitations or thoughts that you are going to upset the stock feel you have become so used to or, wind up with something that is going to be a neck snapper everytime you go to slip the clutch then i can tell you with utmost confidence....don't worry, you will like . And for those who may of heard or read other reports of shudder and other unpleasant changes all i can say is something else must be wrong in the install for that to happen as this one is silk .

Now to the benefits.

The 764 pressure plate (764 referring to the last 3 digits of the sachs part number and being the heaviest duty on offer from Sachs Performance clutch Div) will hold that power with no slippage with no problems. Well thats what ive been told by the Gurus at Sachs and i also hear that Sharky (Sharkwerks) uses them as a standard in his EVT750 set ups so they must be good for him to use and recommend . So, unless you hear from me in the future saying differently then you can take it to the bank you are on a winner with this set up. There is also a 752 pressure plate available as well but thats not as heavy duty and i figured if there is no change in feel then why not go all out for the big gun . After all one really never knows where they are going to stop with the HP mods now do they . So, the stronger the better i say!!

Btw, i used the organic clutch disc which physically looks to be much the same as what came out of the car...but im sure its more resilient in some way. The Sachs ceramic segmented plate is probably too much for most drivers to enjoy on the street being more of an on off type take up so i'll leave that for the hard core full time track guys who only use their tt for limited street driving.


For those with any sort of tune a heavier duty clutch is a pre requisite rather than an after thought in my honest opinion. I guess thats where i made my big mistake thinking i can maximise the value out of the stock clutch before going to the added expense of the tune and THEN fit the clutch. Wrong way round imo. It should have been clutch first, then tune, then enjoy fully.

 

Nice review as always Speed ... Few Q's:

So this is the Stage 2 or 2.5 clutch?

Did you have any slippage in the stock clutch? if so at what power level did it start??

Thank you ... and a few pics wont hurt ....

 

No probs TT.BRN. I think mine (the 764 with organic disc) is commonly reffered to over in the states as a 2.5 or 3, depending upon the vendor. Some that refer to to my clutch spec as a 2.5 call a stage 3 sachs a clutch with a 764 pressure plate and a ceramic segmented clutch disc/plate. The stage 2 is a 752 pressure plate with an organic disc. I have all the official Sachs torque ratings in at the office and will post those if you like. Anyway if i am wrong with any of the above details regarding these stage 2, 2.5 and 3 marketing brand names, and if any vendors out there that want give me grief for this assumption of mine then please accept my appology in advance and inform me of what your marketing interpretations are.

Ok. Now to the slippage. As you can see by my sig i have a Todd K Protomotive tune.....no big turbos or intercoolers....at this stage. Things could change though ..... even though the car hauls serious *** (in my books) the way it is. However after shortly installing the tune in winter now gone, the clutch could not hold the power in normal mode at @ 3000rpms at WOT. I think a lot had to do with those very brisk crisp mornings too as when the air is nice and cold the density of the charge is substantially more potent. In SC at WOT when it got to 3000pms or thereabouts it was a waste of time as the clutch would really let go of the power so i basically had to back it off all the time and this was giving me the *****. Mind you my clutch was in perfect condition too being very low k's at the time (@5/6000 i think)... which is now also verified since it has been removed. Its actually in really good nick still...like new in fact....an indictment of my nice driving but she's not going back in .

So, being the way i am i thought why screw around with a tune when you cant use it for what its worth so i removed the tune and went back to the stock file for the time being. So, thats when my research began which led to me getting the sachs 764 clutch (stage 2.5/3..whatever..) i now have. i was doing a lot of travel this year hence the huge time delay in me actually getting it in. I would be home for one week gone the next and so on so the urgency waned but not the intention.

The pics: Well sadly that opportunity has now lapsed since the clutch is now in and running plus the dealer wouldn't have been too happy with me running around taking happy snaps education the world on how they fit clutches. Sharkey please don't laugh if you read this....but you will know what i mean re the dealer fitting the clutch .

I do however still have the empty boxes, and of course that lovely near new stock clutch as a momento . It would make a great xmas present for someone

 

Sachs works awesome on tuned, modded vtg's and on Alpha/GT kits

 

Glad to hear everything went well Paul! Did they need to replace any other parts/screws (those black and silver ones?)?

 

hehe it's all good pal and no worries You should be good for 700ish from this day forth:P And break her in nice:P

 

Good read - thanks for posting. Interesting that some stock clutches handle modded cars in different ways. You only have a tune, yet your stock clutch was slipping. I have Todd's tune as well as TPC's turbos and IC's and have yet to have any slipping. Not sure why that is? I also have close to 45,000 miles on my car.

I already have a "clutch fund" ready to go when needed

 

Very interesting. I have just the Proto tune and exhaust and no slipping (that I can tell). I bought the clutch b/c I was planning on upgrading the turbos etc... I did debate waiting till there were problems before upgrading the clutch but I wasn't sure if that would have led to more problems like damaging the flywheel etc... leading to a more costly replacement.

 

Mine stock clutch on Todd K Tune with Champion modded VTG's and Werks1 intercoolers lasted less then a month.
Like the OP stated would not hold past 3K in SC in hot summer months.
Went with Todd K clutch kit (GT3RS LWFW\Clutch\764 PP) could not be happier with setup.

 

Hi,

[OT]: could anybody tell me the price for this clutch and where did you buy these parts?

Greetings
Andreas

 

If your tuned a clutch might be worth it right now, you could be missing power and not noticing it. Mine started slipping in the higher gears soon after the flash but it took me a while to become convinced it was indeed not putting all that power through it effectively.

 

Good to hear SC!... If/when i get that far with future turbo/IC mods its nice to know she can take that level of power unleashing from that crucial 3000rpm spot upward. Nothing worse than losing it anywhere else other than at the tires. At least then you can have some fun keepin her straight torque steering the sucker up the road .

Not to my knowledge Asher. I didn't see any on the invoice although i did specify upfront not to skimp on anything that they felt needed to be replaced in the process of the change out. Don't forget we are talking about an official P dealer here so im sure they wouldn't be sparing the welly if anything was genuinely required, and could be charged out. Im confident they did the right thing needless to say if they F'd up in the decision making process by not replacing anything its them that will be wearing the problems so i'm sure alls perfectly kosher.

Alex even though it wound up to be all ado about nothing, you were an invaluable circuit breaker at the time man and to be so incredibly responsive to my email given the time differences was just totally awesome!!...invaluable!! I just hope folks over your way appreciate just how lucky they are having someone so dedicated and in tune with the P products in general. Legendry service....truly.

 

I definitely agree if you tune the clutch is probably better going in 1st..Had I known this prior would have done the same.

I'm shocked the stock clutches can't handle an ECM tune in such an iconic auto...

 

No worries E55. How yours has handled all that extra power for as long as it has is truly amazing...i mean it!! Chances are if you wrote in to PAG to tell your story they may well frame it and put it up on the wall at P HQ as testimony to the brilliance of their design teams selection of high quality components....well, maybe thats a bit of a stretch but a nice thought anyway. To have lasted 45000kms is wow...unbelievable!! If you have a clutch fund on hand i wouldn't hold back using it. Murphy's law will probably see you spending it on that nice new Sachs clutch the week you decide to tip out of your car. I'm sure you will find its been losing some. Just driving mine today and giving it the odd wot burst in SC and normal, even with the stock file in it feels more purposeful than it ever did. I'm sure its not just the placebo effect working in my head either...it actually has more intent and the power feels more consistent right throughout the rev range. Your call of course...but i must say you have done extremely well so far . I cant wait to re load the tune file but im holding off for a few hundred K's to bed it all in as with the tune in as I wouldn't be able to help help myself.


Boggy as i said to E55 above i still maintain you will notice you haven't been holding it all once the clutch has gone in. Now if im wrong then you can kick my ***....too bad me being a long way away...although i'm feel in pretty safe . Now, unless my Aussie 98 octane pump gas has a bit more spice than your 93 pump (a bit like the greek boys fuel is maybe) then you WILL find your new clutch will be a distinct improvement over what you currently have .


Sounds more realistic VKTX . With those level of mods the stock clutch would have slipped very soon afterward if not immediately....becoming more noticeable as time progressed and as you quickly adjusted to the new characteristics of the tune and mods. Mine went like that within a week and as i said earlier the weather was so cold and fresh at the time the car would physically break traction in a straight line through 1st into second gear at WOT. You would have to be continually correcting the steering wheel to keep it straight depending on the road surface. It was really super electric in early mornings and late evenings . Again maybe our 98 premium fuel had something to do with that as well. Eitherway i knew that stock clutch was not going to last long at all if i kept up with 2nd gear WOT pulls into 3rd and so on. Now, if only i had the sachs clutch then.

Hi Andreas and welcome to the 6 with your first post. If you are in Germany you should contact your local Sachs dealer or contact Sachs direct and they will point you in the right direction over your way. Although in saying that there are some pretty sweet deals to be had state side USA. I'd email sharkwerks and im sure Alex will give you a nice deal. Service is hard to beat as well. You will have one in no time at all.

+100% gmoney!! Exactly!!. Once its in you will soon know how much you were missing .

 

Hey Serpentene you have a good point with that. Looking at the sachs pressure plate torque rating chart and seeing where the 752 plate sits a fair bit below the 764 it would appear the sachs stock plate sits below that again so, that said it would simply have to be at the outer extremities of its clamping capacity in SC mode when producing the 680 nms which may account for why the SC mode only gives the 680nms momentarily and under certain WOT conditions.....so to preserve the clutch more so than anything else. Obviously the engine, box and driveline can handle way more than than that. So once a tune goes in its really a foregone conclusion the stock unit is a goner....and, sooner than later .