EA888 Gen 3 Manual Clutch Guide

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This page is dedicated to you manual owners out there!

 

The MQB platform generally was a big step up from previous engines, being able to handle 500hp on stock internals really is some achievement and a tuners dream! Although one area that really lets down this platform is the manual clutch system. However, all hope is not lost! Thanks to the modding community there’s some things you can do to simplify the clutch system and make you not regret opting for the DSG option after all!

The stock clutch on these cars is nothing other than awful. With non-existent feedback due to it being too light, delay valves slowing down your shifts and worst of all we are seeing clutches fail on stock power, yes stock!

Of course, you can go get your car mapped and your clutch may survive the dyno, but you’re on borrowed time before it starts slipping and driving until the clutch completely fails may damage other components on its way out, therefore if you’re a manual we always recommend getting your clutch upgraded before any tuning!

Please try to remember just because you have seen 'Joe Bloggs' post on Facebook that his stock IS38 just made 410hp and he's also on stock clutch "without any issues" this doesn't mean it is safe and it is going to last.... he may of got away with it for now but there's only a matter of time before the turbo and clutch will unfortunately fail.

So now onto the great debate, Sachs vs RTS.

Now remember there’s always going to be people saying one is better than the other , all we can do is share with you our experiences we’ve had with our car (Hybrid turbo mk7 gti) and let you make the decision for yourself!

The 4 main choices you have are; RTS twin friction, RTS Paddle, Sachs Organic and Sachs Paddle.

On paper the RTS seems more appealing, being able to handle stage 2 power levels and having a light pedal sounds like a dream! A real oem+ option, but after having our RTS fitted for 6 months it was removed and a Sachs paddle was installed, and here’s why…

RTS clutches have a lower clamping pressure than sachs, this gives the clutch a light pedal feel. Great for day to day driving however, take it down a B road and really try and enjoy the cars manual gearbox and all the enjoyment is taken away, just like the stock clutch you feel disconnected from the car when receiving no feedback from the pedal. We also had issues where by the clutch did not return fast enough when racing on track! Unfortunately we are not the only ones to experience this either, so the RTS Paddle gets a big thumbs down if your looking to track your car.

The RTS Twin friction may be an option for some who drive casually and not looking to take the car past stage 1 as we have seen many slip at stage 2 power levels.

The best all rounder in our opinion is the sachs organic, great feedback, can hold stage 1 and 2 power, not too heavy aswell so can easily be driven day to day.

The clutch we have installed is the Sachs 4 puk paddle, its heavy and its grabby. If you were to test drive one you would think its horrible, but in a weird way once you have one installed and get used to it, after about 100 miles you begin to prefer it. The clutch is very predictable and easy to control, the feedback in the B roads really makes these cars exciting to drive again! So for this reason if you aiming for high stage 2 or 3 power levels the sachs sintered paddle gets our vote every time!

 

 

Now that’s the clutch covered, what else is there to know?

 

Clutch Delay Valve – For whatever reason VW decided to add a small valve inside the bleeder block that sits on top of the gearbox that transfers fluid from the brake pedal to the clutch. This valve takes away pedal feedback and makes shifts slower too! Be sure to check forums / YouTube on how to remove the delay valve, its completely free and a must have for any manual owner!

 

Clutch Line – Now there is one more thing in the way between you and the clutch, there is an antivibration valve attached to the bulkhead that runs in the middle of the clutch line. Although removing it does not give as much benefit as the delay valve in the bleeder block we still found a small improvement in clutch pedal feel when we removed the clutch line for a full replacement from iAbed Industries including a high flow billet bleeder block and full length clutch line which links the clutch master cylinder and billet bleeder block directly with no interruptions! You can find that HERE.

 

Rear Main Seal – Unfortunately its not uncommon for the rear main seal to leak on these gearboxes, although the part itself is cheap to replace, the entire gearbox needs to be removed in order to replace it! We always recommend the ‘do it right , do it once’ approach , therefore we installed the iAbed Billet rear main seal which you can find HERE.

 

Clutch bump stop – This is another small mod that not enough people know about! Essentially when your clutch is fully pressed in there is a ‘dead-space’ where the clutch is fully disengaged and there is no need for your pedal to be pushed down passed that point, this simple mod just slots into an existing gromet behind the clutch pedal and eliminates that dead-space. Overall improving clutch feel and even reduced shift time! You can grab these off ebay for £15 and takes 2 min to install!

 

Short Shifter – If your finding the throw to long for you shifter we sell an adjustable short shifter to suit your needs which you can find HERE.

 

Shifter Bushings – The ends of the shifter cables use a rubber bushing to attach to the shifter tower. To accompany our short shifter, we always recommend upgrading the bushes to our solid shifter bushings kit which you can find HERE. This will result in less play and slop within the shifter and allow for more precise shifts!

 

Gearbox – Now although the oem clutch may be a disaster, once upgraded with the parts we have mentioned the gearbox itself on this platform is amazing! Smooth, fast, precise shifts give great feedback and best of all these boxes can take a good 550-600hp before they are likely to start failing! Past this sort of region, you may want to consider a dogbox or DQ500 (rs3 gearbox) conversion!