Scott MacDonald

Hello, helpful people!
I am looking at replacing the clutch on my '89 S4 5-Speed with 87K miles, and was wondering about possible upgrades.
Does anyone have any experience with changing to a twin disc clutch or possibly upgrading to the GTS clutch? Advantages, disadvantages, cost differences, ease of installation, clutch effort, longevity? Am I better off just staying with the current setup?
I do some DE events as well as using the car on the street (in good weather, of course).
Thanks in advance!
Scott

Brian Bowman

Scott,
Try talking to DEVEK. As I recall, they offer a retrofit package for fitting the earlier dual-disk clutch into later cars. As they have actually done the conversion, they'll probably have some good insights as well. HTH.

Seth W

I had Devek upgrade my last car to GTS clutch. I thought it was much nicer than the clutch in my s4. That said, the clutch in my gt is just fine the way it is, but is relatively low mileage.

The gts clutch is quite heavy duty and can handle anything an s-4 can throw at it, but at the same time its more luxury oriented.

I would not go to the older clutches, unless perhaps stroker kit is in the plans.

Jim bailey - 928 International

According to Porsche . The GTS clutch uses a release bearing with a plastic pilot bushing made of polyamide .The nitrided guide tube and pilot bushing are installed without grease .The new pilot bearing and guide tube can be fitted to earlier 928 vehicles ( requires a late clutch arm ). The clutch disc was changed to Valeo 202 . This asbestos free lining is characterized by a particularly low sensitivity to clutch chatter . The clamping force of the single plate clutch was increase to 12200-13600 N in 1992 by using a reinforced spring retainer (pressure plate) . I have not yet found the clamping force numbers for the original pressure plate. Porsche was trying to get smoother , lower tendancy to judder clutch operation .

Scott MacDonald

Jim, Seth, and Brian,
Thanks for your input!
I spoke with Devek and they agreed that the twin disc clutch was probably not warranted without an engine upgrade.
Jim, how expensive is it to upgrade to the GTS clutch, factoring in the upgraded pilot bearing, guide tube, and clutch arm (and any other required bits), compared with an S4 clutch kit; and is it a more difficult job?
Thanks again!
Scott