elamothe15
Ready to race!
- Location
- Rhode Island, USA
We will forever disagree then. The data, (even straight from tuners) shows the clutch assembly is unable to hold the extra power. That is fundamentally why all the tuners have slowly started adding clutch "safe" tunes (which still have slippage, just do a LO APR search).
Driving style has no bearing on whether or not your clutch will slip when its holding capability is exceeded. That is why you always see a huge rash of clutch slip threads when the winter hits. Everyone was borderline on their assembly's holding capacity, car starts making more torque, there goes the clutch.
Even if you are driving "correctly" it does not mean that your clutch isn't going to slip. It's going to have a massively reduced lifespan and will eventually start slipping (if it isn't already, you just aren't noticing it yet).
I do these posts, because every time the weather gets warm, some random owners come on, saying everything is a load of hog wash and you don't need a new clutch, blah blah blah blah. Then post a crying post when the winter hits trying to find a replacement.
Better to be 100% forewarned that if you tune your car IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM, you will eventually have to replace your clutch assembly, sooner instead of later.
As I said I wanted to kindly agree and disagree. I agree that with any tune you will dramatically reduce the life of your clutch and if you tune you should be prepared to replace the clutch. My point being with this thread is that which tune you go with can have an effect of how dramatic this may be.
Also I am still sticking to my driving style "theory." Let me try and explain a different way and see if I can convince you The engine can only produce a max amount of HP/torque at certain RPM ranges. This power seen is the same regardless of gear. Obviously due to gear ratios the speed of the actual car will vary. When in a higher gear, you will still produce the same torque at the engine, however when that is relayed to the drivetrain the stress of the torque seen is much less due to the gear ratio. This is why people that mash and go WOT in high gear low RPM have many more issues up front than people who avoid this. And some people (key word some) can get away with slip in 5th gear WOT, but then stop this driving style and pro-long their clutch life....which really may not be much longer in the first place.
So yes, I agree with your key point of tunes going beyond what the stock clutch package can hold and it may not have anything to do with how old it is. Once you go past its limitations there will be an issue immediately. BUT with JB1 for example and the lower output tunes (which are sufficient for some) can pro-long the length of the stock package as max torque is reduced and may be just where the limitations of the stock clutch are. That coupled with my driving style "theory," one may have a delayed onset of clutch issue (which as you mentioned and I agree, are inevitable)