Jmitchell4873
Go Kart Champion
Short term Ringer-Racing clutch review.
I have 2400 miles on my clutch and it’s been broken in for about three weeks now.
Stage 4 clutch plate
23 pound billet flywheel
I also chose the stainless hose with the bleed
block to eliminate the swirl valve
Fluidampr crank pulley to mitigate any potential issues from going with the single mass flywheel
Unitronic stage 3 with a Pmax, and this clutch is phenomenal. It is smooth, but just a hair more stiff than the stock clutch pedal. It is more progressive and actually easier to drive in daily situations.
It actually is more quiet than my OEM dual mass flywheel…….except for some extra transmission whine in first gear at parking lot speeds. There is almost zero gear lash/clatter while parked with the clutch in. My OEM sounded like a little diesel truck when it idled. Huge improvement that I was totally not expecting. I will assume that most of this is due to the 23lb flywheel and the Fluidampr.
1-2 shift is still on the slow side and I don’t like trying to hustle it through a shift after 4500 rpm. It will do it, but it will most likely buck a bit. No improvement on this issue.
Feel through the pedal is improved due to the design of the pressure plate and the stainless hose upgrade. It won’t kick hard back into my foot, but it pushes back with enough authority that I can definitely feel what is happening in the friction zone.
Customer service from Mike Hood (owner of Ringer) is phenomenal. I had one small issue with a newly released bleed block (black one in the pictures) not fitting perfectly on my car. It put just a bit of pressure on the hard line that feeds the throw out bearing. Mike had a new one on the way within a day, and I was able to get it swapped out. FYI: the older, red bleed block is what you want. Mike also exchanged hundreds of PM’s with me as I waffled back and forth about going with a SMF. I was hesitant………especially after seeing BMP have a thrust bearing in their oil pan while running a South Bend clutch (no clue if that’s why it happened, total speculation on my part). Mike was patient and told me about all my options and I ended up with a clutch that I’m super happy with.
TL;DR….
Ringer and ClutchMaster make a great clutch, if you’re tuned or thinking about tuning, do yourself a favor and shoot Mike a message. If you don’t believe me, search the Mk7 and Audi forums for reviews. I couldn’t find any significant amount of unsatisfied customers. That says alot to me when a company has been selling parts for over 20 years.
View attachment IMG_8098.jpeg
View attachment IMG_8101.jpeg
I have 2400 miles on my clutch and it’s been broken in for about three weeks now.
Stage 4 clutch plate
23 pound billet flywheel
I also chose the stainless hose with the bleed
block to eliminate the swirl valve
Fluidampr crank pulley to mitigate any potential issues from going with the single mass flywheel
Unitronic stage 3 with a Pmax, and this clutch is phenomenal. It is smooth, but just a hair more stiff than the stock clutch pedal. It is more progressive and actually easier to drive in daily situations.
It actually is more quiet than my OEM dual mass flywheel…….except for some extra transmission whine in first gear at parking lot speeds. There is almost zero gear lash/clatter while parked with the clutch in. My OEM sounded like a little diesel truck when it idled. Huge improvement that I was totally not expecting. I will assume that most of this is due to the 23lb flywheel and the Fluidampr.
1-2 shift is still on the slow side and I don’t like trying to hustle it through a shift after 4500 rpm. It will do it, but it will most likely buck a bit. No improvement on this issue.
Feel through the pedal is improved due to the design of the pressure plate and the stainless hose upgrade. It won’t kick hard back into my foot, but it pushes back with enough authority that I can definitely feel what is happening in the friction zone.
Customer service from Mike Hood (owner of Ringer) is phenomenal. I had one small issue with a newly released bleed block (black one in the pictures) not fitting perfectly on my car. It put just a bit of pressure on the hard line that feeds the throw out bearing. Mike had a new one on the way within a day, and I was able to get it swapped out. FYI: the older, red bleed block is what you want. Mike also exchanged hundreds of PM’s with me as I waffled back and forth about going with a SMF. I was hesitant………especially after seeing BMP have a thrust bearing in their oil pan while running a South Bend clutch (no clue if that’s why it happened, total speculation on my part). Mike was patient and told me about all my options and I ended up with a clutch that I’m super happy with.
TL;DR….
Ringer and ClutchMaster make a great clutch, if you’re tuned or thinking about tuning, do yourself a favor and shoot Mike a message. If you don’t believe me, search the Mk7 and Audi forums for reviews. I couldn’t find any significant amount of unsatisfied customers. That says alot to me when a company has been selling parts for over 20 years.
View attachment IMG_8098.jpeg
View attachment IMG_8101.jpeg