How to know if my clutch has already been upgraded?

[Corey199]

I purchased my GTI used with over 30,000 miles and it is now stage 2 tuned with about 40,000 miles. By this point I had expected my clutch to start slipping or at least show some signs of wear, but I haven’t experienced any problems yet. I do some spirited driving here and there, but nothing major, which could explain why my clutch is still doing fine. But I don’t know how the previous owner drove the car. When I bought the car, it had a muffler delete and a clutch delay delete however (clutch spring removed), but that’s all I’m aware of. So it is possible that the previous owner also installed a new clutch, but I cannot know for sure. What are some signs of an upgraded clutch vs the stock one? I have never driven another manual transmission GTI other than mine, so I don’t have a reference.
Thanks for any help!

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Launch the car at 4200 rpms, if it’ll hold they could have upgraded it. Lol

If they upgraded with something mild that retains a DMF you really can’t tell with out visually seeing it...

Trying to use things like sound, grab point, clutch pressure will not be evident enough with a street friendly upgraded set up, because even stock setups based on age/wear/how the PO drive have those variables at different points.

If the PO didn’t Truly tune the car before it’s very unlikely they upgraded the clutch unless they destroyed the factory and had goals to mod the car more than a 75 dollar TMD.


Btw - my stock clutch was holding fine with a FBO / hybrid Is38 setup before I upgraded so I could turn the car to 11.

 

[Corey199]

Launch the car at 4200 rpms, if it’ll hold they could have upgraded it. Lol

Trying to use things like sound, grab point, clutch pressure will not be evident enough with a street friendly upgraded set up, because even stock setups based on age/wear/how the PO drive have those variables at different points.


If they upgraded with something mild that retains a DMF you really can’t tell with out visually seeing it.

Haha I guess I’ll try launching it.

One thing I noticed that made me realize I might have an upgraded clutch is that I don’t have any rev hang that everyone seems to complain about. Could this also be a sign of an aftermarket clutch?

 

[jimlloyd40]

No the clutch doesn't have anything to do with that. It's very doubtful the previous owner upgraded the clutch.

 

[Corey199]

No the clutch doesn't have anything to do with that. It's very doubtful the previous owner upgraded the clutch.

Even if they changed it to a single mass flywheel? How are you so sure that they didn’t upgrade it?

 

[JC_451]

If you had a single mass flywheel you'd be here asking why the car was so loud at idle.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Even if they changed it to a single mass flywheel? How are you so sure that they didn’t upgrade it?

I'm not but there was no evidence that the car had been tuned so it's extremely doubtful that the previous owner changed the flywheel. That's an extreme reach on your part.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Haha I guess I’ll try launching it.

One thing I noticed that made me realize I might have an upgraded clutch is that I don’t have any rev hang that everyone seems to complain about. Could this also be a sign of an aftermarket clutch?

in the Good change that’s it’s the stock Clutch I was kidding about the launch.

Yeah If it was SmF you would know, you would hear it and feel it.

Rev hang is gone before the delay valve removal. I’ve still got a dual mass and I don’t have any rev hang either.

 

[hans611]

How would removing the clutch delay valve affect rev hang....? it just restricts how fast the clutch engages...

Also i hope he didnt drop the clutch like that....