Remap without new clutch

[rodger]

The clutch on my car is being replaced by the garage as it was slipping slightly when I bought it. If I was to get a remap, would a brand new clutch wear out as quickly as a used, standard clutch?

Is there such a thing as a tame remap to preserve the standard clutch?

 

[skullmunki]

A brand new clutch would still slip eventually with a remap as it is only just sufficient to handle standard torque (although some people have somehow managed a remap without slippage).

Getting a remap with reduced torque settings defeats the purpose of getting a remap imo. Why not ask your garage if they willing to spilt the difference on an uprated one? They will probably say no, but if you don't ask, you don't get

 

[Altern8]

standard will be fine

 

[volvic]

standard will be fine

to a certain point yes, but it WILL slip A LOT sooner than an uprated clutch. make the most of the map otherwise whats the point?

put it this way.... apparently the seat clutch is rated to 300 ft lbs, im guessing when you say a garage(non seat) is replacing the clutch it wont be the same as seat's 300 ft lbs rating. might be lower (you never know)

a remap will push it in excess of 300 ft lbs if you want your moneys worth...

do the math

 

[devonmikeyboy]

If the garage is already going to split your car to fit a clutch you would be a fool not to have an uprated clutch fitted even if you buy it totally yourself and resale the stock replacement clutch that the garage was going to fit. Labour to fit a clutch is £200 plus so save yourself alot of money and do it now then you will never have to worry about the clutch again.

 

[Danny_FR]

Luck of the draw really as to when your clutch will go after a remap. Touch wood mine has been fine for nearly 25k miles...

I shouldn't have said that...

 

[Ultra_Joel88]

Obviously it helps if you dont floor the smoke pedal below 2000rpm

 

[mdaw1985]

I probably got the most conservative remap out there with a custom code stage 1 map on my ibiza sport. The car had done about 61000 miles. Im assuming it was on the original clutch and mine slipped. It started slipping the day after the map. The only reason it didn't slip before hand is because the car was still learning the new settings. So i went all the way to JABBA sport near peterborough from the south coast (near Brighton) and got a sachs clutch fitted and loved it ever since. My map is only running about 270-285 torque and 170-175 bhp. A new clutch maybe ok for a while with a map like mine. But any map will ultimately fry the clutch quicker whenever you put your foot down.

 

[ffoxy]

If your havin a clutch fitted anyway uprate it, my clutch is standard and I have no slip whatsover post re-map.

 

[brad1]

Luck of the draw really as to when your clutch will go after a remap. Touch wood mine has been fine for nearly 25k miles...

I shouldn't have said that...

No disrespect your torque is no where near the limit and my mate has much. More power out of his 130 tdi than you have in your sig

 

[brad1]

makes sense to get a updated one instead of replacing it with a standard one cause it's only going to cost you double in the long run

 

[jonjay]

Is the clutch weak? Yes and No. Depending how much power is going through it

Is it the way you drive? I think this factor is very relevant here. I have had my clutch for 27k now. Remapped for around 5 with no slippage. I don't drive aggressively and never really launch the car. I also dont ride the clutch and always concious of what gear I am in and how many revs I am doing.

Should you upgrade your clutch? Definitely, nothing beats the piece of mind that it can handle the power and last longer than the OE clutch.

Should I gamble sticking with the OE clutch? Yes. I gambled on the basis that the first sign of slippage I would get an uprated one. 5K later and I am still waiting so I got 5k's use out of my existing one.

 

[muddyboots]

Getting a remap with reduced torque settings defeats the purpose of getting a remap imo.

Have to disagree there. There are plenty of people who want a noticeable performance increase but without the cost & hassle of having to get a new clutch.

I got my Upsolute map altered to reduce peak torque, it's only reduced by a small amount between roughly 2-3k rpm, even then it's still a lot higher than stock - around 270-280lbft peak, compared to stock 229lbft.
Top end power is exactly the same as the "normal" remap, achieved around 175bhp at Awesome RR.

When you're going for max acceleration through the gears, you never drop below 3-3.5k, so because the torque is reduced at lower RPM than that, you still have exactly the same power available as the normal remap and won't be disadvantaged.

Before my map was altered, my clutch (PD130 Passat) would slip anywhere between 2-3k with even the lightest throttle application in 4th/5th/6th gears.
So all this "don't boot it below 2k" advice had no effect, and not being able to apply the throttle below 3k rpm was just ridiculous.

It's luck of the draw with clutches, some standard ones will stand up to being abused with 300+lbft, some will slip with 280-290lbft.

I'm happy with my slightly altered map. Never had a single hint of clutch slip since, and this is on a clutch with nearly 95k miles on it. The same remap on my last Passat was fine on the original clutch even past 140k miles.

Would I rather pay £XXXs on an uprated clutch for the sake of maybe 20lbft extra across a low down, narrow rev band ? No...that sort of money buys a brake & suspension upgrade which has far more effect on driving enjoyment.

 

[muddyboots]

Is the clutch weak? Yes and No. Depending how much power is going through it

Sorry to be a pedant, but it's the torque levels that causes clutches to slip...not power.

Even a map that produced say 250bhp top-end would be fine on a stock clutch - so long as nowhere through the rev range did the torque level increase beyond the clutch limit.

 

[ChrisGTL]

No disrespect your torque is no where near the limit and my mate has much. More power out of his 130 tdi than you have in your sig

My figures are almost identical to Danny_FR's and I got clutch slip in a month after mapping.

 

[Husbandofstinky]

I would say stop messing about and have it done. No messing, no worries. Sorted.

It really isn't worth the messing about imo.

Sorry Lee, there may be a few owners out there who are happy to have a restricted map but the vast majority will want the full monty. I agree that budgets can of course put the dampers on things.

My own advice based on the majority of cases here would be to have the clutch done before its mapped. Brakes, suspension, ARB's, exhaust.... would also be preferrable prior to the map.

And so it goes on...

 

[jonjay]

Sorry to be a pedant, but it's the torque levels that causes clutches to slip...not power.

Even a map that produced say 250bhp top-end would be fine on a stock clutch - so long as nowhere through the rev range did the torque level increase beyond the clutch limit.

When I said power I was referring to Torque, I should have been more specific/accurate with my terminology.

 

[muddyboots]

Sorry Lee, there may be a few owners out there who are happy to have a restricted map but the vast majority will want the full monty. I agree that budgets can of course put the dampers on things.

Still disagree - there are plenty of people who want a remap that will give them a big performance increase, but without any reliability issues or further costs.

I suspect the majority of remaps sold to the general public by the main remapping companies are safe maps to people who don't want to tinker with any hardware.

The clutch is the first in a list of hardware that needs replacing as power & torque figures climb higher.
Once you go beyond that first point where things start need replacing, where do you draw the line of what's an acceptable cost and what isn't ?
You could argue "Why get a map that's restricted to 180bhp, when you could have a 200bhp remap, although there's a chance your turbo will go pop"....

 

[Husbandofstinky]

As we are still at first base and as you pointed out, the first port of call should be replacing the clutch. There have been quite a few members with tailored maps (in order to avoid the expense of a clutch) who have had their fingers burnt when it starts to slip.

Sometimes it does make sense for the extra piece of mind. Call it an insurance policy.

 

[jonjay]

Once you go beyond that first point where things start need replacing, where do you draw the line of what's an acceptable cost and what isn't ?
You could argue "Why get a map that's restricted to 180bhp, when you could have a 200bhp remap, although there's a chance your turbo will go pop"....

I would say that soon as you start increasing the power of the car then you have to expect items like clutches to go sooner. As TDI's develop a lot of torque it comes as no suprise the clutch is a talking point so what is reasonable? Well a clutch is reasonable because its a part that gets worn with age.

Argue the same for things like tyres, brake discs, pads...