My clutch slipped during a poorly-planned pass about nine months ago. I was on an unfamiliar 6-lane freeway at night and unexpectedly found myself running out of lane. I gave the accelerator a quick stab to safely take a new lane without down-shifting. UGH! I’ve said here many times that I’m a lazy manual transmission driver. Years of enjoying the low-end TDI grunt turned me into a lazy driver who rarely downshifts when he should. I felt the consequence that evening on a clutch with only 60,000 miles! I wrote a blog entry in December, but forgot to publish it until recently. It’s since been backdated a bit. Then, about a week ago, my clutch slipped during a casual pass. My failing clutch could no longer be ignored, especially with two upcoming trips into the mountains!
Mistakes Were Made
South Bend’s Stage 2 Endurance clutch is specified to hold 465 lb-ft, a fair margin above my car’s 370 lb-ft. It’s still considered to be the “go-to clutch” for an IS38 tuned GTI. I now question my driving practices during that clutch’s break-in period three years ago. This image details key requirements during the early miles of a new clutch. I recall breaking-in my previous clutch for about 1000 miles. However, I don’t have a lot of stop-and-go points near me. As a result, I may not have done 500 miles worth of stop-and-go driving when that clutch was new.
To make matters worse, I usually back my car into an inclined driveway that requires an “S” turn to reach my spot. I cannot do that without slipping the clutch all the way up, especially when backing a trailer. I’d frequently smell the protest from my poor clutch, especially if the trailer was loaded. My old RSR clutch tolerated those bad practices fairly well and lasted 165,000 miles or 265,000 km. I suspect that I did not give my first SBC Stage 2 Endurance a proper break-in and then only continued to abuse it over its shortened lifespan. It lasted almost three years and 70,000 miles (112,000 km).
Extended Break-In Plan
I kept these lessons in mind when I decided to install another Stage 2 Endurance clutch by SBC instead of something stiffer. This time, I’m over-doing the break-in for my clutch. Backing into my driveway might be one of the harshest things I can do to a new clutch. Instead, I now drive straight-in from first gear and then roll-out in reverse when I leave for a drive. Next, I decided that there would be zero towing during my lengthy break-in period. I made sure that my trailer was empty before having the clutch work done. So I won’t need to make any dump runs for a bit.
Finally, I made a driving decision that was completely counterintuitive: I’ve stayed off highways in order to favor routes with more traffic lights and congestion. I use Google Maps to ensure that those routes are chosen for me. With the settings shown here, I might as well tell Google, “Put me on the most terrible routes that you can conjure!” 😀 Google still suggests routes that make me say, “No, I’ll take this way… it looks way worse!” 😉 Even with those decisions, there’s no way that 500 or even 1000 miles can give me enough stop and go to make me feel good about the break-in period. Instead, I’m extending this style of driving to 2000 miles or more. I’m hoping to be beyond 1000 miles by the time I leave for Eurofest Maggie Valley. I’ll probably drive like an old man during that weekend and then resume “city driving” when I return home.
Protecting Expensive Parts (and My Wallet)
Clutch jobs are expensive! I didn’t like the new hole in my wallet, so I’m being hyper-vigilant during these early miles. Does that mean no passing or entrance ramp blasts? Not at all, not after the break-in period, anyway. I may even return to backing into the driveway at some point. However, I don’t think I’ll back the trailers up the driveway again. Both of my trailers are light enough when empty for me to pull them up with the dolly shown in this photo. It’s easily among the best $100 I ever spent for my garage! I’ll consider other options if I ever need to move a loaded trailer into my driveway. Perhaps a winch at the top of the driveway?
Preventative Maintenance Catch-Up
I had the timing chain and supporting bits replaced while the car was in the shop for the clutch—along with new spark plugs, VAQ differential fluid change, and brake fluid flush. I can do the plugs and fluids myself, but I was inclined to have Euro Pros do the work as well as a thorough underbody inspection in the process. Remember: all of this car’s suspension, axles, mounts, bushings, and other underpinnings are original. Euro Pros does not prefer to do unnecessary work, but they’ll certainly recommend replacing problem parts. They said that everything looks good, which concurs with my own observations. I continue to be amazed by how long these parts have lasted! Living and driving south of the snow belt has been wonderful!
Reflections on a Geriatric GTI
As I move forward with my aging GTI, I’ll remind my visitors (and myself) that one of the reasons why the car has lasted so long is because I drive it more like a Camry than a GTI. “Why didn’t you just get a Golf?” was a common question when I first bought the car. The answer is easy: First, I wanted the extra power potential that the GTI offered. Later, I realized that even a base GTI offers better amenities than the best Golf that was available in the U.S. (discontinued after 2019). If I knew in 2016 what I know now, I might have chosen an Alltrack with DSG because of its permanent roof rack, AWD, easier backing of the trailers, and good response to a turbo swap. The extra room would probably be good, too!
It’s hard to say if an Alltrack would have been as durable as my GTI. Regardless, my GTI is going so strong that any Alltrack will be equally geriatric by the time I need a different car. It appears that I’ll be enjoying my GTI for at least a little longer! 🙂
Almost Like New! (Okay, not really)
Scott
