Clutch Masters FX350 Review

[realcyberbob]

I too purchased the FX350 back on 12/10/12, however I'm still waiting for it to be delivered. Looking forward to your initial impressions.

Not sure why your order is taking so long, I also ordered it through Clay at CTS Turbo and it came in less than a week.

Who was going to do a GB?

HYDE16 was trying to get one set up but was not able to.

 

[allset]

see this is where i'm getting confused, maybe i'm just being dumb but is the full face puck an fx350 or fx400? because i've seen the fx400 referred to as both, which is why i was saying i thought the 8 puck looked like the pic above.

for the fx400 the clutch codes go hdc4, hdc6, and then instead of hdc8 it's hdcl. The gti part number is 17375-hdcl-shp and according to clutchmasters website the "cl" means sprung full space ceramic disc. But according to Bender's thread it's the 8 puck and if you go to the fx400 description page it describes hdcl as 8 puck right at the top of the page.

http://clutchmasters.com/index.php?module=site&action=GetPage&id=18&nav=leftnav_products.tpl

....

the 400 has a choice paddle puck or full face puck. Dont think the 350 has the option or need due to the different friction materials

 

[allset]

Just call Mike Hood to get definitive answers. It is really the only way you are going to get any definitive light shed on this issue without opinion stated as fact.

And the fx350 isn't a puck set up it is a pad set up.

i ve heard in person the 400 paddle puck and full face. Full face was much quiter. Opinion? yes but based on first hand knowledge and experience. Most will say full face discs are more quiet than paddle or segmented puck discs

 

[allset]

Ok so my first post was right, or at least the right idea. So now I question how different are the fx350 and 400 and what makes the fx400 full face hold more (I'm assuming just material?). If the 8 puck has that much less material I wonder if it will fail sooner than the real puck design

Full face puck disc iirc fx400

paddle/seg (true) puck discs are usually recommended for track use

 

[APRMK6GTi]

Technically, I ordered it through my mechanic who is a licensed APR and CTS distributor. He in turn ordered it through Clay at CTS on the same day, which was 12/10/12. I have been waiting ever since..I will be contacting them shortly to see what the hell is up.

i got mines in less than a week from order as well...sucks, wonder what went wrong.

 

[SRT2GTI]

i got mines in less than a week from order as well...sucks, wonder what went wrong.

I'm guessing the order slipped through the crack some how. I just got word back from my mechanic that he should be receiving the clutch by Tuesday. I guess the good part is I'm not in any rush for the install.

 

[JT641]

I'm guessing the order slipped through the crack some how. I just got word back from my mechanic that he should be receiving the clutch by Tuesday. I guess the good part is I'm not in any rush for the install.

I'll tell one things for sure I'M NEVER GOING TO ORDER FROM CTS EVER AGAIN:thumbdown:, For some reason my order got screwed up as in where it was being shipped to, It was obviously supposed to go to Cali But somebody messed up & it got shipped to washington (the state) luckily they where able to stop in oregon & re-direct it back down to California. But I have to wait 3 more days because of there screw up, But that's not the only reason I'll never buy anything from them again, The other reason is this GB BS they pulled.:thumbdown:

Sorry to get off topic, But I needed to vent.

 

[realcyberbob]

I'll tell one things for sure I'M NEVER GOING TO ORDER FROM CTS EVER AGAIN:thumbdown:, For some reason my order got screwed up as in where it was being shipped to, It was obviously supposed to go to Cali But somebody messed up & it got shipped to washington (the state) luckily they where able to stop in oregon & re-direct it back down to California. But I have to wait 3 more days because of there screw up, But that's not the only reason I'll never buy anything from them again, The other reason is this GB BS they pulled.:thumbdown:

Sorry to get off topic, But I needed to vent.

Sorry to hear, better late than never I guess.

 

[JT641]

Sorry to hear, better late than never I guess.

Forgot say what made it worse is there poor customer service, I called six times & nobody ever answered the phone, So I left messages which were never returned. I finally got e-mail reply from clay saying he was on vacation, that was all he said, Then I got another e-mail from clay a couple days later saying he just got back home & that were short staffed because he was on vacation., What's it like there, Is it like West Coast Customs where if ryan goes on a trip for even a couple days shit doesn't get done. Sounds like a VERY POORLY MANAGED company.:iono:

Well at least there are plenty of other companies out there that know the importance of Customer Service & Those will be the only ones I will continue to deal with.


Wish I had checked with this company down there in Texas MJM Autohaus, They have the same Wavetrac LSD I ordered from CTS for basically the same price. https://www.mjmautohaus.com/catalog/


Anyways You install your clutch yet, I've been waiting for someone that's bought the FX350 to give a review on it, Cause I'm still not sure which one I'm going with.

 

[Lou Maiuri]

Forgot say what made it worse is there poor customer service, I called six times & nobody ever answered the phone, So I left messages which were never returned. I finally got e-mail reply from clay saying he was on vacation, that was all he said, Then I got another e-mail from clay a couple days later saying he just got back home & that were short staffed because he was on vacation., What's it like there, Is it like West Coast Customs where if ryan goes on a trip for even a couple days shit doesn't get done. Sounds like a VERY POORLY MANAGED company.:iono:

Well at least there are plenty of other companies out there that know the importance of Customer Service & Those will be the only ones I will continue to deal with.

Did you order over the holiday?

 

[JT641]

Did you order over the holiday?

I ordered it on 1-02-13, The other thing is I wasn't even sure of right away was if my order went through. Holidays don't keep people from buying things & even during the holidays with other companies that I deal with I have still gotten great customer service. One of the new ones Being Ringer Racing.:thumbsup:

As has been said else where by a number of people here on the forums, Customer Service Can Make or Break Your Business!!!

 

[Lou Maiuri]

I ordered it on 1-02-13, The other thing is I wasn't even sure of right away was if my order went through. Holidays don't keep people from buying things & even during the holidays with other companies that I deal with I have still gotten great customer service. One of the new ones Being Ringer Racing.:thumbsup:

As has been said else where by a number of people here on the forums, Customer Service Can Make or Break Your Business!!!

Weird, I bought a ko4 from them on 12-31 and it shipped 1-3. It might have taken them a while to communicate with clutch masters.. 9 days isn't that bad for them to talk to clutch masters, clutch masters to build your kit, and then you get it.

 

[JT641]

Weird, I bought a ko4 from them on 12-31 and it shipped 1-3. It might have taken them a while to communicate with clutch masters.. 9 days isn't that bad for them to talk to clutch masters, clutch masters to build your kit, and then you get it.

Re-read what I said above^^^ I ordered a Wavetrac LSD from them, I'm ordering my clutch from Ringer Racing, Mike's been great at getting back to me in answering all of my questions.:thumbup:

 

[Mike@Ringer-Racing.com]

Ok I called Clutch Masters & basically what they said is the "8 puck FX 400" is NOT a true puck clutch design, From there description it sounds like it looks similar to the FX350? You mite want to read Bender"s thread for an explaination of how it works for him. http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43188&highlight=fx400 Personally after reading Bender's review & talking to clutch masters I leaning towards the FX400?.

The FX400 8 pad looks exactly like the FX350 which has 8 indivdual triangle pads, only difference is that on the FX350 it is a Fibertuff material while on the FX400 it is a Ceramic. In the A4 1.8t community we have been using the FX400 8 pad for a very long time since it is the only option on the FX400 that will work with the stock dual mass flywheel. The FX400 8 pad will have a shorter life then a 6 puck which is why the 6 puck is the better choice when going with a single mass flywheel or when a sprung 6 puck can be used with the dual mass flywheel like on the B5 S4 2.7t.

 

[Mike@Ringer-Racing.com]

Full face puck disc iirc fx400

paddle/seg (true) puck discs are usually recommended for track use

That is a picture of a FX300 with the segmented Kevlar. lol

Here is a picture of a sprung 228mm FX400 8 pad for the A4 1.8t.