996 clutch upgrade?

[b-man]

I was told by the dealer that my clutch may need replacing soon. They said the clutch pedal is getting stiff and this is an early sign of a worn clutch on these cars. I have never heard this reasoning before. Can someone explain this to me?

Also, when the time comes, should I get the OEM Porsche unit or is there an aftermarket heavy duty clutch that will last longer? I am not looking for anything to make the car quicker, like a lightened flywheel. I am just thinking that I should take advantage of this situation and make an easy upgrade if possible.

FYI, the car is a stock 2002 C2 coupe.

b-man

P.S. Loren, great job on the new forum. Thanks and congratulations.

[Loren]

The OEM clutches are good. I don't see any reason to go with a sport type clutch unless you are changing the flywheel too. The dual mass flywheels on these cars make them very "driveable". A lighter single mass flywheel and HD clutch will make the car need a lot of revs to get off the line -- kinda like a race car.

Porsche introduced a new clutch pressure plate in MY02. The driven plate has also changed (from 996 116 013 05 to 996 116 013 06). I don't have details on why or when but they changed the (MY02) pressure plate. But... the part number (for MY02 and newer) has changed from 996 116 027 05 to 996 116 027 06. So I would make sure your dealer does not use old stock -- get the newer pressure plate (996 116 027 06) and the newer driven plate (996 116 013 06).

p.s. THANKS! Glad to have you here

[SPR]

what is the difference on the pressure plate? I just ordered a sach's replacement clutch and told him it was for a 99. When you are talking about the other part - driven disc or whatever do you mean the clutch disc? If both of those are different then I believe I should ask for a set for the my02 and up? Let me know asap as I need to stop the order before it's shipped if so. Thanks. Regarding the rev thing. I would think that you wouldn't have to rev it as much to get it off the line as there is less drag on the reciprocating assembly.

[SPR]

I just put in a call to the guy who I ordered my clutch from. He stated that sach's only sells the most current model of the clutch and the one for my 99 would in fact be the same as the one for the 02-on etc. As they only would go with the latest model and not continue to produce an older model etc. Whew-

[b-man]

Thanks Loren and SPR. This Board is an incredible source of information.

b-man

[SPR]

I just got my replacement clutch in for about 4 billz. Man is the clutch disc puny! There really isn't too much surface area of the material as compared to the 10.5 v8 stuff I am used to!