A review of all my major modifications for the B6/B7 Audi S4

Axel · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

Ok, thanks for the clarification. Edited.

PBULLARD13 · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

Great write up. Must have taken awhile to type up.

sakimano · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

Mega plus karma

jp2.7v6tt · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

Very nice .
Thanks.

ChrisK · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

Axel great read. Really enjoyed it…great car too

bigserve134 · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

Thanks for the detailed review of everything Axel!

Axel:

JHM Stage 5R clutch and Pressure Plate (Not yet available, still in Beta at the time of writing this I believe)
Performance gains: N/A
Cost: TBA
Installation Difficulty: Medium (or whatever you consider a clutch replacement job to be as this is what it is)
Installation time: less than a day

This clutch is aggressive. I mean really aggressive. I was warned by JHM that it was going to be aggressive and they weren’t kidding.
I got this clutch and pressure plate due to the stock RS4 pressure plate not being able to handle my extra power from the SC adequately.
The clutch pedal’s weight is a little heavier than the stage 3 or 4 and you’ll notice it right away but within a couple days, your leg will adjust and you
won’t notice the extra weight. I’m pretty sure that if I drove a stock clutch, I’d feel like the pedal was loose or something

The chatter is obvious at low RPMs and requires small gas blips and not really letting go off the gas (i.e. a deliberate departure). This requires a slight change in driving style when in bumper to bumper traffic such as not moving forward the second the car in front of you moves 2 feet. Remember, this is a racing clutch. The pressure plate has no SAC (deemed to be the culprit in the stock RS4 PP issues).

Parallel parking is a little tougher as well as this clutch is mostly on or off.

After the 500 mile break-in period of city driving, I was finally able to beat on it and it’s been holding well so far. I’m really enjoying it but I still get some
chattering from time to time if I’m not careful. Seriously requires you to focus on your driving when creeping at a slow pace. No difference when
driving at highway speeds.

Summary: Not recommended for stock or slightly modded S4s (stick with stage 3 or 4). Recommended for supercharged S4s and modded RS4s.

Did you have a stage 4 JHM clutch before the 5? If so what was the difference between them? I will have to upgrade my stock set up sooner than later but not quite sure what to go with.

Thanks ahead of time

Axel · December 8, 2019, 3:11pm

bigserve134:

Thanks for the detailed review of everything Axel!

Axel:

JHM Stage 5R clutch and Pressure Plate (Not yet available, still in Beta at the time of writing this I believe)
Performance gains: N/A
Cost: TBA
Installation Difficulty: Medium (or whatever you consider a clutch replacement job to be as this is what it is)
Installation time: less than a day

This clutch is aggressive. I mean really aggressive. I was warned by JHM that it was going to be aggressive and they weren’t kidding.
I got this clutch and pressure plate due to the stock RS4 pressure plate not being able to handle my extra power from the SC adequately.
The clutch pedal’s weight is a little heavier than the stage 3 or 4 and you’ll notice it right away but within a couple days, your leg will adjust and you
won’t notice the extra weight. I’m pretty sure that if I drove a stock clutch, I’d feel like the pedal was loose or something

The chatter is obvious at low RPMs and requires small gas blips and not really letting go off the gas (i.e. a deliberate departure). This requires a slight change in driving style when in bumper to bumper traffic such as not moving forward the second the car in front of you moves 2 feet. Remember, this is a racing clutch. The pressure plate has no SAC (deemed to be the culprit in the stock RS4 PP issues).

Parallel parking is a little tougher as well as this clutch is mostly on or off.

After the 500 mile break-in period of city driving, I was finally able to beat on it and it’s been holding well so far. I’m really enjoying it but I still get some
chattering from time to time if I’m not careful. Seriously requires you to focus on your driving when creeping at a slow pace. No difference when
driving at highway speeds.

Summary: Not recommended for stock or slightly modded S4s (stick with stage 3 or 4). Recommended for supercharged S4s and modded RS4s.

Did you have a stage 4 JHM clutch before the 5? If so what was the difference between them? I will have to upgrade my stock set up sooner than later but not quite sure what to go with.

Thanks ahead of time

Yeah, stage 4 almost feels like stock after a little while and it’s really easy to drive. Stage 5 is way more aggressive and requires some getting used to/slight adjustment to your starts from a stop. Once you’re moving, it’s pretty much like a normal clutch driving wise.