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The 1.8 and 2.0 EA888 Gen3 engine found in the VW Golf Mk7 and 7.5 GTi and R, Polo GTi, Audi S1, S3, Seat Leon FR and Cupra and the Skoda Octavia VRS are one of the most tuneable engines that VAG have ever produced with a vast array of off the shelf direct replacement components and software solutions that can in the instance of the 2.0 version in the Golf R and the S3 achieve more than 400bhp.

For those cars with a manual transmission this will cause an issue, even a good Stage1 software upgrade / remap such as OEM+ or APR will exceed the amount of torque the standard clutch is able to handle.

With performance clutches historically it has always required an amount of compromise for road car uses as the expectation was that you would experience either a heaver pedal, the clutch to have a snatchy feel when taking up drive, judder or in the case of single mass flywheel conversions it would be common to get an audible chatter coming from the gearbox.

One of the clutch brands Awesome offers is RTS Performance. RTS’s approach to designing their clutches has been different from other clutch manufactures. They wanted to offer a performance clutch with none of the compromise. Something that would handle the extra power with as close as possible to a standard pedal feel.

What they have come up with they have named ‘Dual Friction’. This is a hybrid uprated clutch kit that contains a drive plate that has a different higher quality friction material on either side of the plate. The clutch cover is constructed of Ductile steel rather then cast iron. Ductile steel covers are a lot more durable then cast versions and they handle better the additional heat and stresses caused by us tuning our cars.

Some of the benefits of this design are, better than OE resistance to extreme heat caused by high energy loading. Higher torque capacity than conventional high energy materials. Low material compression, a critical factor in maintaining piston travel.

Real world, what this means for you is that it is possible to install a performance clutch with little to no downside. Something that can handle all the modifications you can throw at it prior to Stage3 tuning (then you would need to go for a paddle version) and something that will be fine to drive in all that stop start traffic and handle all that extra performance when going for a spirited drive.

Dual friction clutches are designed for the fast road driver. If you enjoy track days or like to launch your car a lot on ether the street or on a drag strip, then dual friction should not be your choice and you should go a step further and choose a paddle clutch.

One more thing to add, new for 2022 RTS have introduced their new Single Mass Flywheel Conversion for the EA888 Gen3 engines. This comes with a flywheel that matches the weight of the standard troublesome dual mass flywheel and replaces it with a balanced high-quality flywheel that will eliminate any concerns we all have with a DMF and with the matched weight means that any chatter / gear lash will be kept to an absolute minimum. 

Buy RTS Performance Clutch Kits at Awesome