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I've been meaning to sort this for quite a while, so just thought I'd ask here first - the clutch on my RS4 has always been bloody heavy (I'm not exactly puny and it makes my knee ache in traffic! Plus it's very topical as I just smacked my knee up again and it's now a bit painful to push the clutch)

Is this typical of all the B5 RS4's? Or is it just mine and could it be remedied by changing/re-furbing the Master/Slave cylinders [or seals]?

Ta

How many miles has clutch done? Mine is fairly heavy too. I had a drive of Contigo's RS4 with a new clutch and his was much lighter. I can only presume they get heavier with wear?

Not sure TBH - would have to delve into the service history to look - but it's now done 69.5k and I've noticed that on a longer run, at points where I boot it on the m/way I've had a little clutch slip, so I'm thinking I'll be shelling out for a new clutch soon - but not sure that'll alleviate any stiffness of operation, thought that was all down to the hydraulics

Mine is exactly the same. 74,000 miles on the original clutch!

Left calf is twice the size of the right...

I've got the same slipping problem, it's having a new clutch on Thursday. I'm hoping that it'll be a bit lighter after that.

Mine is heavy too - 85,500 miles and I believe the original clutch too!

You wusses!

My clutch survived to about 100k and replacing it didn't make it any easier!

Paul

Mine was heavy and then once changed it was much better, some peeps say with the SAC self adjuster as the clutch wears the pivot point for the leverage changes and can make it harder, also the later thrust bearings have a plastic collar to make them quieter and this gets chewed up making the operation harder, plus there is the good old grease on the splines etc.
Bleeding the slave can help allot with gear changes/ operation I have found especially in hot weather.

It does get ligher but I think in general the clutches on these cars are just heavy duty to deal with the torque and as such are hard work. In the following reviews from way back the guy mentions that.


"as with the S4, this is one of the most disappointing parts of the car, with a lifeless feel to the change and a long travel across the gate. According to Audi's technical people, the engine develops so much torque that they couldn't find an automatic gearbox capable of taking it. This is one reason for a slightly heavy clutch which, for the uninitiated, can make the change from 1st gear to 2nd somewhat jerky. You certainly don’t feel like flicking up and down the ‘box for the sake of it."


http://www.autoweb.co.uk/car_revs/rev_u ... 2000-2002)

Cheers guys, some good options to look into - think I'll bite the bullet and get the clutch done asap (mainly because I'm out of a job at the end of the month so best get it done whilst it wont hurt!) and see if that makes much of a difference to begin with

Quick update. Got the clutch changed today. What a difference. It's light as a feather. Flywheel was in good nick too, so didn't need changing.

Another top job by doctor dougal.