2001 V5 Clutch Issues

[Woo]

Hi, I know there are about 800 posts about Bora clutches on here, but I'm having trouble finding any information specifically for a V5 clutch. I know many parts are interchangable with the V6 so I'm sorry if I'm covering old ground. My V5 has 153,000kms on it and there is an annoying shudder in the clutch on take-off in first gear. I assumed the clutch was wearing out, so I rang the local dealer who initially quoted me $1200 then, like all conversations VW-related, he asked for my VIN and told me the car had a Dual Mass flywheel (which meant nothing to me, until I read the 800 other clutch posts, now I'm a tiny bit more educated) and was going to be in the order of $3000 (parts and 9 to 11 hours labour).

While I'm a complete and utter car moron, I'm not inclined to take the word of a VW dealer on...well...anything really. So I rang DandyVolks who quoted $1700 for parts and about $500 to fit. Awesome. But then he asked me if the clutch was slipping - it's not, it actually changes fine, drives smoothly and has plenty of power under load. He suggested a heavy duty (dual mass) clutch should last 250,000 to 300,000 if not raced or driven badly, he said he personally wouldn't pay $2300 just to get rid of a shudder, so he told me to put up with it til it starts to slip and actually needs replacement. Really sensible, honest advice that I was rapt with........BUT THE SHUDDER IS REALLY ANNOYING.

Other posts said to check ECS website and look for a standard-duty clutch and ditch the DMFW - I'm more than happy to do this, I don't care about the OEM parts if I can't see them, people on this site recommend the ECS replacements so I trust that advice, and I drive like a nanna so I'm not rough on the clutch (the shudder has been in it since I bought it). So I wrote to ECS and asked if the clutches on the website fit the V5 model (because they don't list V5 on the site) and, of course, the V5 appears not to have been released in the US, so the guy who wrote back has said that if my car has O2J gearbox the clutches "should" fit. He was actually a lot more helpful than that, he said he was going to find out for me. But I was hoping someone on this site could tell me whether these clutches will fit and, if so, which one will would you recommend for the car. Also if you could tell me what draw-backs there might be to getting rid of the DMFW in favour of the ECS unit. I don't want to race, I just want a clutch that won't annoy me in peak hour traffic going to and from work!! Thanks.

[h100vw]

The V6 Bora is 4 motion and the gearbox is different to the FWD Bora. I don't know for sure but I expect that the V5 is far more like a Golf GTI than anything else.

Gavin