4.7 Vantage Manual Clutch Mfr. Question (anyone hear of Sach's?)
 

Used to own an 07 vantage,, with a stock clutch which I sold a couple of years ago. Now I'm back in the market for a new one and came across a situation from a seller I'm hoping to get an outside opinion on.

Found a great car for sale, where just about everything checks out perfectly, including an extensive service history showing the car was only serviced by Aston Martin for literally it's whole life. During that time period it received an AMR twin clutch upgrade which is documented by the aston martin service center. Fast forward to recently when the car was listed for sale and the owner said he had to swap out the clutch prior to selling because the transporter/driver whole delivered it burned it out by not driving the car properly (something about the handbrake not being properly released). He said because the AMR one would be delayed, he opted for an aftermarket one Made by "Sach's Performance" and is considered an OEM replacement. They said they replaced it with a twin clutch kit that included the lighter flywheel just like the AMR kit. I had never heard of them before, but from a quick check online they appear to be reputable and do a lot in terms of clutches for german cars, but couldn't find anything regarding them and aston martins which is what's making me a bit uneasy. All I see is OEM by Aston Martin and Velocity as the only options ever mentioned.

I did drive the car and it drove perfectly fine and would've never thought of anything if I he never mentioned (I only asked if anything had been done since they took possession and he truthfully answered regarding this). I only had an 07 vantage to compare it to that I owned, and another 2015 vantage single clutch that I drove recently, so the only thing I noticed was a much lighter clutch pedal and a slightly higher catch point than I was used to. This sounds like what one would expect from a twin plate with a lightened flywheel, but being that I've never heard of Sach's associated with AM I'm thrown off. The small independent dealer in question has a 5 star rating on google w 100's of very positive reviews and only deals in high end cars, so it doesn't seem like doing something shady is in their nature. He said the clutch would be covered for 1yr by the mechanic they use.

I called An Aston Martin tech I used to have my car serviced with in the past and he was primarily concerned about them changing the flywheel as well as the plate (as opposed to just the plate), but while he didn't recognize Sach's offhand, he didn't seem that concerned. Am I overthinking it? Is Sach's in fact a manufacturer of OEM twin clutch replacements for AM? Are there even other twin plate manufacturers' that exist for aston that he perhaps might be confusing it with (he deals with a lot of porsche/bmw so maybe he got confused with something else, idk).

Thanks in advance!

Sachs is a major clutch manufacturer. I have no knowledge on the application in question.

Sach's is a very reputable manufacturer. I wouldn't be so concerned about it. How's the rest of the car?

Sach is very big in manufacturing clutch parts, suspension parts for mostly European car.

Rest of the car is flawless. I researched that sachs is a reputable manufacturer, I just couldn’t find anything about them offering a clutch option for Aston. I figured after all these years I’d find at least one person on the forum or somewhere else that used it. That’s the only part that was making me hesitant and thinking perhaps either chose a subpar option or worse, that they didn’t actually replace the clutch properly. Other than that the car was pristine and am strongly considering it.

I would personally contact the shop that did the work and inquire why they changed the fly wheel. I would'nt be surprised if Sachs is the OEM for the AMR clutch. If the car is shifting perfectly i would'nt be too concerned.

I recall reading some time ago that Sachs did produce twin plate clutch assemblies. I went online and looked at all of their application catalogs for an AM listing but didn't find anything. Since the original clutch assembly matches that of some Ford Pickups I think you are safe.

I appreciate the insight!

Sachs goes back decades (at least 80's) in clutch manufacture. I don't know about Aston applications though.