How robust is the clutch?

[Guest]

I thought I would go for a " maximum attack" take-off from the traffic lights this afternoon. Don' t quite know why, but the urge suddenly took me.

I didn' t get it quite right since I got the timing wrong and the revs went higher than I intended and I didn' t let the clutch out decisively enough (although I did get to 60 pretty bl**dy fast and the engine didn' t bog down). 100 yds down the road I noticed an interesting aroma of roasted clutch come through the vents. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I started wondering, how robust is the clutch? Does anyone have any comments?

 

[Mark Davies]

Stuart,

Took my C2 along for its first service to AFN in Reading who decided it needed a new clutch after only 9k miles! The car hadnt been on a track or driven particularly hard (well relative to other cars) but once the new clutch was in I realised how stiff the clutch operation had become over the year.

We dont have much luck with Porsche transmissions as our previous Boxster 2.7 had a replacement gearbox after only 10k!

In my experience BMWs have very juddery clutches particularly when they get hot. I have had this on 320 and 520 models.

Strange, but the clutch on my old Ford Capri 1.6 just kept on going for ever and ever with no problems at all.

Mark

 

[Gary Bullen]

When they say the clutch is worn out they probably mean the springs rather than the clutch plate. Had a new clutch in my GT3 after 15,000 miles. To be honest I don' t notice any difference but the engine was out so what the hell. Good job it' s only money!