[David N.]

To be fair, #3 is the least wear-inducing. If you were at 4-5 and nothing was happening, chances are your clutch was not all the way engaged. When I was testing out another Boxster for a night that I didn't end up purchasing (for plenty of other reasons), I was driving with the top down on the freeway and got stuck in in bumper to bumper traffic. We were going slightly uphill, so I figured I had to rev it a bit higher to keep the engine from stalling. Well, turns out I was having to keep it at 4-5 and slowing engaging the clutch to do that. Seemed really weird, the hill wasn't that steep. That's when I started to smell it.. I looked down and had a sudden thought, and put it in neutral to check...

It had been in third gear. I was going from a stop to 5mph uphill in third gear. No wonder I was having to slip like crazy. But worse than that I started to have moments where the clutch just refused to fully engage even with my foot off the clutch, basically when it was just so freakin hot. It was the exact same feeling you mentioned, the clutch was out, engine revving, car not going like it should be. Bad news for your clutch.

Once I got up to speed and the clutch had a chance to cool off, it gave me no more troubles. I did a high speed push to see if there was any normal slippage, but it was tight. I guess if the plate and flywheel are near-molten, their ability to hold starts to diminish a LOT.

Moral of the story, clutch out and revs aren't making you go, could be a really hot clutch. Give it a chance to cool and try not to do it again.

-David