OK, so the dealer told me what the noise is.....

[S_PILOT]

that my car makes when taking off in 1st and in reverse. A rattling sound. does not occur when cold, only when the engine is warm. If I give it enough throttle(around 2500 rpm) when taking off in 1st or when in reverse, it does not do it.

They told me it's the clutch pressure plate engagement with the flywheel. That somewhere along the line(the S is brand new to us, but has 27k on the clock) extreme pressure(heat) was applied causing a small amount of warpage on the plate. Maybe someone rode the clutch for long periods of time, or they tracked the car, and improperly shifted into lower gears at high rpm(maybe they didn't know about heel/toeing I suppose?)

All clutch issues are conveniently warranted for the first 12 months/12k miles.

Of course, it's not covered under warranty, and will cost about $2500 to repair. Now they tell me it's just an annoyance, that as long as I apply enough throttle on takeoff, I won't notice. They also said this is VERY common in their experience.

So, I only need to have a new clutch/flywheel put on if it bugs me enough. They said most people who develop this issue just wait until their clutch needs replacing due to slippage before taking care of it.

I also asked how the car could have gone through Porsche cert. like this. They said it is NOT considered a defect, and therefore was not an issue for the cert.

I have 25K miles on my '04 Corvette Z06, and have tracked the car HARD about 20 times. My clutch works perfectly in that car. I find it incredibly hard to believe that Chevrolet could make a more resiliant clutch/flywheel combination than the storied, race-bred machines of Stuttgart......

any opinions on this. does anyone else have this issue, ever heard of it?

[Brucelee]

"I find it incredibly hard to believe that Chevrolet could make a more resiliant clutch/flywheel combination than the storied, race-bred machines of Stuttgart......"

Well, not to start WW3 here but yes, I think the Corvette is built to a much higher "abuse standard" than the Boxster or 911. I fail to see how the "race bred" label has translated into a bullet proof drivetrain for these cars.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Porsche line. However, if I was buying a car to track and punish in general, it would be a C5 or C6 Corvette, not a 911 Turbo as an example.

IMHO!

BTW-in the latest issue of Panorama, the tech section addresses the oil leak/RMS issue for the current Boxer engine. Sad to say, this discussion essentially indicates that the RMS issue is a engine/clutch/trans design issue, not a simply a bad seal.

Since that issue started in 1997, I was frankly dumbfounded to find that Stuttgart designed the problem and then did not fix it.

Weird, maybe my standards are too high?

[S_PILOT]

Thanks for the input Bruce!

I guess what I am saying is that when you think of Porsche, you don't think of trucks, passenger sedans, or minivans. You think of racing, autocrossing, high speed driver's ed events, a lineage of race and track proven technology for years and yeards, moved unchanged in many cases, into street legal cars.

I guess I thought something as elementary and essential to high speed, punishing driving as the clutch/flywheel relationship would just be bulletproof in Porsche models......maybe their marketing worked a little too good on me!!

[Brucelee]

One would think that the history and usage of Porsche would dictate exactly the kind of car that you describe.

Based on subjective experience, this does not seem to be the case.

Originally Posted by S_PILOT

Thanks for the input Bruce!

I guess what I am saying is that when you think of Porsche, you don't think of trucks, passenger sedans, or minivans. You think of racing, autocrossing, high speed driver's ed events, a lineage of race and track proven technology for years and yeards, moved unchanged in many cases, into street legal cars.

I guess I thought something as elementary and essential to high speed, punishing driving as the clutch/flywheel relationship would just be bulletproof in Porsche models......maybe their marketing worked a little too good on me!!