If changing gear most of the time at 6000 or 7000 rpms, will the clutch wear out quic

[motoadve]

What do you mean by riding the clutch?

I dont slip the clutch, just change gears at high rpms because this car is just for the track or mountain twisties on Sunday mornings.

In other words , its just a car for fun.

[rick3000]

Riding the clutch is driving with the clutch pedal partially depressed almost the entire time your driving.

[Paul]

I drive mine like that a lot, 69,000 on the clutch so far, no issues yet.

[motoadve]

No no I dont ride the clutch , just revved to redline all the time.

[Jaxonalden]

Riding the clutch does two things;
1. If you drive with your foot partially depressed on the clutch pedal, it will engage the throw out bearing on the pressure plate and the throw out bearing will spin with the engine RPM causing premature wear.
2. From the time when the clutch disc touches the fly wheel until it's full engaged and spinning the same RPM's the disc is "slipping". The less time the disc slips the less wear on the disc. (I'm not advocating side stepping the clutch, that's a whole other story)

To answer the original question, if your quick and smooth with your shifts you should be alright. Just a personal thought; There's an old saying that I live by, and being a mechanic all my life I can attest to it;

Double the RPM, triple the wear.

P.S. You like to rev it to the redline? Remember that the computer logs rev limiter and over rev's. My new Durametric scanning tool showed my '04 S was 0/0 on both counters. Good news for reselling and warranty work.

[renzop]

If you are afraid of clutch wear there is one simple fix - don't use the clutch. That's right, I said, don't use the clutch. If you shift smoothly and slowly and put it back in gear at the exact rev-matched RPM you don't need a clutch.

Try it at low RPMs sometime. Pop it into neutral with your foot on the gas just a little. Then lot the RPMs drop for the next gear, rest your hand on the shifter and apply gentle pressure. It will drop right in.

Now, I do not recommend doing this as a regular habit. But doing it a few times will give you a better feel for how the drivetrain wants to shift. Then shift like that but with the clutch and you should get very long clutch life.

Regards,
Alan

[Brucelee]

Assuming you are using the clutch correctly, no worries.

Your engine is another matter. Keep redlining that baby and you will get a nice $12K surprise.

Good luck.

PS-Do a search here on blown engines. It may change your driving habits.

Good luck.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Assuming you are using the clutch correctly, no worries.

Your engine is another matter. Keep redlining that baby and you will get a nice $12K surprise.

Good luck.

PS-Do a search here on blown engines. It may change your driving habits.

Good luck.

Where is the proof that shifting at redline (not exceeding it) hurts these cars?

I've shifted mine above 7000 at full throttle at least a 1000 times by now (15 times yesterday).

69,000 and counting.....

[pbanders]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Assuming you are using the clutch correctly, no worries.

Your engine is another matter. Keep redlining that baby and you will get a nice $12K surprise.

Good luck.

PS-Do a search here on blown engines. It may change your driving habits.

Good luck.

Is this really true? My impression is that most of the dead motors I've seen on this forum weren't due to high revs, rather, they were caused by design flaws in the motor (e.g. cylinder liner, IMS) that weren't triggered by high revs.

If you can't redline your Porsche, what good is it? I've regularly redlined all the BMW's and Porsche's I've owned as that's what they were designed to do. I've banged the rev limiter on all my cars more times than I could count - even our Toyota minivan!

[Paul]

Originally Posted by renzop

If you are afraid of clutch wear there is one simple fix - don't use the clutch. That's right, I said, don't use the clutch. If you shift smoothly and slowly and put it back in gear at the exact rev-matched RPM you don't need a clutch.

Try it at low RPMs sometime. Pop it into neutral with your foot on the gas just a little. Then lot the RPMs drop for the next gear, rest your hand on the shifter and apply gentle pressure. It will drop right in.

Now, I do not recommend doing this as a regular habit. But doing it a few times will give you a better feel for how the drivetrain wants to shift. Then shift like that but with the clutch and you should get very long clutch life.

Regards,
Alan

Anyone doing this should be ready for some expensive tranny repairs.

[pbanders]

Originally Posted by Paul

Anyone doing this should be ready for some expensive tranny repairs.

While I wouldn't recommend doing it all the time, upshifting without the clutch in the way described won't damage the tranny. The problem is that when you push the lever forward to engage the synchro, the bigger the speed difference between the engine and tranny, the more wear you put on the synchro. If you're very skilled and consistent, you could probably keep wear to a minimum - but why do it? That's why you have a clutch in the first place. For me, it's a good technique to know (though not on my own Boxster - it's a Tip) in case you ever have clutch issues and need to get home.

If you want to really refine your skills, learn to downshift without the clutch, a bit more of a challenge to do it smoothly.

In terms of wear, the way I think of it is by the cost of the components. Brakes are cheaper than a clutch, and clutches are cheaper than a tranny. So, I use my brakes instead of engine braking, and use my clutch to minimize tranny wear. On my M3 and 914, I've always been in the habit of double-clutching all downshifts, it's only marginally slower and saves a bit of synchro wear, while giving you a jerk-free gearchange.

[SilentThunder]

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

P.S. You like to rev it to the redline? Remember that the computer logs rev limiter and over rev's. My new Durametric scanning tool showed my '04 S was 0/0 on both counters. Good news for reselling and warranty work.

Not impressive considering you drive the chicktronic. If you had on 04 S that was a manual with 0/0 redlines itd either have like 30 miles on it or your 90 years old and dont drive above 30 MPH :P

[FTD]

So what is the answer to the original question? I don't think I saw it. Is there a relationship to RPMs and clutch wear? I can't figure how there could be, but what do I know?

[Jaxonalden]

"So remember a few rules:
-.....
-do not use this forum as a vehicle to attack others"

I remember reading this when I first signed up for this forum, and I've giving my advise just like everyone else here to help others.

Now I have this Silent Blunder guy coming out of nowhere and doggin' my car like a jealous little bi*ch.

There's no reason for trash talk in this forum. Anytime you want to run against my "chicktronic" let me know, I'm just next door.

Dave

[SilentThunder]

Originally Posted by Jaxonalden

"So remember a few rules:
-.....
-do not use this forum as a vehicle to attack others"

I remember reading this when I first signed up for this forum, and I've giving my advise just like everyone else here to help others.

Now I have this Silent Blunder guy coming out of nowhere and doggin' my car like a jealous little bi*ch.

There's no reason for trash talk in this forum. Anytime you want to run against my "chicktronic" let me know, I'm just next door.

Dave

Ha! Im not attacking you. You drive a TIPtronic (happy?), you cant redline it because its an automatic. A simple statement of fact, so get your facts straight.

And why would you resort to a level LOWER than myself by name calling? You are a hypocrite dave. A sensitive one at that, as you made clear.

[Jaxonalden]

You really don't your cars do you? " you cant redline it because its an automatic. A simple statement of fact, so get your facts straight."

Anyone reading this knows by that statement that you don't know what your talking about.