Saving the clutch on the F1-box

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TKoos

Junior Member
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50
I have read several and quite diametral opinions regarding how to maximize the miles on your clutch.
From a technical perspective I can derive that the one and only thing to do as to maximize the miles is to spare the clutch as much as you can. Ie try to not let it slip for too long when changing gear.
As I understand the main problem here is that the first gear will slip up to approximately 1500 rpm. Combined with the "hill-climb-assist" that makes a slow traffic uphill a PIA for the clutch.
As the engine has enough bottom torque I wonder if the same auto-slip up to 1500 rpm applies if I drive away on directly on the 2nd gear?
Is there a known way to disable the hill-climb-assist?
 
Zep

Zep

Moderator
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9,229
None that I know of. Hill start assist is simply the car holding the brakes until the accelerator is pressed, so it’s not clear why this would be worse than pulling away on the flat without it.

It will slip more pulling away in second as the clutch will still slip up to 1500 rpm.

Your best bet is to leave a gap in traffic and pull away promptly to reduce the number of engagements.

To save further discussion, here is a link to the last discussion on saving the clutch.

 
T

TKoos

Junior Member
Messages
50
Hill start assist on my 4200 seems more time related (like 1,5 seconds or so), it does not let go of the brake as soon as I hit the accelerator. Are you sure about that?

Read that thread a while ago without finding any consensus in it.
Do you know if it will slip on the 2nd gear too? Does it slip when using engine brake too, ie shift down instead of hitting the brakes all the way to stop?
 
Zep

Zep

Moderator
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9,229
The delay on release for your hill start seems excessive to me. It should hold longer on very steep hills, but not that long in normal use. You could try waiting momentarily when coming off the brakes, I found that I could synchronise my movement of the foot with the release of the brakes.

You are right, there was little consensus, and I posted it so we don’t have to go through it again, it is about personal choice.

As I said, it will slip more pulling away in second, because it is a taller gear.

There should be very little slip on downshifts as the ECU will attempt to minimise the difference in the shaft speeds through blipping the throttle.
 
T

TKoos

Junior Member
Messages
50
Zep said:
You are right, there was little consensus, and I posted it so we don’t have to go through it again, it is about personal choice.

As I said, it will slip more pulling away in second, because it is a taller gear.
Click to expand...
Oops sorry, I must have read your original reply bad. I apologize for that. Thank you for your answers!
 
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azapa

azapa

Member
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1,300
if you do something silly you'll smell the clutch. Like backing up a long curved uphill driveway. don't do that. You'll soon get a feel for a driving style that is more clutch friendly. good luck!
 
safrane

safrane

Member
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16,828
I get c1000 miles for every 1% or 2% of clutch wear. I don't do anything fancy to achieve this and have had similar results in all 3 of my CC Coupė's
 
c4sman

c4sman

Member
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1,251
Had an MC-Shift GT first. Loved the box for its involvement, drama and noise. Clutch hardly wore after 11k miles of often spirited driving. But I was always in manual sport mode, drove away positively even in traffic by leaving a gap and had no hills to reverse up! Did get stressful a couple of times when I got stuck in big traffic going up steepish hills as it gets tricky when the rhythm of traffic movement means you cannot avoid clutch slip without really annoying people behind you.

When looking for the current GT I wanted the jump in and drive flexibility of the MC auto shift that gives 80% of the drama but is just so dammed easy to live with and makes the car so effortless in full auto mode, plus things like creep one pedal operation when in heavy traffic. Also manual mode without sport engaged is a fun way of making interactive progress with compliant suspension, whilst not attracting too much unwanted attention with a loud exhaust (which is still there if you want it).

F1 is still a great box however, but in my view you have to put in the effort to make clutches last
 
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