kkim

Let me clarify... I'll put my car into neutral a good hundred yards before a stop sign at the end of a road here, directly from 5th, using the brakes to halt me from 45-50 to stop. I have the feeling you leave it in gear using engine braking till what you consider the last possible moment before you feel stalling will occur, then depress the clutch. Whether that would occur at the same 45-50 that I put mine into neutral is something that would need to be found out if/when we someday ever get to do a drive together, which, BTW, I look forward to.

Edgy01

Some basic rules to observe:

(1) Brakes are cheaper to replace than clutches and trannies

(2) Never 'rest' your hand or foot on anything like a shift **** or pedal.

(3) Porsche trannies are relatively bulletproof but I have seen some abuse. Normal drivers don't abuse them and they last long time. If you go through a clutch in less then about 100,000 miles then you are abusing it or never learned how to drive a manual.

(4) The new stuff from Porsche better than the old stuff. Rules should change to keep up with the changes to the hardware.

Dan
06 Carrera S Cab inbound
Many Porsches over 100,000 on original clutches.

mborkow

i have heard (here) about a lot of 993 clutches being replaced at 70k miles...does that mean a lot of people here never learned to drive?

Mark in Baltimore

I almost always shift out of gear and into neutral without using the clutch, as long as there's no resistance to the lever. It saves clutch wear.

97Targa

Most modern cars won't start without the clutch peddle depressed.
It's a built in safety measure.

kkim

My starting routine is... push clutch in, shift to first, shift to second, shift back to neutral. Once I'm certain I've located neutral, I turn the key and start the car with the clutch in with right foot on the brake with handbrake still engaged.

mborkow

the 993 will start without depressing the clutch, and that is how i always start the car (after checking that it is in fact in neutral)

Bull

My 993 will not start without depressing the clutch, which was the same on my previous 993.

mborkow

serious? is this because of different MYs, because mine (MY96) does start w/o the clutch being depressed...i have even started the car while not sitting in (though i first made sure i was in neutral)

ca993twin

Mine starts without the clutch being used. So did my previous 993TT. Rufus needs a new clutch accumulator, so its REALLY hard to depress the clutch until the engine starts.

97Targa

Unless the safety feature has been bypassed or disabled, it shouldn't start w/o the clutch in.

mborkow

i have an rs clutch; does that explain why i can start the car w/o depressing the clutch pedal?

BlkC4S

I believe 97 and later require the clutch in to start, 96 and earlier do not.

My 96 did not.

soltino

I agree with Mark...anyone disagree <?> (-%


tino

Edgy01

I personally feel that 70,000 miles is considerably shorter than the potential of the car's clutch. I recall trading in a 77 many years ago for another and it needed an engine rebuild (those days of magnesium cases, etc.) but when they opened things up they didn't even bother to put a new clutch in. It was still fine. It was at 109,000. I put all the miles on the car. They also say that lower HP engines are generally harder on clutches,--you do a lot of slipping on them to get them to go. Most 911 engines don't have that problem, so clutches are rarely an issue.

I guess we can all start a new thread,--where and on WHAT did you learn to drive a stick? I started on an MG Austin America, then into a 914. After that, I was good to go. From then on, all 911s. I essentially learned on the 914, and went through a lot of clutches in that car until I finally figured it out.

Many years ago Porsche contributed to the problem by trying to reduce the vibrations from the engine/tranny by installing those rubber centered clutch plates,--they self destructed over time (from heat mostly) and then had to come out. If you got to them soon enough it was just a clutch replacement that you needed,--the throw-out bearing and the pressure plate were still good of course.

Dan