I am not sure what to think here. The backstory: Ever since I bought my 997.1 C4 with 64k miles (3rd owner), I thought the clutch was heavy. After putting 4-5k miles on it, I started feeling the pedal become slightly chattery on release sometimes. It always grabs pretty late - nothing I cant deal with. At WOT between 2nd and 3rd gear, the car would lag a bit, which felt like the beginning of slippage. To me, it felt like the clutch was on its way out.

I took it to the dealer and told my tech to diagnose the issue and let me know what needs to be replaced. He took the transmission out and called me to tell me the clutch is perfectly fine. He said the car pulls notably harder than any other stock 3.6 C4 he has driven in a while, and asked me if it was tuned. No idea, didnt think so - I bought it off a mid 70s guy who barely drove it.

It turns out the car has an 82mm throttle body on it from a GT3. I don't know how I feel about this, but I guess I am OK with it. I dont know if the car is tuned. Could this contribute to the "slippage" I thought I was feeling? Do all of your 997.1 C4's feel heavy and grab late? Please chime in and let me know any thoughts, as I am perplexed.

 

You say slippage, the mechanic says not. Slippage its easy to detect.

 

Just to be clear, a slipping clutch is pretty memorable.

Revs will surge upwards and the car won’t have any surge to match the rev climb.

Can your mechanic confirm it’s a stock clutch? Did they send pictures of the clutch parts?

 

Were they able to check the flywheel for any debris??

 

Replying to all: My tech told me there were no signs of debris or extensive wear on the clutch or flywheel. He kept alluding to how he thinks it all has to do with the throttle body - but this makes no sense to me. The intake is in no way connected to pedal feel. So I am wondering if what I am feeling is completely normal. Coming off an e92 M3 and a new Jeep Gladiator - still own (both 6spd), which all have lighter clutches, and just figured what I am feeling is not right.

It wasn't obvious slippage. Just a few times on some hard pulls (i.e. going for a pass on a dotted yellow) where I needed everything and it would bog down and not accelerate in sync with the tach.

 

If you're saying, that when rolling, you stepped on the gas, the revs came up, the tach showed the revs. and kept showing them, but the car seemed to not accelerate, that seems like clutch slippage to me. Your clutch material might have hardened/glazed, the flywheel hard-spotted, springs de-tensioned, etc. If it happens again, slow down, pull over, and see if you can smell the "burnt clutch" odor. If money is a lesser issue - just replace the clutch, flywheel, and ancillary parts.

 

What you're feeling is the timing delay that Porsche has designed into the car so people don't stall them leaving a stop. Go under the dash to the lower clutch switch, remove the two wires and jumper them together. Drive it again and see if the sensation you have is gone.

This is not the switch that makes you push in the clutch to start the car or the one that deactivated the cruise control so there is no safety issue in bypassing it. I permanently jumpered mine about 9 years ago.

 

I did this. Much better feel.

 

I did this as per Petes suggestion. Much better feel.

 

I was complaining to a friend that I thought my clutch was slipping. He pointed out that because I don't drive the car a whole lot the fly wheel rusts and

I need to wear that off and it should be fine. He was right!