intouch1

how strong is the clutch opn the 997GT2 ?
this is my first manual in many many years and I just want to know how long the clutch can be expected to last..

what's the best way to shift when really going for it ?
sometimes when I shift 1-2 I lift off the clutch very fast and the clutch engages with a thump....

all input appreciated....

340Elise

Not sure what to say here. Are you running the car on a quarter mile track looking for the best trap times and speeds, or do you just want to be a smooth, yet quick, driver for the track, or smooth and quick on the street and preserve your clutch.

My advice if you want the clutch to last, don't use the launch control except for those rare occasions where you just want to demo the car to a good friend.

The rest, learn to drive smoothly in both up shifting and rev matching down shifting and learn how to properly heal & toe (I'm working on that one myself; it should really be a never ending learning experience).

DreamCarrera

Obviously, pulling out at a relatively low RPM, say between 800-1,000RPM, is easiest on the clutch. Also never "ride" the clutch or rest your foot on the clutch while you are driving. It is also a bad idea to use the clutch and throttle to hold the car still while stopped on an incline, in this case only use the brakes.

More important, however, is to wait until your foot is completely off of the clutch before you get back on the power after a shift. You will greatly decrease the lifespan of the clutch by gunning the throttle before you have completely engaged the clutch. I would think this is especially true given the tremendous power of the 997 GT2.

BTW congrats on the GT2. Enjoy it in great health.

MJones

Must be strong enough....comes with "Launch Control"

MarekN

You can get a very painful thung when both engaging and disengaging the clutch at high revs. The correct way to overcome this and get seamless acceleration is easily said, but fairly difficult to get used to if you haven´t previously driven fast manual shift cars.

The thing is, when you are on the gas at high revs, you have to first hit the clutch a split second before stepping off the gas. If you do it the other way around, you will be disengaging a clutch that is heavily being braked by an engine at high revs which has just had it´s gas cut off, and you will get a big thung.

The same procedure, but the other way around, applies when getting back on the power. You have to hit the gas first and release the clutch a split second later. Otherwise, you will release the clutch into an engine that has lost its revs, i.e. big thung again.

MarekN

The above reads like a sure method for overreving, I can see that in the second paragraph, but we really are talking about fast footwork where a tenth of a second is measurable. The pedals should be operated almost simultaneously, of course, but with your mind set on the chronology as noted above.

340Elise

You are absolutely right and it does not need to be a high hp car to end up with the clunky shifting.

It should also be mentioned that it is more difficult to shift in the lower gears than in the higher gears, especially when you are getting on it. Sometimes that 1st to 2nd shift can be very sloppy if you don't do the right footwork. 4th to 5th, that is easy, anyone who can drive a manual can do that smoothly, but the 1st to 2nd at hard acceleration will give away the sloppy shifters every time! And if you have a BMW, then you are really screwed since it has that stupid valve inline with the clutch fluid line. It does not allow you to fully control the clutch, and it will only allow it to be released at a certain speed weather you like it or not. Luckily you can buy a new valve to allow the clutch to fuction like a normal one so you don't end up pushing the car off a cliff.

MarekN

Right on about the BMW. It is my daily driver and if you want to take off quickly and go to the redline in first and try to shift fast into second, the clutch unsticks very slowly and the whole affair is never perfect, no matter what you do. The only way is to take more time with it, but that kind of overcomes the reason why you revved up the engine in the first place.

I am not doing anything about it, though, because it´s the 330d which gets along by good torque anyway and doing these tricks in first gear is always just a thing I do when I want to break the regular routine.

nkhalidi

That's called the clutch delay valve, and it's very easy to remove. No need to replace it with a rebuilt/revised one, just remove it from the clutch line, and screw the soft line directly into the hard line. I've removed these from three M3s, no sweat.

http://www.zeckhausen.com/CDV.htm

C.J. Ichiban

the original question about the length of time the clutch will last...I'm sure some of the 996GT2 guys would know better...on the 997 gt3 I haven't heard of anyone replacing their clutches for anything other than upgrading to the RS setup.

I'd think that the GT2 is plenty beefy, and the clutch will last 30-40K miles if not abused.

If abused, I'm sure you're still gonna get 10k miles out of it.