......the Clutch!? What do you think guys? What are the things with the M5 that aren't good for the $70 big ones most of us paid for the car?
I've brought this up because the clutch screwed me yet again this morning. I don't race much but it's nice to flex the car's muscles every so often and this morning I had the perfect opportunity. Sitting at a red light and right next to me was a Saleen S281E. I thought "this should be interesting". Clear road ahead to the next light (about 1/4 mile). Nice rumble coming from his exhaust. Green light and we both gunned it. I hit red line so quickly and then the clutch did its slipping thing as I shifted to 2nd. By the time I waited for the clutch to disengage he was long gone. Now that's embarrassing. I've driven a stick for almost 30 years and I've never had to be so aware of executing the perfect shift from 1st to 2nd. Should we have to be conscious of this in a high performance car? I don't think so.
Is it my technique? It seems to happen in 'stress' situations when the race is on. Again I say, is that good in a high performance car? It doesn't happen if I consciously wait for the clutch to disengage before I gun 2nd but I seem to lose valuable time when I do this and in a 'race' situation 'waiting' is the last thing that comes naturally!
So, what do you think? Is it me? Should I work on my technique or is this something we have to live with? From my perspective it clouds my view of an otherwise perfect car.
__________________
Rob
01 Le Mans Blue/Caramel all leather
64 3.8 XKE Jaguar coupe
But are you sure it was the clutch that was slipping...since you've been driving stick for 30 years or so I'm sure you are...
If you are sure then ignore the rest of this message, but I know a few times in the past, some memebers have confused the DSC cutting in with the clutch slipping...if the revs climb and your car sits then yeah obviously it is the clutch but if you are giving it gas and there is nothing, no responce, then it is the DSC cutting in because you broke traction...If I remember correctly Greg posted on this a while ago...if you aren't sure you could search for it, but I don't know what to search for exactly. Just letting you know what other people have said in the past...because if your clutch is slipping into your 2nd gear shift, and you are positive that it had nothing to do with how you drove (ie..too much gas before the clutch is totally out) then you better get it replaced soon. I've learned that the lower the gear it slips in the sooner it's going to let go completely, because as I remember it there is more stress on the clutch during 6th gear acceleration, then there is during 1st or 2nd gear acceleration. I think, I don't completely remember.
~ Jason
2001 Lemans/Lemans
2001 Cooper S (Oct. Delivery Spot Avaliable)
I have raced a "race car"and needed several perfect shifts with all the power available (about 4 races from a stop). Either I am a perfect shifter or there's something different with my clutch because it never slipped. I have stepped on it several times, never a slip.
Are you letting the clutch fully engage before hammering it? All it takes to slip is having your timing off just a little.
I think Yupkwondo might be onto something. If DSC was off at the time you might also be hitting the rev limiter. I try to shift around 6500 because the tach is so slow and can't keep up with engine (why? )
I'm still trying to get used to the feel of the Beast, as I only have 1,600 miles on her. But, I have to say I HATE the DSC cutting off power during spirited accels. I try to leave it on as much as i can, to save me when necessary, but i wish it were possible to have it work only on the braking system, and not by cutting engine power.
I wondered about it being the clutch possibly a few days back, but realized it was BigBrother DSC making me back off. At least we have the option of turning it completely off....
DSC was on but that wasn't the problem. The power was there but the car wasn't going anywhere until the clutch engaged. I think the problem is my timing (story of my life ). It must be that I'm not letting the clutch fully engage before hammering it. I've heard that at the Driving Experience they emphasise to let the clutch fully engage before accelerating.
I guess my point is that I don't consider myself a bad driver but this happens to me on fast launches and I wish the car were more forgiving. Is this the norm for high performance cars? Would the same happen, say, in a Porsche Turbo or is this particular to the M5?
I was having a similar problem on the 3-4 upshift -- felt like no power was being delivered to the wheels. Run a search on "dual mass flywheel".
Note to everyone: The previous sentence is not meant as an analysis -- just a cross reference to this topic, which has been discussed extensively on other threads.
In your case, if you're hitting the rev limiter, the clutch is probably not the problem. If you're aggressively accelerating, there is a slight lag in the indicated RPMs. As you approach redline, where you are disengaging the clutch, the engine rpms may still be increasing beyond the indicated rpms on the tach. You'll bang the rev limiter. Try shifting a bit earlier.
Also, if you're too aggressive with the throttle after releasing the clutch pedal, the clutch might not have fully engaged before you give the gas and start spinning up the engine RPMs -- so you could get slippage (or whatever it is). Pause a half second.
__________________
Jim 2001 ///M5 Royal Red / Caramel
I don't have personal experience with a 996 Turbo, but it was the same with my Audi S4, that I used to have. Cars like ours deliver so much of their torque at such a low RPM and such a great deal of torque all together, that if you let the clutch out too slow, it will just not have the strength to overcome the imense amount of power and torque that the engine is desperatly trying to get to the ground. That being said, I would take an educated guess that under hard acceleration, a Porsche Turbo would suffer from the same circumstances when the clutch timing is off just a little bit..especially if the turbos are spooling and it is in the upper RPM range where it is making max power...Clutches are designed to give under those instances when you could damage more intergal parts of your drivetrain like the driveshaft or half shafts, or what have you.
Just to add, the S4 was even harder on clutchs on a launch then the M5 is, and I bet the Turbo is the same way, the clutch had to not only hold the engines power and torque, but it didn't have the option of spinning the tires with AWD as the M5 does with only RWD.
~ Jason
2001 Lemans/Lemans
2002 Cooper S (Oct. Delivery Spot Avaliable)
)
). It must be that I'm not letting the clutch fully engage before hammering it. I've heard that at the Driving Experience they emphasise to let the clutch fully engage before accelerating.
/ Caramel
Linear Mode
