How does one screw up a clutch by learning on it?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've heard so many people say that they would never let a person learn how to drive stick on their car because it'll ruin their clutch.

In my experience, clutches are fairly robust things. 4-5 people have learned how to drive stick on my car alone, not including me. I've smoked the clutch many a time. It's still going strong. What's the deal?

 

[exdeath]

Depends how long it takes them to figure it out I guess.

It's more of a saying in jest towards the person learning and not really taken literally. An hour or two in a parking lot with a newbie isn't going to do so much damage that it's going to kill it completely, just take a few insignificant miles off of it and make your car smell for a bit.

I'd be more worried about motor mounts and tires than the clutch if I was teaching someone

 

[Jeff7181]

Usually what happens is they slip the clutch so much that it overheats and glazes the flywheel, friction material and/or pressure plate. Clutches are not built to handle the amount of heat that, for example, brakes are designed to handle.

 

[Arkaign]

In my experience it depends vastly on the vehicle. High HP/TQ vehicles are a TON harder on clutches.

 

[Jeff7181]

In my experience it depends vastly on the vehicle. High HP/TQ vehicles are a TON harder on clutches.

I think that's because high HP/TQ cars tend to be driven more aggressively. I also gotta think the clutch in a Corvette will handle more aggression and abuse than the clutch in a Civic even with the difference in power between the two engines.

 

[Viper GTS]

I think that's because high HP/TQ cars tend to be driven more aggressively. I also gotta think the clutch in a Corvette will handle more aggression and abuse than the clutch in a Civic even with the difference in power between the two engines.

This tends to be my thought as well. I've taught a few people on my Mustang GT, I figure if it can handle the abuse I give it on a daily basis it can handle putting around a parking lot with someone who is too scared of the car to really get on it.

I would be far more worried in a Civic.

Viper GTS

 

[exdeath]

A high horsepower car is more forgiving for a beginner. Most have problems bogging and stalling and not giving enough throttle when learning. With some big ponies all they have to do is let out on the clutch and it will go on it's own, and the worst they can do is roast the tires with too much throttle. It's a lot easier to buck and bog a tiny engine that requires revs to not stall, hence the clutch will be slipped to a greater extent in effort to avoid this.

You also have to consider that the clutch in a high performance sports oriented car has to withstand 4,000 RPM launches and 7,000 RPM power shifts and such. Idling around in a parking lot isn't going to hurt it

 

[hans007]

i think the reason for this is that people are jerks and don't want to let you touch their car no matter what the car is.

i'm from southern california and i "learned" how to drive stick for about an hour like 8-9 years ago. since i didnt' learn that much in an hour, or get used to it I have never driven a manual car since.

so i've had all automatics as my personal car, and every time i've bought a new one theres always some snide comment about buying a sporty car or a coupe without a stick, and im like ... i'm from LA and no one has stick anymore except people who have sports cars who don't want anyone touching their car..


on another note, my coworker didn't know stick and he had probably driven stick maybe for an hour in his life anyway and still wanted to learn it. so he bought a bmw 328 coupe and is learning on it. yes he's learning stick on a 45k bmw. ... its a lease anyway so maybe he'll let me learn on it in a couple years when its almost time to give it back haha.

 

[marvdmartian]

My oldest sister learned how to drive a clutch when she was serving in the US Navy, in Australia. She told one of her SeeBee buddies she wanted to learn, and he told her to meet him behind one of the warehouses after quitting time. She showed up, and he drove up with a 5-ton truck. Jumped out, told her to jump in, adjust the seat, and take it for a spin, after describing how to drive with a clutch. She told him she didn't want to ruin the clutch, and he just laughed at her. Those things were practically bulletproof, and he knew there was no way she'd hurt it. :biggrin:

I tried to learn a couple times, on friends cars, but never could get a smooth clutch motion. Then I had to move, and reserved the biggest truck that U-Haul had with an automatic. When I showed up, they had run out of that size, and "upgraded" me to a larger truck, with a stick shift! It was either that, or wait a few days (which I couldn't do), so I learned how to drive with a stick. U-Haul truck clutches are pretty bulletproof too, imho.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Depends how long it takes them to figure it out I guess.

It's more of a saying in jest towards the person learning and not really taken literally. An hour or two in a parking lot with a newbie isn't going to do so much damage that it's going to kill it completely, just take a few insignificant miles off of it and make your car smell for a bit.

I'd be more worried about motor mounts and tires than the clutch if I was teaching someone

I tried to teach my wife how to drive a manual with my Mustang GT once...

She just didn't get it. Kept stalling it and or bucking it like a bronco.

 

[Jeff7181]

I tried to teach my wife how to drive a manual with my Mustang GT once...

She just didn't get it. Kept stalling it and or bucking it like a bronco.

I've noticed it really helps if the person knows how a clutch works. I had an ex girlfriend who was in tears about not being able to learn to drive the car she bought. I had tried to teach her and she just didn't get it... kept stalling in traffic and grinding the crap out of it. I finally showed her pictures on the Internet and explained how it works and she started to get the hang of it. Apparently it's kinda confusing for some people until they understand what pressing on the pedal does and why you need to give it gas but not too much gas.