The Truth about Vantage clutches!

[Bleen]

09 V8 Vantage, SS 25k miles. Clutch died.

[bogie]

I know one thing ive deduced from this poll; stick to a manual car in future, dont trust a robot to change gears for you

[TamFB]

2007MY V8V

I unfortunately have no choice but to park on a steep inclined ramp, facing up. I leave the car in 1st to assist the handbrake. It is parked here for weeks at a time.

Is this going to severely increase wear on the clutch?

Should I instead rely on the handbrake and some wheel chocks?

Thanks!
Tam

Edited by TamFB on Monday 17th March 13:11

[V12woollie]

Shouldn't affect the clutch as once you release the clutch pedal it is no longer being engaged.

[TamFB]

V12woollie said:

Shouldn't affect the clutch as once you release the clutch pedal it is no longer being engaged.

Thanks Woollie - that's a relief!

[john ryan]

Facing up is fine, since you will leave by going forward up or backwards down. The problem is a backwards up departure which, due to the very high reverse ratio, requires much clutch slipping for low speed control.

[mikey k]

TamFB said:

V12woollie said:

Shouldn't affect the clutch as once you release the clutch pedal it is no longer being engaged.

Thanks Woollie - that's a relief!

far better not to rely on the handbrake

[TamFB]

john ryan said:

Facing up is fine, since you will leave by going forward up or backwards down. The problem is a backwards up departure which, due to the very high reverse ratio, requires much clutch slipping for low speed control.

I park on a sharply inclined ramp, so have to roll back down when leaving. I tried reversing up once and once only; the smell of acrid smoke took days to clear from the interior!

Thanks for your input too, Mikey.

[clarky5150]

Concentric slave cylinder just failed on my 57plate (36k) Pulled the clutch at the same time to find it we'll worn but not slipping, prob 3-5 k life left. Did notice quite a bit of blurring around the pressure plate. Was the original clutch in the vehicle and I can't verify how much hammer it got from its first owners.

[northernmedia]

clarky5150 said:

Concentric slave cylinder just failed on my 57plate (36k) Pulled the clutch at the same time to find it we'll worn but not slipping, prob 3-5 k life left. Did notice quite a bit of blurring around the pressure plate. Was the original clutch in the vehicle and I can't verify how much hammer it got from its first owners.

Exactly the same as mine.

Actuation failure but replaced the clutch as nearly touching the rivets (49k miles).

[mikey k]

One more for the list
I test drove a V12V roadster last week that had had a new clutch at 4k miles after 10 months
It still wasn't right either

[Moonhawk]

V8V 4.7L 2009 16000 miles - no issues (to my knowledge as I have had the car under 2 years)

[JS1500]

2007 V8V, 53k on original clutch, no issues. The one previous owner did mainly motorway miles so hopefully it'll last a bit longer.

[Neil1300r]

Added this thread to the Frequently Asked Questions Wiki

[mikey k]

Neil1300r said:

Added this thread to the Frequently Asked Questions Wiki

I thought it was there already
That's the second thread I've put in there that has gone AWOL

[bogie]

2006 manual car ive owned since 5k miles, 70k miles now, but only done a couple of thousand this year

[Neil1300r]

mikey k said:

Neil1300r said:

Added this thread to the Frequently Asked Questions Wiki

I thought it was there already
That's the second thread I've put in there that has gone AWOL

Just re-checked in case I missed it, definitely not there. Strange

[Salterns]

Can I ask, on the Vantage v8 (06-08) does the clutch on the automatic box tend to wear out before a manual would? Thanks.

[KiwiSG]

Can we add another voting option ? 'V8V Clutch sometimes smelly' - and i'm worried

[V8V Pete]

KiwiSG said:

Can we add another voting option ? 'V8V Clutch sometimes smelly' - and i'm worried

Well it smells when you slip it too much and overheat it, typically when reversing uphill in the unusually high ratio reverse gear. Only worry if you do that often which will result in premature clutch failure and typically a £2.5K bill.