Crunchy box

[DrDougster]

S1. I've been away for 6 months. Full service and feels fantastic aside from after about 20 mins the lower gears and reverse are horrible to get. Tried double clutching etc but still grim.

Any thoughts?

[Esprit]

Probably more likely to be the clutch than the gearbox.

First off, try bleeding the clutch and getting some fresh fluid in, it'll probably help.

Chances are your S1 still has the red plastic clutch hose which makes the problem more noticeable. Easily fixed by fitting a braided clutch hose but that's a reasonably large job. Bleeding the clutch fluid every 3-4 weeks in summer used to keep mine from getting too bad. It's really easy to do... and cheap