Clutch advice for new V8 vantage owner

[scotpak]

Hi guys

As you may remember, I was the poster of the SL55 AMG vs V8 Vantage thread. As many of you predicted I bought an Aston!!!!
Had to wait a week for delivery as it had to be serviced first. What a beautiful car. Was delivered to my work place
and a few colleagues commented that they preferred the looks of the Vantage to my previous flash motor (maserati Granturismo S).









It took me a while to find this Oct 2006 4.3 car, It ticked all my boxes, e.g. rencent clutch, rear tyres, new discs and pads all round and
Just serviced (with full Aston Martin service history (no missing years!!))

Anyway, its been a while since Ive driven a manual so needed some advice on driving style to extend the life of this newly fitted clutch.

First of all, I was a bit of a knob at first as I tried to drive away with the hand brake still on, but got a burning clutch smell.
Also, when I got home, I got a burning clutch smell when I was reversing into my drive way. My drive slopes down, and I think I read on some forums
that you should never reverse uphill, hence my reason for reversing downhill.

Anyway, was suprised by all this clutch smell. The clutch smell whilst reversing kicked in, I think, even before I got to the downward slope so
very surprised by this.

Anyway, any tips appreciated. And YES, I will definitely be taking out FUSE 22!!!!

Thanks

[Ikebaddog]

Great choice of car, looks pukka, the burning smell when reversing has been experienced by most of us, the gearing for reverse is very tall, almost like 2nd gear, you will get used to reversing carefully, not uphill if possible, and letting clutch out fully, do not let it ride, he handbrake takes some getting used to as well.Welcome to the Aston world.

[Bravo73]

If you find that you do have to slip the clutch for whatever reason (ie there isn't enough distance to let it extend fully), make sure that you don't give it extra gas at the same time. Just set the gas pedal and control the speed with the clutch pedal.

I have to reverse over a smallish lip and slope every time I take my Vantage out of the garage. The only time I've ever had a stinky clutch was when when I gave it a bit more gas when the clutch was partially depressed.

[steveatesh]

My drive is also downhill and quite long. I have found it impossible to let the clutch out fully as the car just runs away - apparently reverse is the same ratio as second gear which means crawl pace is very difficult. Because I too have a case of clutch neurosis i reverse to the drive And then put it into neutral and coast down thus avoiding having to all the clutch. Obviously take care becaue your reverse assist is not operating whilst coasting!

If the clutch in your car is brand new then the smell will go. If not and you are still getting the smell, then you need to adjust how you treat the clutch IMHO.

The hand brake becomes second nature as you drive it more, no worries. Enjoy your car, they really are special.

[yeti]

As Steve says, if it's very new then it'll take a few hundred miles to bed in, then the smell disappears.

Otherwise just don't ride it, easier said than done of course

[theno23]

I'm not going to give out any clutch protecting advice, because I took mine from 50% life to done for in about 5k miles The stock Aston clutch really doesn't like heavy traffic.

However, you get a lot of clutch smell when manoeuvring.

When the clutch is done for, look into the BR multiplate clutch (there's two varieties, depending on which material you prefer), it's vastly better than the stock single plate job.

- Steve

[divetheworld]

That's a real nice one.
When I got mine just over a month ago, it had new clutch, tyres etc just like you so you've taken me back.
I still get the same feeling now that I got when I first drove it. I'm just a little less afraid of it now!!
The smell soon teaches you whats good for the clutch and whats not. Advice above about as little throttle as possible is bang on.

[v8woollie]

Ikebaddog said:

you will get used to reversing carefully, not uphill if possible, and letting clutch out fully, do not let it ride.

If you let the clutch out fully on level ground or downhill you'll be doing sixty in reverse before you know it

[krisdelta]

As above, don't ride the clutch, nice smooth changes up and down and it should be fine.

Love the wheels / red calipers! Enjoy

[scotpak]

Thanks alot guys for all the tips on the clutch.

Will be removing fuse 22 tomorrow morning.

By the way do you definitely need to use a plastic fuse removal tool for this job, and if so
Is it already in the car somewhere?

Thanks for the compliment on the car. Yes, i like the red calipers too. The interior is black with red stitching to match

[krisdelta]

scotpak said:

Thanks alot guys for all the tips on the clutch.

Will be removing fuse 22 tomorrow morning.

By the way do you definitely need to use a plastic fuse removal tool for this job, and if so
Is it already in the car somewhere?

Thanks for the compliment on the car. Yes, i like the red calipers too. The interior is black with red stitching to match

Might have a similar combo myself, but stock coloured wheels - for now you do need a tool or some long nose pliers do the job too. Not sure if there is a tool with the fuses, senior moment....

[Bravo73]

scotpak said:

By the way do you definitely need to use a plastic fuse removal tool for this job, and if so
Is it already in the car somewhere?

Nope, there isn't a fuse removal tool with the car.

A pair of long nosed pliers worked for me.

[MichaelV8V]

scotpak said:

Thanks alot guys for all the tips on the clutch.


By the way do you definitely need to use a plastic fuse removal tool for this job, and if so
Is it already in the car somewhere?

It's safer to use a plastic removal tool, but you don't get one with the car. If you have an Audi, VW, Skoda then you can borrow theirs, or I got a set of fuses from a pound shop that had a plastic removal tool with it, then threw the cheap fuses away.

First time I took a fuse out I used normal pliers, and was careful, so it went OK. You just need to avoid shorting anything whilst you're doing it

[steveatesh]

Bravo73 said:

Nope, there isn't a fuse removal tool with the car.

A pair of long nosed pliers worked for me.

Plus1 just be careful with them.

Also under no circumstances drop a fuse down the back of the boot fuse box, you cant get your hand down to get them out, tools don't do it either ( but after a few hours thinking about it a powerful jet of air from a reversed Vax wet n dry does). Apparently!

[bentley01]

I need to reverse up my drive after leaving the garage. If I don't ride the clutch I would be doing about fifty mph. If I'm too light on the accelerator the car stalls. Any advice for prolonged clutch life.

[Bravo73]

bentley01 said:

I need to reverse up my drive after leaving the garage. If I don't ride the clutch I would be doing about fifty mph. If I'm too light on the accelerator the car stalls. Any advice for prolonged clutch life.

Reverse into the garage, primarily using your brakes?