Reversing uphill V12V (clutch wear.)
Discussion
It’s happened a couple of times now, so I’m interested to know if this is a known problem.
My driveway has a 30-40 degree (ish) slope that enters onto a road. There are times, when the mother-in-law’s and kids cars are blocking the usual turn area and so it becomes necessary to reverse up the drive into the road in order to leave the house (and the mother-in-law😫).
The trouble is that whenever I’ve had to do this in the Aston, the cabin fills with burning clutch fumes. Granted, in order to reverse up the driveway, there is inevitably the need for a certain amount of clutch control required and obviously I keep this to a minimum, but it is generally unavoidable. In any other car, this does not present a problem, but the Aston always fills with clutch fumes.
I’m preparing myself for a barrage of ‘s**te driver’ comments, but my drive is not of sufficient length whereby the driver could release the clutch fully, as the the drive exits onto a very tight bend in the road. I don’t consider that I’m either revving or slipping the clutch excessively, but despite efforts to keep the clutch slip to a minimum, the burning has always occurred.
All forward motion hill starts etc are completely normal, there is absolutely no evidence of clutch slip on acceleration etc, the car has only done 9k miles, and I’m a very ‘clutch conscious’ driver too. Oh, my previous v8v did not suffer the same problem as I recall.
Any thoughts? (Apart from, ‘s**te driver!’) Or has anyone else had the same experience?
My driveway has a 30-40 degree (ish) slope that enters onto a road. There are times, when the mother-in-law’s and kids cars are blocking the usual turn area and so it becomes necessary to reverse up the drive into the road in order to leave the house (and the mother-in-law😫).
The trouble is that whenever I’ve had to do this in the Aston, the cabin fills with burning clutch fumes. Granted, in order to reverse up the driveway, there is inevitably the need for a certain amount of clutch control required and obviously I keep this to a minimum, but it is generally unavoidable. In any other car, this does not present a problem, but the Aston always fills with clutch fumes.
I’m preparing myself for a barrage of ‘s**te driver’ comments, but my drive is not of sufficient length whereby the driver could release the clutch fully, as the the drive exits onto a very tight bend in the road. I don’t consider that I’m either revving or slipping the clutch excessively, but despite efforts to keep the clutch slip to a minimum, the burning has always occurred.
All forward motion hill starts etc are completely normal, there is absolutely no evidence of clutch slip on acceleration etc, the car has only done 9k miles, and I’m a very ‘clutch conscious’ driver too. Oh, my previous v8v did not suffer the same problem as I recall.
Any thoughts? (Apart from, ‘s**te driver!’) Or has anyone else had the same experience?
The problem is that the reverse gear ratio is closer to 2nd than it is to 1st. Think of how much more difficult it can be to start driving a car from a dead stop in 2nd gear than when you start off in 1st. It's the same thing issue, but you can't choose which reverse gear to start in.
It's VERY common for people to burn up the clutch reversing uphill. It's one of those things where it's just best to avoid doing entirely. My driveway has a bit of an uphill slope as well. It's absolutely possible to reverse uphill but it takes some work to pay attention as closely as you can to the clutch engagement point.
I have a V12 clutch in my grey V8V and the standard V8 clutch in my red V8V. The red one is much easier to reverse uphill because the engagement point is so much more pronounced. That's due to how stiff the clutch pedal is with that clutch compared to the V12 clutch.
Best advice I can give if you have no choice but reverse uphill is to practice reversing on flat ground so you can learn the exact engagement point of the clutch. Helps with driving forward, too, but reversing is a bit disorienting compared to normal forward-driving, so it helps to practice reversing. Yeah, it's like being back in driving school, but it makes a difference with these clutches. The key is to not over-rev the engine during clutch engagement (specifically, giving it gas too early).
It's VERY common for people to burn up the clutch reversing uphill. It's one of those things where it's just best to avoid doing entirely. My driveway has a bit of an uphill slope as well. It's absolutely possible to reverse uphill but it takes some work to pay attention as closely as you can to the clutch engagement point.
I have a V12 clutch in my grey V8V and the standard V8 clutch in my red V8V. The red one is much easier to reverse uphill because the engagement point is so much more pronounced. That's due to how stiff the clutch pedal is with that clutch compared to the V12 clutch.
Best advice I can give if you have no choice but reverse uphill is to practice reversing on flat ground so you can learn the exact engagement point of the clutch. Helps with driving forward, too, but reversing is a bit disorienting compared to normal forward-driving, so it helps to practice reversing. Yeah, it's like being back in driving school, but it makes a difference with these clutches. The key is to not over-rev the engine during clutch engagement (specifically, giving it gas too early).
Always approach my house from downhill side so I can reverse back down and onto downhill drive and reverse into garage in V8V manual. Not such a steep slope but as drive near a corner best to avoid any uphill reversing. Only once had to reverse a long way uphill when normal road to village pub near factory for a tour was closed and went down a singletrack road and met a couple of vans coming up - now try to avoid those roads - should have a setting on the satnav for them!
It's not too keen on uphill forward starts in Sport either but haven't thought about it for reverse.
It's not too keen on uphill forward starts in Sport either but haven't thought about it for reverse.
Great replies. Many thanks, all good points, especially the one regarding the sports button. If I’m honest, I can’t recall what mode I had it in whilst reversing, but will definitely bear it in mind in future.
I also will certainly avoid all reversing uphill if at all possible in future!! Many thanks again to all.
I also will certainly avoid all reversing uphill if at all possible in future!! Many thanks again to all.
My drive is at an incline, only about 25 feet to the entrance of my garage, had my V8VR about a year now and was very conscious how much I had to slip the clutch to do a safe controllable reverse speed into my garage. I had to have a new clutch 6 months ago (which was slipping when I bought the car!) and I decided time for change, so I now go straight in and reverse out down the decline, I hardly have to slip the clutch at all! John
Reversing down my driveway is now the way ahead for me. I had no idea that reverse is so highly geared. (Why is this necessary? Are V12V’s designed to go as fast backwards as forwards??) I now know that this is a common characteristic and will bear it in mind from now on.
Thanks to all for sharing.
Thanks to all for sharing.
cayman-black said:
Hmm, the one thing i learned early on with my V12 is DO NOT REVERSE UP ANY INCLINE, the clutch hates it.
I always thought “in the old days” reverse was always lower than 1st so for steep gradients reverse was the best option, Aston seem to have turned that on its head !!!DW
Same happens with the V8.
It seems AM in their wisdom have geared reverse in a similar ratio to second gear. Whilst this might be ok for performing fast moving J-turns to avoid Russian spies - it makes things like reversing out of a parking space that is on a slight incline difficult to achieve without either stalling or burning your clutch.
Reverse gear is one of the only things I dislike about the Vantage.
It seems AM in their wisdom have geared reverse in a similar ratio to second gear. Whilst this might be ok for performing fast moving J-turns to avoid Russian spies - it makes things like reversing out of a parking space that is on a slight incline difficult to achieve without either stalling or burning your clutch.
Reverse gear is one of the only things I dislike about the Vantage.
john ryan said:
It's a bought out transmission from Graziano, so the ratios are pre-determined. I think the earlier cars have an even taller reverse. Presumably no room for a bigger diameter reverse idler. Isn't the ssme transmission used by Ferrari and others?
Yes I believe it was something to do with fitting gear sizes in somewhere. DW
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