"Dropping the clutch" on your 911
Discussion
A word of warning. Someone referred to "dropping the clutch" on his 911 in a recent posting and was wondering how to tell if he had lunched the clutch.
A more likely problem may well be that he damages the driveshafts on the car. They do not like being suddenly jolted into action. Some GT3 cup drivers get through a number of these in a season and one reason can be that they suddenly release the clutch at high revs in an effort to get the rear wheels spinning on the "green flag" lap in a bid to build up heat into the rear tyres. (The more sensible driver will gently pull off in first gear then spin the wheels by simply planting the throttle). They can also do it pulling away from the lights at the start of a race.
I`ve had a couple of driveshafts go on me over the years and it`s always after lighting up the back wheels too aggresively. 20 to 100 miles later and there is that nasty noise from the back end that reminds you what a silly boy you`ve been.
So be warned - don`t do it. It`s not big, it`s not clever and more importantly it`ll leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car that sounds as if a rear wheel is about to drop off.
Henry
A more likely problem may well be that he damages the driveshafts on the car. They do not like being suddenly jolted into action. Some GT3 cup drivers get through a number of these in a season and one reason can be that they suddenly release the clutch at high revs in an effort to get the rear wheels spinning on the "green flag" lap in a bid to build up heat into the rear tyres. (The more sensible driver will gently pull off in first gear then spin the wheels by simply planting the throttle). They can also do it pulling away from the lights at the start of a race.
I`ve had a couple of driveshafts go on me over the years and it`s always after lighting up the back wheels too aggresively. 20 to 100 miles later and there is that nasty noise from the back end that reminds you what a silly boy you`ve been.
So be warned - don`t do it. It`s not big, it`s not clever and more importantly it`ll leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere with a car that sounds as if a rear wheel is about to drop off.
Henry
Gassing Station | Porsche General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff