The clutch assembly is around $2k USD. You may (or may not) chose to also replace the thrust bearing and F1 sensor "while you're in there". Labor rates vary wildly by country. I would guess the labor on a 599 is comparable to a 575 or 612 because of the clutch positioning. (perhaps 6 hours?)
Daniel- I would replace the clutch position sensor and the throw-out bearing, too. Possibly the pilot bearing, as well. Around $5-6K here in the States. Brian Crall says the throw-out bearing is used about three times as much on an F1 car as the typical three pedal car. Makes sense because the clutch is always open whenever an F1 car is stopped, even in neutral. Requires removing the rear exhaust and sliding back or removing the transaxle.
TN- Affirmative, same twin disc clutch, as far as I know. Should last a long time. CM- How many kms on her that she needs a clutch? They usually last quite a while.
Are you having problems with it or is it showing as worn? my car's down 21k+ miles (34k km) and is only 30% worn
Howie- Guess it really depends on a lot of factors. My 575M clutch has 21,000 miles and still has a lot of pin travel left showing, 13 mm last June.
When I bought my car it had 60% wear at 20,000 km. Now it is at 65% wear and it is starting to slip and play up. The last owner didn't push the car hard, he just did a lot of city driving.
CM- That will do it. Pushing the car, except using launch control, is not normally rough on the clutch.
Same here, the previous owner of my car also did mainly city driving, probably explaining the clutch wear on mine.
Auto mode does not wear the clutch any more than manual modes if the cars are driven the same way, ie up and down through every gear manually or automatically. But it does wear the clutch more than someone who drops into neutral coming to a stop. Not that much, though. But the starts from a stop are what really wears a clutch, especially if any hills are involved.
Ok Taz, I have to take a little issue with here. I do this reluctantly not only because of your knowledge, but also as FChat Ambassador of the Year 2013 (and I voted for you), I know I'm on thin ice. However, this is meant only as an open discussion and not a challenge. When I bought my car I had the PPI done by a person who was touted by others (including a member of this forum) as a top F expert. He told me not to use the auto mode. I never intended to and only used it once just to see how it operated (and once more when I let my wife drive the car). I am also wondering if in the auto mode there would be more shifts than if a driver was manually shifting the car. For example, where the auto mode might go to say 5th gear if most drivers would still stay in 4th and never make the extra upshift, and then corresponding downshift.
I think I'd support Terry's view that wear is not significantly more if they are driven in the same way. The problem comes when you drive them the same as a traditional Auto (with a torque converter), this introduces a massive amount of clutch slip and therefore wear. In the early days of 355 F1's there were stories of clutches lasting <900 miles when driven as an auto because users did not understand the need to ensure the clutch fully engaged asap
Paul- Most of the wear comes on starts from a full stop and not while she is moving. So heavy wear comes from driving in traffic that caused you to put her in Auto in the first place. In actual fact, I have never used Auto in nearly 6 years of ownership and probably never will. In general, treating an F1 system like a manual transmission, which it is, with one pedal missing gives the most driver satisfaction. Over the same roads, though, using Auto will result in only a minuscule amount of additional wear.
So I have now had the new clutch for 2 weeks and the gear change is night and day compared to what it was. It is now so much smoother and therefore more comfortable to drive. Well worth the money.
Auto shifts a HELL OF A LOT more than I would and I don't use it, don't like it, but I've always heard and has been said here, vast majority of the wear should be from dead stop to 2nd. However, and this is only my very non-techie opinion, under load I could swear I feel a tentativeness in the shifting in auto which I would think must cause more wear. I just can't be sure I'm correct that the tentativeness or feathering is even really happening, just my impression. I would welcome confirmation on this from others, but auto is not sport mode, and sport mode should cause less clutch wear than normal mode?
Bob- Sport is generally thought by the pros to reduce clutch wear slightly, but I do not use it until engine oil temperature reaches ~160 F. Note that the F1-S mode and Auto modes are compatible and will give you quicker shifts than Auto and Normal. The Sport switch on the steering wheel and Sport mode are also compatible with Auto and will give normal Sport functions like faster shifting, stiffer shock settings and relaxed stability control settings. So there are a few more things you can try.
