F1 360 Clutch wear (SDII test)

hey, congrats on your long life (clutch).
But without exaggerating at all, I just sold my 2001 360 spyder with 5800 miles on the car. I just spent over 4k and had a new clutch put in it.. I will try to down load before and after photos of the clutch, but it was toasted.
It would pop into nuetral every time i shifted into 3rd gear. and sometimes while going in 4th or 5th it would just fall into nuetral and rev to 8k rpm,s.
How do you explain this???

 

How much did you pay for your new clutch?
Thanks!!
MM

 

I think the biggest culprit is stop and go traffic. Also, if you are using reverse alot that will wear it fast too. In reverse the clutch never engages, it only slips.

 

It's funny seeing precise sounding numbers like 6%. From what I understand, this is a software extrapolated value which depends heavily on correct initial setup by a service technician. No real measurement is taking place.

In any case, I'd rather see 6% wear than 56% wear in the report!

 

I dont think these figures in real life mean a lot.

My 355 showed a wear on SD2 of 78% when it was removed in fact it was only half worn.

Also, I had mine checked regularly and at the start the wear rate seems low then ALL OF A SUDDEN it shoots up moving from say 40% - 50% in a 3rd of the miles you did before- driving in tyhe same manner of course

 

Based on my experience of 2 F1 cars the life is about 18-20k miles

 

Jon, good news on your clutch and your excellent driving/tranny technique.

F1 clutch wear can be accelerated significantly by city stop and go driving. It's the initial launch from a stand still that can cause excessive slippage, depending upon one's style and technique. Also, when the tranny is in reverse gear, the clutch is constantly slipping -- a tremendous cause of wear is reversing up an incline, as when someone backs up a driveway into a garage or the like. You need to try to avoid those kind of maneuvers.

As to the wear % indicated by the SD2 computer, I would agree with 911 Fan that it's just a rough estimate, but a useful one. I've seen a high reading (over 100%) where the clutch was not slipping or popping into neutral. Also, a couple cars showed a 55% wear and had all the symptoms requiring a clutch replacement nevertheless. YMMV

 

Thanks, it is a beauty.
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Very impressing! Good to know, that intelligent driving has such a good effect on the F1-clutch!

 

That is not unprecedented. When the correct software package is used and the system is set up correctly on the SD2 when the clutch is installed (very important as your service manager said) very good clutch life has been experienced by quite a few owners. And under those conditions not only is the SD2 read out reasonably accurate but clutch life is much longer. For example I have a client that with a proper set up as well as training has gone 15k miles with only 17% wear the last time I saw the car. His original clutch went only 5k miles or so.

Auto mode utilizes the same programming as manual mode for the clutch and does not shift any more than many drivers that get exellent wear. The low grip mode however is a clutch killer.

 

In my opinion, the premature clutch wear problem is overstated. I sold my 99' 355 F1 with the original clutch and 22,000 miles. It was working perfectly. My 03' 360 F1 Spider has 7000 miles, and does not show any sign of premature cluth wear. Tim

 

I'm not expert on ferrari clutches, but it seems to me that it would take a long time to wear it out - if driven correctly. In my hot rodding days, most of the problems I had with clutches related to excessive slipping of them, which burns the face. Once the face starts to burn, it causes further slipping, then further burning, etc, etc. When I was a kid, I always thought it was cool to slip the clutch on a hill. That clutch lasted about 7500 miles. One day while driving in 5th gear on the freeway, I noticed I could push the accelerator in and the RPM's would go up, but the car wouldn't go any faster When I took the clutch disc out, it was black as night on the face!

The only other problems I have had with clutches is snapping the ring on the pressure plate (due to hard shifts), but we are talking datsuns here, not ferraris.

I bet you can get 30K miles out of a 360 clutch if it's adult driven on the street and only see 25% to 30% wear. When I sold my 355, it had 15K miles on it and no clutch problems at all.

Ray

 

Not on a F1 Tran and Clutch you wont..
-only if you started and didnt stop until you it 30K-

-a

 

Correct, I meant the 6 speed manual. I'm guessing the F1 is harder on the disc due to the faster shifts? Do you generally have to replace the clutch disc sooner on an F1 car than a manual?

Ray

 

Modenafan, where in Thousand Oaks do you live?

I live around the Westlake Village area...