355 clutch life, what are you getting?

Although I am not a 355 owner, I would think this is the typical rationale - depends on your driving habits, whether or not you have a steep driveway that is hard to climb and hence you end up riding the clutch, etc...I would say the guy that got 41k did not drive the hell out of it

 

Well stated, Mike.


I'm at approximately 30K and still on the original clutch, with no issues.

 

I have 22k miles and the only time I have heard the dredded warning chirp is when I was stuck in traffic going up the hill into Laguna Seca last August... otherwise, works great...Pacific Cavallino

 

You do not have a steep driveway

 

I have a 95 F355 that I bought in mid-01. I know nothing about the clutch life prior to this point in time. However:

For the first 6 years of ownership, I had to back up a long driveway 130 feet long two stories high while making an S-bend to avoid scraping the nose.

I have put 46K miles (58K total miles) on the clutch, 5K of which have taken place at race track, 2K of which were laping withn a couple seconds of the lap record. I have eaten the Dual-mass flywheel twice, eaten the hydraulic throwout system once, and yet I still have over 50% of the life left in the clutch that arrived with the car. That is the disk in the car right now is the same disk that arrived with the car.

Clutch life is a function of the driver*, not a function of the design or manufacture. Do not use Ferrari clutches for drag race starts, and you (too) can have a long life of bliss and harmony.

(*) F1 systems cannot be expected to get this kind of life from a clutch.

I have yet to own a car that I did not get 80K+ miles from the clutch.

 

Excellent point Mitch. My first car was a Ford Mustang GT, the previous owner owned it for 2-years and admitted he drove it hard. I owned it for 9 years, on the same clutch I got the car with, and sold it...and to be honest, I felt little difference in the clutch from the time I bought it to the time I sold it. I put about 80,000-90,000km on it in that time.

 

I got more than 42,000 and still had more material left.

 

I think I got around 43k, when the throw out bearing cracked and leaked out all the fluid. The disc could have easily gone another 9 or 10k miles otherwise. New Hill Engineering throw out bearing, new seals, resurface flywheel, repack fly wheel, new bearing on flyhweel and pumpkin, new disc, new pressure plate, I think I was in around $4500 with labor at the dealer. I sent the flywheel out for resurfacing, and they were okay with me supplying the throw out bearing.

 

Proof- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl8-6dQMG4g

 

I put a new clutch in when I purchased the car a few years back, currently at 7k miles (F1 transmission). Only did 2 standing start launches, but lots of WOT shifting 1-2 and 2-3

 

You naughty boy Jay!

 

I replaced my clutch last year with about 22K miles. The guys at Competizione advised me that around 17K to 20K is about average. Anything over that is likely a gift. Total cost with Hill Engineering TO bearing and triple seal replacement was around $4K.

 

I just had a new clutch put in when they put in a new pilot bearing I had 13k on the clutch and was at about 60%. I was also told about 20k on average...

 

Mine is manual, Have done 32,000 km since I bought the car and previous owner probably did few K before too. Still biting (not as good as before)

A friend said hill-toe shift down will help the life of clutch as well.

Best
P.