changed the clutch twice/430!

Starting from a dead stop in first gear puts the most wear on the clutch - how are your average starts from 0mph (traffic lights, stop signs, etc.)? Nice and easy, aggressive, etc.?

 

I may be wrong about this. But in auto mode, my car seems to release clutch in a funny/slow method when not driven aggressively. IMO the auto mode burns clutch faster then paddles.

 

Auto mode slips the clutch terribly, mostly the starts from a dead stop, even slow starts, it will rev up the engine rpm twice as high before the car will even start to move. If you drive your car in auto mode you will be changing clutches very frequently, it is terrible for the clutch. Plus it takes off like dog sh**. The clutch feels much tighter in manual mode and takes off with much less rpm in comparison.

 

Sorry, no offense but this an F1 myth which simply is not true. The auto mode uses the same hardware and software used by the paddles in normal mode. You couldn't make it harder on the clutch than paddles in normal mode if you wanted. The only difference between paddles in normal mode and auto mode is who decides when to shift -- with paddles it's the driver while in auto it's a computer. Changing to sport mode does affect shifting but still does not change clutch life enough to matter.

The behavior you're describing is completely consistent with the low traction mode so perhaps that's what you've experienced. This is a common misconception which might originate with the fact that auto and low traction buttons are very close together on the 360 and 430.

 

Take into account that in automatic mode the car does downshifting, but if driven manually then the driver is able to avoid this and extend by a lot the clutch wear. Also manually one can skip gears and not go with the sequence of all gears in order saving again clutch wear. So for me manually shifting the car does extend the life of the clutch.

 

If the point of initial contact is set wrong (high or low) will this make the clutch slip when starting from a stand still and reduce life????


Russell

 

In theory this is very reasonable and I agree. The practical reality is that the huge majority of clutch wear occurs at startup from stopped so these differences comprise only a microscopic portion of total clutch wear.

No matter how you slice it, driver technique and PIS adjustment (as pointed out by rbf410000) are by far the most significant factors in F1 clutch wear. When both those things are properly done, F1 clutch life is not materially different from that of a manual clutch whether using auto mode or the paddles.

 

Bottom line...should have bought the 6 speed. Sorry to say..and there will be alot of "na sayers" here but the "F1" sytem in these cars is hard on clutches if not driven with a mechanical awareness that most Ferrari owners lack.

 

40 years (!) of operating clutch pedals has given me a very solid awareness of how to make life easy for a clutch. In fact, I've never worn one out, although one of my cars ended up with enough horsepower to exceed the holding power of a twin disk clutch.

So I'm all ears! I've excluded F1 cars from my 360 search so far because of all the thoroughly discussed "issues", one of them being clutch life. What is the proper technique for driving the F1 option if maximum clutch life is the goal?

Jeff

 

I've driven a 3 pedal all my life till the 430 and all I can say is the auto feature on my 06 drives like a$$ around the city. It feels like an amateur learning how to drive stick.

 

I always exercise extreme care when starting off in the F430. To start off from a stoplight for example; take your foot off the break and apply the accelerator not exceeding 1300 RPM until you feel the car engaging!! Once the fully engaged, then and only then can you apply more gas pedal at your leisure. This will ensure the longest life possible of your clutch. The initial takeoff is where most of the wear takes place. In addition it also very important to mention that when the car is cold and one tries to drive it cold, the F1 pump does not have adequate pressure and so there is more clutch slip. You can totally ruin a clutch only doin this a couple times if you are not careful. Bottom line is make sure your car is warm before you drive it.

 

I am (was?) a life long 3-peddle guy too, right up until I test drove my first F1 360. It's astonishing smoothness and effortless precision were a revelation and I never considered the manual after that. I think you're leaving an awful lot on the table by excluding F1 360s.

F1 clutch engagement (and hence wear) is easily controlled but by just the throttle instead of having to balancing both throttle and standard clutch peddle. About the only way to screw up clutch action with the F1 is to (1) try to "help" the car during gear shifts by modulating the gas or (2) by moving from standstill too fast or too slow. The F1 system is incredibly smart about rev matching for both upshift and downshift when the gas peddle is held steady so there is no significant slippage when shifting. From stopped, it takes about 5 minutes to learn the proper throttle action -- not too much, not too little -- to get full engagement quickly and hence minimize slippage there too.

It may be true that it's easier for unknowledgeable or uncaring drivers to cause more wear on an F1 clutch than a good driver of a manual clutch. But the bottom line is that any intelligent, experienced driver can get just as many miles from an F1 clutch as he can from a manual. Either can be abused into premature failure and both can be correctly driven to the same (very) high mileage.