CS % Clutchwear

I posted this last year when I had my car in for its 15K service (at 15K miles).

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120699&highlight=clutch

18.27% at 15K for 70,000 gear changes

FWIW per shawsan's list, I:

1. Always leave the car in gear in stop start traffic, but ALWAYS have my foot on the brake.
2. Just reverse when I need to - hadn't really considered the uphil reversing thing, but I do have to reverse out of my driveway up a slope some of the time.
3. Use Race mode when driving hard, but normal when driving on the highway etc.

My car's useage has been 10 trackdays (its in fact on one today with my wife driving), commuting into Boston, long road trips to Montreal, Indy etc.

Shawsan - do you have your number of gearchanges from the printout?

 

my first strad: 6% clutchwear 9600 miles
2nd: ? martyb?
current strad 9% 5400 miles but that's cause Vernon drove it

my tactics:

-NO UPHILL in R is key, i always turn around as my drive is uphill
-always in race mode, except when road wet
-never use LC
-always go to N when stationary. dan360's comment: foot on brake good idea, as then you can shift into gear quickly and not look silly when light changes
-drive hard, strads do better when you drive them

 

i think there was a lengthy discussion on the topic of putting the 360 F1 system into "N" while sitting at stop lights. as i recall it was discovered that the 360's F1 system works differently than the 355's. it's my understanding that when you are sitting still at a stop light and have your foot on the brake pedal that the clutch is disengaged and therefore no clutch wear. i may be using the wrong word (engaged or disengaged) but what i'm trying to say is that when you are at a stop light and have the brake pedal depressed is the same as having the clutch pedal fully depressed in a manual gearbox. it doesn't matter if the F1 system is in N or 1 as long as the brake pedal is depressed there is no clutch wear. i think the idea of putting the F1 in N at stop lights was that it might extend the life of the throw out bearing (like popping the manual gearbox in N and then take your foot off the clutch pedal while at a stop light). as i recall, the 360 F1 system does not work this way and putting the car in N or leaving it in 1 while at a stop light does not make any difference in clutch wear or Throw out nearing wear.

okay. this is all from memory of a discussion three years ago. i'm going to be get blasted if my memory is incorrect but it's a good topic so hopefully someone more knowledgeable than myself will set the record straight.

 

The owners manual is a wonderful thing and has most of the information you could ever need.
Section 3- "During prolonged stops with the engine running, it is advisable to keep the gearshift in "N"".
They go on to say in that same section "when the brake pedal is kept pressed for a time period exceeding 10 minutes" the car will select "N". So, it would seem that "prolonged" can be up to 10 minutes. Generally, if its more than 2 or 3 minutes for me I put the car in "N". I never put it in "N" at traffic lights. This was the same for my M5, never needed to go to "N" at traffic lights.

Hope this helps.

 

Shame on me Watt. I just had belts and oil service and I didn't get the #'s on the clutch wear. I asked Alan to check it and there was no " you don't have much left" conversation.

Unless you were all over the LC when you owned it!!

Only thing I notice now is sometimes when I get on it and shift near redline it seems to not always shift crisp. It lurches forward just a little. Maybe signs of some clutch wear? Have not hit 12k so that is doubtful. Other than that I can't imagine not having a CS.............

 

i found the post on this topic back in 2004. rifledriver jumped into the fray and clarified how the 360 F1 handles the clutch and throw out bearings. bottomline is that putting the F1 system in N at stop lights doesn't reduce clutch wear.

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26420&pp=20&highlight=f1+clutch+wear+neutral

Rifledriver 8/2/2004
The problem you are experiencing may be getting recorded in the computer memory as an error and can be checked with the SD2. Both of the dealers you have mentioned have good people that can ck. it. By the way if you are putting the car in N at stops for safety reasons thats OK, but if you are doing it for the same reasons that you would on a man. trans. (saving the throw out bearing from the stress of keeping the clutch springs compressed) forget it. The F1 sys. keeps the clutch compressed any time the motor is running unless the car is in motion.


Originally Posted by nberry 8/2/2004
I was told to put it in neutral while stopped to save wear on the clutch. You are the first person to say otherwise. Where did you get this information?
Rifledriver 8/2/2004
I was factory trained on that car in 1999. If you hook it up to the SD2 and watch on the parameters section it shows the position the throw out bearing is in. At all times when the motor is running, doesn't matter if N or a gear is selected, the bearing is holding the clutch in the released position. The only time it releases the clutch is when either you request power transfer (press on the gas) or shut down the motor.

 

glorious thing, the manual. thanks E.
you can over heat your clutch in stop/go if you dont use N

 

i think this may be "advisable" for "safety" reasons because it doesn't save any wear and tear on the clutch.

 

huh?

 

one day i was stuck in creeping traffic on PCH in marty B's car... stayed in gear, and you hear a tone like an alarm which Gary at AG tells me, tells you " put it in N you moron" because the clutch is going to get hot if you don't. I did, it didnt.

 

I know that the f1 clutch will overheat in stop and go traffic, but putting it in N doesn't really help.

 

Purchased my CS last August with 4,900 miles and 12% clutch wear. I now have 11,600 miles with 14% wear.

 

I just had my clutch wear % scanned by the dealer, and I too have very minimal clutch wear (especially vs what I expected with an F1). It seems like both the clutch and brakes will last a very, very, very long time on the CS.

1) I sometimes shift into N, and other times leave it in 1 at lights.
2) I only use R to back out of my garage and/or parking spots.
3) Almost always in race mode (I love the sound, and I don't see any benefit to using regular mode).
4) When I take off from a stop, I try to keep things smooth until the clutch is fully engaged, then accelerate.
5) Never used LC, and never will use LC.

The majority of my miles have been highway miles. I am in S. Florida, so most of the roads here have no hills or curves, and it's mostly going for a drive on the highway to get somewhere for dinner or to an event/meet. So, that probably contributes to the lack of wear on the clutch.

 

the only benefit is in cold or wet... numerous strads have been stuffed on cold tyres in race mode. you of course don't have that issue in S FL

when our roads in Malibu are running with wet flow after a storm, i am always ready to shift out of race when i see water running across the road. i do the same when mud flows are across the road also., and usually when driving in the rain. race has virtually no traction under power in the wet.

the slow shifts in regular mode are quite irrititating.

strad, a way of life