I think I understand the physics of avoiding the use of reverse too much on hills, I.e. slipping clutch. I’ve had many 3 pedal cars. Is there a disadvantage to clutch wear for normal street driving in automatic mode? Is sport mode better for clutch wear than normal mode? How about sitting at red lights , etc while the car is in first gear ? Perhaps the more relevant question is how do drivers ruin an F1 clutch ? I’ve used the search function here but get ambiguous results . Thanks , JC
My join date may be the cause of my inquiry despite my searches. Disregard the inquiry I can find other sources. Thank you too for the warm welcome .
There is a very common wives tale that auto mode is bad for the clutch.I was factory trained on them and I call that BS. Sport mode is better. Slightly aggressive take offs are better than timid take offs. When the engine is running and the car is not moving the computer keeps the clutch disengaged no mater if it is in gear or neutral.
I'm not an expert, but I averaged about 1% wear for every 1,000 miles that I've driven my car (approx. 9,000 miles). That's the least wear that I've heard from anyone as of now. I drove my car in normal mode 95% of the time, and I only tried auto once or twice, just to try it....it stinks (up shifts too fast, and waits too long to downshift). I don't see any logical reason for it to wear out quicker when driving in auto. Except for maybe the fact that it changes gears more often, may wear out the clutch sooner. My method was to drive it as if I was driving a standard manual transmission. When taking off from a stop, I feathered the throttle as if I was engaging the clutch myself. I drove it in a way that made the clutch fully engage in just a few feet of rolling, the key is to minimize slippage. When stopping at red lights, I put it in neutral if I had to wait more than 5 - 10 seconds (or thought that I would have to wait that long). I did that because there is slight drag on the clutch sometimes, depending on temperature. I have heard of people that pulled over to read a map or something else for a few minutes while leaving it in gear, and they over heated the clutch! not good! When backing up, the problem is that the gearing is approximately the same as starting off in second gear, therefore a lot of slip. Due to that design, I avoided backing up as much as possible, and never backed up a hill, unless 100% necessary. I also just gave little spurts of throttle when backing out of my driveway, just to get it rolling, then let gravity continue. As I said, I'm no expert, I'm just telling you how I drove it, and the results that I achieved. Good luck!
when I bought my 599 I read all of the opinions here. I looked at the diagrams and could see no reason that the auto mode would cause a problem at stops> I never put it in neutral unless I was going through the car wash. I also just thought I wouldn't worry about it and just drive it like my past cars. I did make certain the clutch was engaged before getting on it. I sold the car a month ago with 42,000 miles on the original clutch. Computer said about 50% wear. I think it is odd that this is such a long topic...even if you need to replace the clutch pack it really isn't that expensive, is it? Just drive it, they are great cars. Malcolm
Jim: You joined on April Fool's Day in 2018, and you posted a similar question in this forum on April Fool's Day 2019. I tried to answer you, as did several other forum members, who provided some thoughtful and lengthy explanations. I can't see that you ever visited or responded to the thread you started on April 1, 2019. Did you ever look at those answers? If you did, and if you responded, I apologize. But I'm a little confused by your posts so far.
I agree with others, and drive it like a MT and shift into neutral coasting up to stops and use the brakes to slow the car to stop. I just don’t care for how it drives in auto. But I don’t know using auto mode wears the clutch any faster perhaps in heavy stop & go traffic. I do know of one owner of a 2006 612 w/F1 who uses the car as a DD in auto all the time. He had transmission/clutch problems at just under 30k miles. Not sure of what kind of driver he is as I just talked to the tech doing the repair work on his 612. I had heard the earlier F1 trans was more problematic than the later models. However I have no first hand knowledge of earlier F1 as my car is a 612 OTO with HTG 2 and has no problems. It had about 90% remaining on my clutch at my last service at 11.3k miles and I am the 3rd owner. I put 5k on the car since I have owned it.
Sorry if I’ve confused you or anyone. The current replies have answered my recent concerns and questions . I’ve run into 360s that had 50% or less clutch life during PPI after only 10k miles . I’ll give greater consideration to posting questions in future, use the search function and if that needs clarification I’ll work with my maintenance facility and other local enthusiasts to find answers and guidance . Newbies sometimes need patience on forums as they take themselves up the learning curve . Thankfully the last two replies graciously covered the subjects I inquired of at the risk of being unknowingly repetitious .
Don't take greyboxer seriously. He appears to be a "search specialist" trolling threads to remind people, especially new owners, that a search will answer their question. He doesn't know the answer but likes to tell people to use the search. Problem with searches is, it may be old and outdated answers. Old questions with the latest answers is the way to go. Oh, and allow me to welcome you to Ferrari ownership and this very useful site.
Just had a recent service and I’m only down 3% in clutch life after two years and 9,000miles. I always drive in race mode, never tried auto, and try to avoid reversing when I can. As other have stated i treat it exactly like I would a standard transmission. Slightly feathering the throttle till fully engaged and neutral dropping as i come to a stop. I do think a lot of the clutches that have shorter life’s are probably from owners not treating the car like a standard transmission. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
360 F1 clutch wear really isn't an issue particularly as most cars now have updated/later TCU's. The CS TCU handles reversing very well and I just use dab and roll in reverse. My car had a new clutch at 23k. It's now on 47k and is about 30% worn based on measuring the friction disk which does agree with the SD reading. Over the last 10k it's virtually lost nothing and only had a CS TCU for the last 7k miles. Incidentally, it went to 15%-20% wear quite quickly after installation, which I put to bedding in. Auto use is a non-issue as it's poor to drive in and I only use if I'm eating and ice cream I think the changes are smoother so maybe it does let the clutch out slower but certainly not something to worry about. When stopped put it in N, even though the clutch is still open in N (I won't explain why but it makes a difference). Set-up and driven properly you should easily get 50k plus with mixed driving on an F1 clutch. If it's original, the release bearing or RMS seal will fail first. The horror stories of 10k miles are outliers and there must be underlying issues with those cars.
Disagree 100% Clutch function is exactly the same as manual. If used in sport mode it works very well. There is no difference in N. Don't know how much time you have spent studying operation on an SD2 but I have a great deal of time doing it.
First point probably so, it just feels to me that it is more sedate. Less of a clunk as they go in. Second point....My car will occasionally creep in 1/R with no throttle. I thought maybe the release bearing was sticking. I looked into it and if I watch the clutch position, the release bearing moves ~2mm away from the flywheel when I select a gear from N. No throttle input. N = 10mm, 1/R = 11.75mm, clutch closed is around 18mm No rotation on the gearbox primary in N hot or cold. Select a gear when the car is very hot and it will occasionally creep with no throttle. To me when you select a gear the clutch moves to a 'pre-start' position. CS TCU 196986 Jan 2016 build date.
