Clutch Life

Just wondering what is the life of your clutch? I am not a seasoned blogger, so when I have attempted to follow links to the Clutch registry, I am rebuffed time and again. Any assistance to get there is appreciated, or just answers to the first question, what is the life of your clutch? I am at 46K and looks like a new one is fast approaching

Sorry to Say - You Appear to be Like my Father and My Son - Who Are So Nervous - Of Using the Clutch - They Keep Their Foot on it, and Ride it as Part of 'Normal' Driving........ I Have Given Up On Explaining/Shouting/Pulling My Hair Out........... Neither of them will drive on the track - Neither of them will ever understand the drivetrain of the internal combustion engine........... My family will wear out clutches.......... It's only money to change..............

What are your symptons?

I remember reading a typical clutch is designed to last 50,000 cycles. Yours might last more or less.

My family wears out the exterior and interior of cars...leaving a pristine drive train behind. :hilarious: We might be able to cobble together something with our left over bits, kd. On the subject, your clutch life will vary wildly depending upon driving style. I would be shocked if my clutch needed replacing before 100k miles. I got 270k miles out of a 1984 BMW 318i clutch and I drove that car HARD...but properly hard. And replacement was prompted by a cylinder failure...not the actual mechanism.

I'm convinced that clutch wear has everything to do with one's driving style and how they use the clutch. I've been driving only manual transmission cars for over 35 years and all of them were sold in good working condition (at least transmission-wise) with over 200k miles on their original clutches. I've never had any cluth wear issues and I don't expect to with my CS.

Clutch friction material is not much different than brake pads. You can wear out brakes quickly or you can make them last 100k. Same goes for the clutch disk. Only difference being there aren't as many panic take offs as there are panic stops while driving. For me 50k is average for brakes, and 100k for clutch life on a non tracked car. I suppose brakes would vary from 10k-20k for a tracked car, although the clutch life shouldn't change much from 100k. Autocross, now that will hurt the clutch!

I have an 06 Cayman S with 44,000 miles. I believe my pressure plate is collapsing. Slightly dead pedal, can still disengage but barely, clutch pedal vibration as I actuate clutch which I believe is from the throwout bearing pressing on a partially collapsed pressure plate. Has anyone else experienced this? The dealer says pressure plates do go bad and this would not be a warranty item. They also say it is common to have to replace a clutch at 30 to 40,000 miles. I have been driving sports cars for over 30 years and never had to replace a clutch this early. What has your experience been?

just had an entire clutch assembly put in my 06 cayman with 9800 miles on it. Pressure plate, throuw out bearing clutch, and other stuff. They said it was bad from the day it left Porsche plant and I have to agree with them. Inever shifted right fromt he git go but finally just refused to go into gear when cold. Porsche stepped up and took care of all of it, two weeks later, my LS cataylast went bad. Love the car but it has not been a trouble free Porsche that is for sure. had to have it towed in at 600 miles due to not being able to idle it at all. Seat belt retractor broke at 2000 miles. Carbon fiber dash trim warped. Would I buy anohter Porsche???You damn well betcha I would...:dance:

you are making me feel lucky

I had the dual mass flywheel clutch ASY on my 2007 VW GTI replaced almost new as it was a factory fault. It's was flawless there after for over 50,000kms. I know this doesn't speak for the Cayman clutch, but I would imagine they'll be similar in quality.

I had my cluth and flywheel replaced to put in a light weight flywheel with 15,000 miles, and I track my car. The old cluth appeared to be in excellent shape and good for a long long time. I do not drag race. On a side note the car feels a lot more lively with the lightweight flywheel. It is more responsive.:drivingskid:

Clutch life isn't really something you can quantify accurately. I've had 3 cars now, all stick since I got my license. My first car an 88 Ford Thunderbird went almost 90K on the original clutch. 70K of which were mine. My second car, a 2006 Honda Civic, lasted 14K. Went round and round with Honda of America, had to be a problem from the factory I said, they told me to learn to drive stick. My current clutch in that car has 45K on it now and still feels brand new. Haven't changed my driving one bit. When I my CS in for service last, my service agent said the clutch pedal was getting stiff, and I should keep an eye on it. That was news to me, but I've never had a brand new Cayman clutch, so I have nothing to compare it too. Basically, if you shift into a higher gear, and the revs go up but the car doesn't accelerate like it should (almost like flooring it in an automatic trans) it's time for a new clutch. I've been under the impression (from personal experience and what others tell me) that it could be weeks or months, from the first time you notice it, till it's cooked. Although, with the Honda, it was literally a matter of hours. Drove it from Philly to Virigina Beach without a problem one day, and the next morning it wouldn't make it down the street. I don't doubt I could get over a 100K out of a clutch, but I did/ do a lot of city driving in Ford and the Honda. The Porsche is all highway and country road stuff.

I am having a stiff caltch as compared to a new one but in no way a worn clatch as it works as it should. Always driven stick and never rest my foot on the pedal. I drop the clatch in 1st often and quick shift most of the times in 2nd without PSM. I haven't noted the drop of clatch performance in any way. Stiff clutch from the day I bought it as used with 28k miles on the odometer.

02 Boxter S with 68K miles in the shop for clutch replacement. "Normal" driving except for 9 track days - none in the past 10K miles. My trustworthy local shop surprised it has lasted this long, mentioning they see clutch replacements on Boxsters closer to 45K. Mine had the RMS replaced under warrantee, along with resurfacing the pressure plate, at 20K miles. Shop owner thinks that's why mine has gone as far as it has. Almost all the miles driven properly by me. Few times by wife and kids but many months ago. Surprising part is that worked fine last weekend - then could hardly get it in gear this week. Suppose I can expect to be doing this again in about 45,000 miles.... (stil on the original clutch in my 1995 Honda Civic with 220K miles.......)

Once I do need to replace the clutch, around how much do you guys think it'll cost? Is that something I should go to the dealer for?

I got 4000 miles out of my clutch driving for Dominos pizza when I was 17! Wait, that was a Fiat X-19, never mind......If I would of had a Cayman, I still would be in jail for the way I drove.

My dealer constantly remarks on the stiff clutch in my 06 Cayman S and tells me that it will soon be due for a replacement. I'll grant that it's much stiffer than the clutch on the '09 Cayman S they let me drive around, but I'm still not convinced that the clutch needs replacement soon. I've only got 36,000 miles on the car, and every other clutch in the previous 9 cars I've owned have lasted at least until 100k miles. I'm pretty sure I'm not hard on a clutch and this seems awfully early for a clutch replacement. Also, I'm not seeing any hint of clutch slippage -- hard launches from first or full throttle at low mph in 6th. Even if I do something really stupid and damaging, like revving the engine up at around 35 mph and dropping the clutch into 6th gear, the clutch still locks up just fine. What gives with the dealer diagnosis that I'm due for a clutch replacement? I should also add they've been telling me this for a year now.