How long does the average daily driver clutch last?

I consider myself a very-easy on the clutch driver.. Last car I owned I got almost 200k out of it before I sold it with the stock clutch.. ( still holding fine).

Looking at the extended maintenance plan, I see the clutch is covered for a one time replacement. (Read that thread...). But no one seems to have a post with hard lifetime numbers on clutch life... It's temping given the plan price/clutch cost.

I can't picture myself eating a disk at 100k/6 years unless they are super soft...

Thoughts?


(I searched and found the thread from R50/53.. But wanted to know on the second gen cars..)

 

I am hoping the same as you that I would never go through a clutch but you do read several threads about clutch problems. I have to believe (or at least it makes me feel better) that these are people that are riding their clutch a lot as well as launching the car at 2500+ rpm on a regular basis. My 2003 clutch after 79,000 miles was fine when I sold it. The current owner has had zero problems with it 1.5 years later.

 

I've got a 2008s with 77,000 and no clutch problems so far. My mechanic recently drove my car and commented on how good the clutch felt.

 

Ok, sounds good.

As a side note, I recently sold my Mom's VW New Beetle (5 speed) to someone who said they could drive a stick..

On the test drive.. she proceeded to drrrrrraaaaaaaagggggg that clutch to death IN EVERY GEAR.. 3K RPM slow take offs... The woman brought the car.. I could only think that she would need a clutch in the next 10K miles.

I "roll" into gear.. (foot off gas).. then hit the gas at a light only after the clutch is fully seated.. Its so easy with EFI to do this..

 

69000 km, still good!

 

Heads up..

36,000 miles.

Clutch is starting to release high.

Pretty bummed about this, I doubt it will make it to 45K at this point.

I never hit the gas when taking off, I just release it easy, but quickly. Never a high RPM take off.

 

133000 miles on the original clutch. I Autocross as well. It all depends on your driving style.

 

I found the r56 clutch pretty short lived, never wore a clutch out before to be honest, r56 was a first for me

I found it odd as the car is slow as crap, was a justacooper

 

2nd gen owner?

 

My 08 S was up to 78k miles on stock clutch and still felt like it had a lot of life left. I drove it on the track once and autocrossed 2 times with it.

 

I'm at almost 100K on the stock clutch and still feels good, like others have said, it depends on how you drive

 

72K miles and feels fine. Knock on wood.

 

My '09 MCS, has 135,000 on it's clutch.
My wife's '13 JCW has 56,000 on the clutch, and her previous '07, MCS, had 81,000 on it's clutch when some old dude T-boned her in it.

I don't know that I'll get 300K+ miles, like my Toyota trucks, but they're a helluva lot more fun to drive.

 

77k miles previous owner did not maintain the Mini, currently going to do the SMF conversion on a stage 2 or 3 kit. First time changing out a clutch for me.

 

There are no hard numbers on clutch life - it depends on how you drive and where you drive. City traffic is a killer, highway miles are essentially free.

To extend clutch life, learn proper double-clutch rev-matching technique for downshifts, and minimize shifting and clutch wear from start/stop driving in heavy traffic. BMW-related clutches normally go past 100K miles if driven wisely and not put through hours of stop and go traffic every day...but I've heard of people burning them up in half of that. My 08 328xi E91 has 109K on the original clutch.

 

double clutching? LOL these cars have syncros

mini clutch <> bmw by a long shot

 

Synchros have almost nothing to do with my suggestion.

Double clutching is a technique taught by every high performance driving school, partly because some racing cars still don't use synchros, but although it may not be required in synchro transmissions (which most manuals have been for 40+ years) it's also a way to control weight transfer, power delivery AND to synchronize engine speed with the transmission when engaging the clutch.

Using double-clutching results in much smoother clutch engagement when you hit the target gear.

Consider the difference in how it feels when you shift down from 4th to 3rd by de-clutching, letting the revs fall close to idle, then dropping the clutch in the new gear. You won't get a gear clash while shifting due to the synchros, but you will get a very perceptible jerk as the clutch engagement forces the engine to accelerate to the RPM required to match the gearing you have just engaged.

In contrast, double-clutch that downshift and you have smooth gear engagement with the engine speed already at the correct RPM for the gear selected.

Which do YOU think is easier on the clutch disc: a violent jerk or smooth engagement that doesn't yank the engine up to speed?

In my experience, double-clutching is not only a more pleasant way to shift when downshifts are required (although at low speeds it's a waste of effort), it's also a way to minimize clutch wear caused by violent shifts. Granted, you are engaging and disengaging the clutch twice as opposed to once, but to me the significant difference in the smoothness of the clutch engagement more than compensates. My clutches generally last at least 80-100K miles, even in cars that I autocross.

Here's a little more, which states benefits to the synchros from http://www.standardshift.com/forum/v...ching#p194359:

When you downshift, engine rpm must increase and transmission layshaft rpm must increase to accommodate the lower gearing for a given road speed.

Rev matching brings the engine rpm up to the appropriate speed, but since the clutch is in, the layshaft speed is not effected by the throttle blip (layshaft speed is actually decreasing due to bearing friction). As you move the shift lever into the next lower gear, the synchros are engaged to speed up the layshaft rpm to match engine speed and road speed. Synchro wear occurs here. Synchros are sacrificial and are designed to be used in this way. The wear is cumulative and could cause end of synchro life before end of vehicle life.

Double-clutch rev matching brings the engine rpm AND layshaft rpm up to the appropriate speed, essentially eliminating synchro wear. When the clutch is out, the layshaft is coupled to the engine, so the throttle blip increases the revs of both engine and layshaft. When you select the next lower gear, all rotating components are closely synchronized, so the synchro has little or no frictional wear because there is little or no difference in speeds.

Is double-clutching necessary? No.

Can double-clutching eliminate gear clash due to sychros wearing out before you are ready to get rid of your car? Yes.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Sheehan_(racing_driver)

 

Our 2007 MCS has 175,000 kms on the clock and the clutch is still strong and smooth but the release bearing is starting to sing that song, "Oh ye shall be replacing me soon".

No idea how it was driven prior to buying it last month.

 

are you confusing double clutching with heel toe shifting? They are not the same thing, even in skip barber school they did not talk about double clutching.

I have driven plenty of farm trucks that had to be double clutched, it's slow as crap going in and out with that clutch between shifts

 

Excellent point!

I think I forgot that although they are separate techniques, smooth downshifts are often achieved by using the techniques together. My mistake!

Heel and toe braking along with throttle management allows matching the engine speed to the gear choice while braking, although there are many times when braking isn't needed while shifting.

OTOH, there are many times when braking isn't needed.

I often shift down early in traffic when I see that I'm coming up on a situation where I want to be in a lower gear; in that case, I don't need to brake at all, just match revs by double-clutching to get into a lower gear smoothly and slow down. I seldom use my brakes in traffic unless it comes to a dead stop, because following back a couple of car lengths and using the gears for engine-braking eliminates much of the need for braking.

Skip Barber is a really good school; my info and training are from Bondurant. I do admit that after 30+ years, some of this has become sheer reflex. The result is that both my brakes and clutches last a long time.

 

it's so slow double clutching unless you are using one of those old straight cut no syncro transmissions

 

I think Red Sovine had a few songs on his list about double clutching.

 

There shouldn't be more than a one second difference if it's done correctly. And matching revs is easier on the car.

 

1: onesecond shift delay is huge
2: matching revs for what, heel-toe brings engine rpm up to transmission rpm

 

My mechanic (ex Mini Tech) told me that it depends on how you drive. If you drive and shift at the normal shift points it will extend the life of the clutch, but if your a high revver like myself it diminishes the life of the clutch because its soo small.