Ok I have a quick question for you stick-shift pros out there

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I learned how to drive stick on my Z, and I don't know if I'm paranoid, but at 9000 kms (5000 miles) my clutch is starting to feel "different"...

1. When I first bought the car, the clutch engagements were stiff, and it had a lot of bite to it whenever I changed gears from stop-1, 1-2, and 2-3. But lately, I've noticed that the engagements are weaker, the biting feeling is almost gone.

2. And secondly, when I was driving home from the movies tonight, I started accelerating and at about 3k - 4k rpm and the throttle started to feel warbly... like, i would give it a constant amount of gas to accelerate, but the rpms would go up in a jagged way... nothing major, but there were tiny tiny (bout 50 rpm) warbles in the rpm as I was accelerating... luckily it disappeared after the car warmed up.

Are these two examples of clutch wear? if not, what ARE the signs??

Please help out a paranoid newbie

 

the first sounds like the clutch breaking in, ie wearing but not to the point of needing replacement. i've felt slight changes in my clutch (but not a z) over use but it's nothing to worry about.

i doubt the clutch is wearing after 5k but a sure sign of it is when you accelerate hard and your rpms increase but your speed doesn't. that's the clutch slipping when it shouldn't. also happens when you increase the power output of your engine and your clutch is not strong enough (ie, supercharged miatas almost always need a clutch upgrade)

the second point doesn't sound like clutch wear. that could be ecu, intake/exhaust/engine characteristics, electronic throttle, etc.

 

i have a question. I just got my Z and have but about 360 miles on it. Most of the cars i have driven the clutch engages much closer to the floor than the Z. Some people have told me the clutch will engage closer to the floor as it wears in. Is this true?

 

pimp'n Z: my engagement point has gotten higher since i first bought my Z, not closer to the floor

julian: thanks for the reply

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so if my clutch really isn't wearing out (woohoo!), what signs should i look out for when it does? What gear will it start slipping in? logic tells me that first should slip first before all the other gears since there's more torque, but i've read that 4th gear is also one of the first gears to start slipping... which one is it??

 

bump... pls help

 

strife, honestly you really shouldn't be worried about your clutch for a while unless you're planning on heavily modding your engine. i haven't heard of or experienced clutch problems in the z

now, as far as what to look for...
as mentioned above you'll notice the engine revving but teh car not accelerating. it may take a second for the clutch to catch (meaning it's slipping).
just before you get to that stage, the clutch engaugement will feel very sloppy (at least in my experience) you're engaugement point will be farther away from the ground than normal. then comes the slipping, then your clutch will completely go out.

this happened to me while driving my ex bf's civic. it had an engine swap and quite a bit of work. i took it out one day, noticed that the engaugement felt odd. it wasn't catching like it used to. then within a few miles it gave out. it went from the point of slipping to being completely useless very quickly. just hope you're not on a busy road when it happens.

 

ViZion - alright thx

i guess i'm just paranoid because I beat on my clutch pretty bad while learning to drive stick...