As some know, I bought my car used. Clutch seems to be fine but this is my first stick car. My clutch engages pretty damn late, very little pedal push required, (not sure if this is normal). I have noticed lately that if I really step on it it seems like the clutch "slips" a little bit - not much but definitely noticable, could be because of the power? Is there any way to actually check the clutch without invasive surgery? One thing I also noticed is that if I am not SUPER smooth with the shifting, there is a little "knock" in the shifting. That could just be the learning curve for me though, but it was enough to concern me. The car has 118,000 miles on it and I am not sure if the clutch has been replaced yet. Not knowing what it is supposed to feel like doesnt help, either. Ilearn quick, never burnt the clutch, smelled burning clutch, etc.

Any opinions which would ease my mind or any relative information would be appreciated!

 

I would suggest finding a local Euro shop that is honest.....might be hard to find one- I got my car with 70k miles on it; same thing...clutch seemed to slip a bit on take off and would slip/decreased power when accelerating. Got a new clutch (from the stealership), problem fixed. About a 1k miles later, couldn't get the car into gear very well. Went to my local shop I found (after the fact) and they told me the clutch was bad....long story short, the dealership warrantied it. Looking back on it now, I probably could have gotten an upgraded clutch for what I payed the dealership to replace it with a standard one. Many shops would love to "diagnose" your car and charge you for it, on top of repairing the "problem"......find a reputable shop who won't take you for a ride.

 

Your clutch is probably on its way out. Its not becouse it grabs late (this is normal becouse clutches wear out and becouse of that they grab later-but it is a good way of knowing that she is moving at the end of her life), But becouse like you said it slips. So the best way for testing is: Stop your car apply e-barke, shift to first gear, give it some gas and start to disengage the clutch ( like you wanted to start driving), if the car dies its ok. But if the engine is still at rews when you are doing that your clutch is slipping and its bad.

 

mine engages fairly late aswell .. no slips yet. but i really dont beat on my car. my advice is, baby what you got left intill you can get some loot together and get a new one. dont try to push it, i wouldnt do what the last post says, thats only going to make it worse.. you already know that its goin bad. just try to shift smoothly and dont down shift when coming to stops (which i find pointless anyways) . good luck drive it like you love it.. cause you probably do haha

 

Downshifting in general is a bad idea unless absolutely needed...