Does the clutch fake you out?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by White64Goat

I've been driving clutch cars since I started driving with my 73 Vega GT and I have stalled this car more times than all the cars combined I have owned with a clutch, and that's a bunch of them.

Ok, RIGHT? WTF?

[wparsons]

I find the travel on mine (total travel, not just engagement range) to be much shorter than other cars I've owned and driven.

It's definitely shorter than my old Jetta, as well as B5 S4's, 993 911's, 944 turbo, Mazda 3, etc.

[hmong337]

I agree. This clutch is real goofy and I am still not 100% smooth with it. I've tried adjusting the pedal and it has somewhat made the driving experience a bit better. But still, the engagement of the clutch is still weird.

The slip window is wide and it takes precise modulation to slip smoothly. My problem is smoothly trying to get into 2nd gear without jerk or giving a tad bit too much gas when relewsing the clutch.

A lot of my issues have to do with the drive by wire too.

[Ultramaroon]

I see 3 options to fix this.

1. fatter master cylinder - would involve either boring the OEM and replacing the guts or replacing the whole assembly.

2. skinnier slave cylinder - this goes back to my original post. If anyone's done this or could help me get started sourcing something.

3. longer bellcrank or adapter on clutch pedal - would require slotting the firewall if the master cylinder can be relocated.

In any case, it's only high-school math. No guesswork there.

thoughts? critique?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by wparsons

I find the travel on mine (total travel, not just engagement range) to be much shorter than other cars I've owned and driven.

It's definitely shorter than my old Jetta, as well as B5 S4's, 993 911's, 944 turbo, Mazda 3, etc.

Same here except 75 beetle, 76 Chevette, 78 B210 hatchback, 70 240Z, 91 Eclipse.

It's not rocket science to design a decent system. I think they just went too far trying to make it nice & cushy.

[chaoskaze]

I find it hard to drive this car when u are trying to do a 3 point turn in a hurry on a uphill haha.........I endup dumping the clutch & burn it pretty good judging by the smell.

[wparsons]

Everyone having issues with driving smooth, have you tried adjusting the seat slightly? Maybe it's just your seating position throwing you off.

I don't find it hard at all to drive these cars smoothly, even in sandals or big heavy hiking boots.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by wparsons

Everyone having issues with driving smooth, have you tried adjusting the seat slightly? Maybe it's just your seating position throwing you off.

I don't find it hard at all to drive these cars smoothly, even in sandals or big heavy hiking boots.

No, it's nothing like that. When I first got the car, I rambled about adjusting it so I could roll through engagement pivoting on my heel. I get a strong read from those responding in kind that we all are used to a much narrower engagement arc (window, whatever it's called).

My gut says a lot of clutches are getting fried because of this.

[nguyen_er]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Did you do the trick with pulling the pin? That leaves some parts just hanging up against the firewall, no? If you had to, do you think you could put it back together?

I removed the spring and the pin. Idk if it's hard to put back on but I would never think about putting it back. I have yet to kill my car once since I took it out.

[NissanGuy]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Same here except 75 beetle, 76 Chevette, 78 B210 hatchback, 70 240Z, 91 Eclipse.

I love your taste in cars. Moving on:

Do you guys still have the old OEM engine management software? When I got the reflash on the Subaru it was so much easier to not stall, the less touchy throttle meant I had enough time to react to engine speed.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by NissanGuy

I love your taste in cars.

Why, thank you!

[nguyen_er]

Idk if it's the new one or not. I also have a light weight crank pulley so my RPM drops a lot faster than the stock one. I have no issues with shifting or stalling after. I did stall a lot before I took out the clutch return spring though. I couldn't tell where it engaged or how far I was from the floor. Lmao I always thought I was near the top and was closer to the middle and jolted my car a lot. Ugh.

[Teseo]

I have the same problems trying to drive smooth.
Its posibble/compatible to swap the clutch components of a wrx/sti to a frs?
Just asking because im sure the clutch will not last longer if still stock as its

[Gords_zenith]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I see 3 options to fix this.

1. fatter master cylinder - would involve either boring the OEM and replacing the guts or replacing the whole assembly.

2. skinnier slave cylinder - this goes back to my original post. If anyone's done this or could help me get started sourcing something.

3. longer bellcrank or adapter on clutch pedal - would require slotting the firewall if the master cylinder can be relocated.

In any case, it's only high-school math. No guesswork there.

thoughts? critique?

Not sure if you want to also adjust feel and effort as your first two options are the solutions to that. The solution to the travel issue is to either change the pivot point for the master cylinder to the pedal or change the actuation point for the slave to the fork, both of these will alter the motion ratio thus lengthening the throw or shortening it. If it was me, the easiest might be to machine the mounting base of slave cylinder down so it sits closer to the bell housing and make another dimple in the clutch fork for the slave rod sit in, this will also increase the effort as the leverage will be reduced. Or drill another mounting hole in the clutch pedal bell crank where the master cylinder bolts to, farther from the center, which would decrease the pedal travel required to fully depress the pressure plate. These are some quick ideas as I haven't spent much time looking at it.

Example. Think about how a teeter totter works, let's say you want to move one end 1ft off the ground with the pivot point in the middle, you would have to push down on the opposite end 1ft, but if you move closer to the middle by 2ft it takes less distance from you to move the opposite end 1ft up but with increased effort. This is effectively how your clutch fork actuates the pressure plate using the slave cylinder and a pivot point in the middle mounted in the bell housing.

So by saying that, lowering your clutch pedal using a trick from here won't solve the travel issue, just simply lowers the clutch pedal so it's not moving the clutch fork as far which could cause the pressure plate to not fully release thus causing premature clutch wear. My two cents as a Mechanical Engineering technologist.

Now saying all that, I've lowered my clutch pedal a little bit, because I'm not really in the mood to be drilling or machining anything when it's still under warranty, but will take the potential small hit on clutch life.