Worn Clutch?
 

Starting information I suppose.. This is my first MT, though I am not a hooligan with it.
I recently moved from California to a northern state, and on the way passed through San Francisco. After the move there is around 9000 miles on my FRS.

On a (quite large) hill in SF, I accidentally let the car rev very high while letting out the clutch too slowly, noting a burning smell. Since then I have babied it even more than usual, but the characteristic of my shifts has changed. Before, it was very clunky going from 1st to 2nd, and had a "snappy" grab point. Now it is extremely smooth, without any clunking going between 1st and 2nd, and it has a wider grab point. It feels mushy.

Does this mean I ruined my clutch, or am on the way to doing so? Could it be the change in altitude (sea level to 3300ft) or average temp (50-80 in California to always below 20-40 up north)? Could it be it has just settled in after a long break in? Do I need to replace it?

Thank you in advance, and for understanding my inexperience in the subject.

It may be a combination of you getting smoother with your shifts and your fear of screwing something up convincing you it feels much different than normal.

Assuming you're still under warranty, I'd take the car to the dealership and have them assess it. It's possible that you have worn it, but having a clutch replaced under warranty might be tough with certain dealerships.... since it is considered a "wear and tear" part.

Well, that's a new one. Someone who wants the clunky 1/2 shift. Damned if you do...ect.

Seriously, though, sounds like the clutch has worn in, not out. Also, if you're babying it now, you're probably shifting slower and involuntarily pulling the shifter towards your body, this getting a smother shift. Warmer weather will make it feel smoother as well.

In short, one clutch ride, mishift, grind, ect isn't going to ruin a clutch straight out. You're fine, Id say.

try to do acceleration test.
you must know how the car responded before.
If engine is screaming while not picking up speed then clutch is worn.

The vehicle seems to accelerate around 20-25% slower from what it used to. Also seems that i has lost a bit of torque on the low end. Mushy...

Get it checked out then. Can't imagine a single incident causing this, though. New MT drivers would be replacing clutches every 2 weeks.

if you think the clutch is dead, put the car in 5th gear at 35mph.

floor it.

if it doesnt slip, the clutch is good
if it slips, its dead.

You should be fine, people drop the clutch all the time to race, once or twice shouldn't hurt that much

You don't lose torque nor do you lose acceleration from a worn clutch UNLESS it's slipping. If you don't notice any slippage it's all in your head.

Really sounds like you're just getting smoother with your shifts.

I will try the 5th gear test, but the more i listen to you the more I think it is just a combination of being worn in, and the altitude change affecting acceleration.

Floor it at 35mph in 5th?

That seems like too low RPM even for normal driving, nevermind flooring it. I'd be scared :D

It's not something to do every day or randomly, it is done specifically to put a lot of load on the clutch. If it holds that much load, it shows that its still working. If it can't, then its done.

Nothing bad will come out of it, its just a quick test :thumbsup:

Yep. The 5th gear test is the most common test to see if your clutch is slipping. You really want to do it at torque peak, so you could do it at 40 mph if you want.

Our cars essentially make peak torque from 2400-3200 RPM (before the torque dip), so you could test it in 5th in that RPM range. If my math is right, that would mean flooring it from 40-55 mph in 5th, basically what King Tut said.

You may be over thinking your one time clutch burn accident. If you do it all the time thats bad but if it's just a few times in the lifetime of that clutch, you should be fine. Sounds broken in now.

We just did the fifth gear test recently in my husbands tc. in a safe empty lot with no one to get hurt around you, put it in gear (higest gear you have) and take off from a stop in that gear. It's supposed to stall. If it doesn't stall and you can move it's the clutch.
His car didn't stall, it acted as though we were taking off in second. We just had the clutch replaced and this is what it looked like.
Attachment 35121

this clutch had 110,000 miles on it. so even if you think you did a little something to it...it will still last a long time ;)

This helped me a lot too, i remember a bad experience i had smelling the clutch. Feel better and understand a lot more :thanks:

Jake I'm sure you clutch is fine from what you tell us. It should have lots of life left. Just drive it normal and no need for extra babying :) I did something similar a few times with my E36 bimmer and the clutch made it to 110K. When the clutch needs replacement, you will know for sure when the clutch slippage will become obvious during launch and when you need to pull under stronger loads.