Clutch wear?
 

This may very well be my first manual transmission and I was wondering how fast the clutch might wear out on the BRZ. I expect to at least spend an hour or so just driving a friend's manual transmission but will otherwise be torturing my car learning to properly drive a stick. Any expectations of how short my clutch's life might be?

I would not drive my brand new RWD peppy car in around a city with only an hour of practice.(one full week, yes) If youre not a speedy/attentive learner you can screw things up easily.

If you're driving a manual transmission every day, you'll get very comfortable with it very quickly. The bigger indicator to clutch life is, how often do you plan on dropping the clutch at 3000 RPM trying to do burnouts or drag race? Limit that, and there's no reason your clutch shouldn't last as long as you own the car - 80k-100k miles or more. And given that this is a RWD car, I'm no expert but it should last longer than say, an AWD car. My WRX clutch lasted about 80k miles - no drag racing, but spirited driving. Also, this isn't exactly a high horsepower car, which brings up the other variable...depends on how beefy the clutch is.

In the end, totally depends on the driving style.

I'll probably try to get more practice. I am just worried I may end up doing most of the damage during the first couple of weeks. A valid concern or am I worrying too much

You will become proficient at driving stick long before the extra clutch wear becomes consequential. Just try to avoid developing bad habits and dropping the clutch quickly from high RPM and you/the car will be fine. The clutch is made to take some degree of abuse and this car doesn't have much torque at the low end to damage things if you do screw up.

Try to get more practice than 1 hr if you can. I don't really see 1hr to be enough to be comfortable and realistic of what your daily use is gonna be like. As stated, just don't be aggressive with it, it will be forgiving. Personally, I wouldn't want to "learn" manual in the BRZ, I beat myself up when learning in my 95, wouldnt want to do the same for a brand new car...

i drove a manual for about 15 min before i bought my first manual car :D

I'm planning on getting a cheap MT car to improve my MT skill because I haven't driven a MT car for 5 years. I suggest you do the same. Don't screw up a nice car.

I really don't see the need for actually buying another manual car just to practice. An hour or two in a friends car should be plenty. Its not rocket science, its controlling two pedals with your feet. The big part of just starting out with a manual is knowing your limitations. Don't drive up any roads that will require you stop on a steep incline and for gods sake don't attempt to turn right in front of anyone lest you stall and stop in front of them.

Learning to drive a clutch is by no means going to wear out a clutch on a new car and if you really are that rough on it while learning you probably shouldn't be driving a manual ;) A good gauge for how you are doing is how long it takes you to learn the scent of a burning clutch. My first time smelling clutch was when I accidentally found myself on what seemed to be a 45 degree incline at a red light. I panicked because the person behind me was so close I was worried I would roll back and hit them.

I personally learned to drive a manual in my dads DeLorean with its original clutch when I turned 16, gotta love my dad, and I've been driving manual ever since. The only clutch I've ever replaced was in my Cherokee and only because the master cylinder went out and the clutch had to come out anyway :P

You will be damned if you're like me. Most of my friends don't own any MT cars, one of them own GT500, and I wouldn't want to test drive that thing. Getting a beater to learn how to drive manual is good because you never know if you ever make a mistake. I don't want to take that risk on a brand new car, even I used to drive a stick car for a year or two (5 years ago :bellyroll: ). I know how to operate any kind of bikes since I was 14, and they have the same principles as manual cars, but I still don't want to take any risk at all. That's why I'm suggesting OP to get a beater just to learn how to drive stick. He can always trade it in anytime.
If people around you have no time to teach you, you have 0 hour a week to learn how to drive a stick car. That's the problem I have right now. Some people are just busy on digging gold. :bellyroll:

When I bought my brand new 2007 STi I had to drive it off the dealer lot (never test drove it) without any experience driving a manual. I had some embarrassing moments stalling but it was fine. 5 years later and the clutch is still in good condition. Don't worry about it.

I agree.

I don't think that's necessary. I learned in capsules when I was younger. At first I shifted for my mom while she would drive me to school. Once I got that and understood the basics of going from 2nd to 3rd and from 4th to 5th (and not accidently down shifting to 1st or 3rd) I was good for the next step.

Second capsule, I would try driving by simply going forwards and backwards in the driveway, just to figure out the "point of friction", or basically when the wheels start moving as you slowly lift your foot off the clutch (don't know the terms, english is my second language).

Lastly, driving around the neighborhood to match shifting and driving all while keeping my eyes on the road (and not on the stick).

I know all of that sounds like baby steps for idiots (keep in mind I was 15 at the time, and didn't have a permit yet), but those exercices never took me more than 15 minutes. The point is if you're concentrated on your learning, you ought to be ok. I rarely stall my car, but it still happens. If you pressure yourself into being perfect, you'll stall IMO. Just remember not all cars have the same "friction point".

Are there any other parts of the car I should be worried about damaging if not the clutch?