Never, Ever, EVER let a girlfriend drive your MS3

[LazerBlueP5]

I was out somewhere today with my other car and I needed to swap cars- so I had my girlfriend (who has owned many manual cars) drive it from my house to me (about 5 miles).

As she pulled up I smelled clutch burn. WTF! (argh) She claims the shifter got stuck between 1st and 2nd and she had to re-engage the clutch to get it loose. Don't ask me how the heck that happened or even if that's an accurate description of what happened. But either way it caused a clutch burn smell immediately for her which was still evident after she arrived with the car.

With the acceptation of Jared (builthatch) no one really knows me on this forum- but trust me when I say I'm seriously obsessive compulsive about my cars. Stressed...I immediately took the car for a test drive to check for any noises or odd clutch feel or slippage. I didn't notice anything abnormal other than the faint smell of clutch burn (which tends to linger).

The worst part is this car only has 3600 miles and I've NEVER even come close to burning the clutch. I don't even know if it's possible- the tires break loose before the clutch is stressed. Additionally I'm going over in my head what the heck could have happened with her shifting from 1-2 that would cause clutch burn. I guess the only thing I can think of is she didn't full engage it in 2nd and continued accelerating for a moment. She claims it was only for a few seconds.

This whole this aggravates me beyond words and stresses me out. I'm worried that even if the car feels fine now that the clutch will cause problems in the future now.

Any idea of what could have happened? Any words of solace that it's not damaged and everything is 100% fine? *ugh* (smash)

 

[mordant80]

Sucks man. Sorry to hear that. I have some stories about burned clutches, but I don't think they'd make ya feel any better about your current situation. Always ended with having to get a new clutch at most a month after it burned. I'm much easier on a clutch now btw. But that was on a car that had a known weak clutch (95 ford escort). I've only heard good things about the MS3 clutch and tranny. So I'd say if it feels alright, chances are it'll be alright. My biggest concern would be if it did any damage to the flywheel since they can't be resurfaced. Makes a clutch job pretty expensive on these cars I'd say. But really all you can do is just keep driving it and try not to think about it. I had clutch paranoia forever after that ford escort. Just glad I finally got over it. Makes the ride alot more enjoyable if you're not constantly thinking about the clutch and if it's gonna go soon ya know?

 

[enganear]

It is very easy on the MS3 to catch your heel on the floor mat and have the grippy points on the pedal stick against the bottom of your shoe holding pressure on the clutch. Try it sometime, it is easy to duplicate. I don't know a godd fix other than cutting down the rubber pads on the pedal.
-enganear

 

[Kobyoshi]

I'm guilty of letting my girlfriend drive mine (manual experience as well)
She put it in first, rev'd it to about 2500 and slowly.... very very very ever so slowly let out the clutch to accelerate.
I may have yelled at her to loudly, but I could picture in my mind the glazing and burning of my brand new clutch.

Perhaps your girlfriend is guilty of the same.

 

[sperry]

More often than not, a smoked clutch will recover on its own as any "glazing" wears off during normal use. Considering the low mileage, if it stinks but feels fine, your GF probably just did you a favor by breaking it in. I did the same thing when I brutalized my brand new WRX clutch, and that lasted 40,000 miles (including 3 seasons of autocross) before it needed replacing.

The only time I've ever actually destroyed a clutch in one incident was leaving pit lane in my WRX in anger, and slipping it for about a mile straight around the track. After that, putting the pedal all the way to the floor just barely disengaged the clutch, and I was still able to finish the event if I was gentle on the throttle, and once it cooled down, it actually started getting grip back.

So, it takes a lot to ruin a clutch... if it feels okay, and the grab point is pretty much where it's always been, you're probably fine, even in the long term.

 

[Sveivo]

I feel your pain, but it's not that easy to ruin a clutch.

Perhaps it did take some beating, and it rather sucks, but realistically it will probably last 100K anyways.

Peace.

 

[Sveivo]

More often than not, a smoked clutch will recover on its own as any "glazing" wears off during normal use. Considering the low mileage, if it stinks but feels fine, your GF probably just did you a favor by breaking it in. I did the same thing when I brutalized my brand new WRX clutch, and that lasted 40,000 miles (including 3 seasons of autocross) before it needed replacing.

The only time I've ever actually destroyed a clutch in one incident was leaving pit lane in my WRX in anger, and slipping it for about a mile straight around the track. After that, putting the pedal all the way to the floor just barely disengaged the clutch, and I was still able to finish the event if I was gentle on the throttle, and once it cooled down, it actually started getting grip back.

So, it takes a lot to ruin a clutch... if it feels okay, and the grab point is pretty much where it's always been, you're probably fine, even in the long term.

+1

 

[mordant80]

hehe, that reminds me of an x i had. she would do the same thing, always pull the clutch out real slow, slipping it forever. She said it was to make the ride smoother for the passengers. ...and ya know, surpisingly the death of that car was the motor with the original clutch. go figure.

 

[khoney]

One Sunday morning, about 6:30AM, I awake to hearing a rather throaty engine revving real high. That's real odd, I think to myself... who would be doing this at 6:30 on a Sunday morning? Besides, no one on my street has a car that sounds like that, except... ME!!!!

I go downstairs and out to the garage, just in time to see my 17-year-old son pulling in with my MS3. His license had been revoked (by me) a month earlier (for wrecking one car and totalling another within a 24-hour period), and his car (a regular automatic Mazda 3) was taken away. Apparently, he decided he just HAD to see some girl at about 3AM, so he took my car. I had been questioning whether I ever received 2 sets of keys when I bought the car, because I could never find the 2nd set. Well I found out that morning where they were!

After tearing him a new one, I went back to bed. When I went back out to the garage later that morning, it absolutely REEKED of burned clutch. You see, we have a 65-foot driveway on an incline that ends in a left-hand garage. Apparently he had some real trouble getting the car in the garage - I had given him a couple of lessons on driving stick, but he certainly hadn't gotten the hang of it.

He is now 'carless' until after he turns 18 - I have no intention of reinstating his license.

Hope you enjoyed my 'clutch' story

 

[pointysticks]

I feel your pain, but it's not that easy to ruin a clutch.

Perhaps it did take some beating, and it rather sucks, but realistically it will probably last 100K anyways.

Peace.

yup. i have smoked many a clutch. usually on some 4x4, i am using to pull a stuck vehicle. it stinks, but that is all. calm down and parley it into some handjob or something.

 

[Super Unique]

Great clutch story

Boys will be boys though!

 

[sperry]

One Sunday morning, about 6:30AM, I awake to hearing a rather throaty engine revving real high. That's real odd, I think to myself... who would be doing this at 6:30 on a Sunday morning? Besides, no one on my street has a car that sounds like that, except... ME!!!!

I go downstairs and out to the garage, just in time to see my 17-year-old son pulling in with my MS3. His license had been revoked (by me) a month earlier (for wrecking one car and totalling another within a 24-hour period), and his car (a regular automatic Mazda 3) was taken away. Apparently, he decided he just HAD to see some girl at about 3AM, so he took my car. I had been questioning whether I ever received 2 sets of keys when I bought the car, because I could never find the 2nd set. Well I found out that morning where they were!

After tearing him a new one, I went back to bed. When I went back out to the garage later that morning, it absolutely REEKED of burned clutch. You see, we have a 65-foot driveway on an incline that ends in a left-hand garage. Apparently he had some real trouble getting the car in the garage - I had given him a couple of lessons on driving stick, but he certainly hadn't gotten the hang of it.

He is now 'carless' until after he turns 18 - I have no intention of reinstating his license.

Hope you enjoyed my 'clutch' story

I'm pretty sure if you dig around your local laws, you'll find fine print allowing you to legally beat said child within an inch of his life.

 

[wisniaPl]

I let my gf drive and she did very good...she drove manual first time

 

[happy and angry]

I let my girlfriend drive it all the time, she's pretty good driving stick. Of course, I taught her myself... it turned out to be worth the investment in time and aggrravation doing that. I recommend it to everyone!

 

[Super Unique]

even today with so few sticks on the market, I feel driving a car with standard shift is a skill that everyone should have. You never know when you will be in a situation where you have to do it.

 

[hectik1]

My wife wants to learn how to drive manual on my car....I promptly said NO!(first)

 

[happy and angry]

even today with so few sticks on the market, I feel driving a car with standard shift is a skill that everyone should have. You never know when you will be in a situation where you have to do it.

Not only that, but learning stick teaches you to pay attention to what is actually going on, both in the car and around you on the road. People who learn to drive stick, and learn to drive it well, learn to do small things like brake gently, apply gas gently, look ahead in traffic to see what's going on. They learn it because they have to, because it makes driving stick a whole lot easier, where as in an automatic you don't quite have that same need to focus on anything.

 

[Hyun]

but but... with automatic you can leaaann back like o.g lol

 

[08cosmic3]

Not only that, but learning stick teaches you to pay attention to what is actually going on, both in the car and around you on the road. People who learn to drive stick, and learn to drive it well, learn to do small things like brake gently, apply gas gently, look ahead in traffic to see what's going on. They learn it because they have to, because it makes driving stick a whole lot easier, where as in an automatic you don't quite have that same need to focus on anything.

WOW, I totally agree with you on this.

 

[SwampAss]

My wife drives mine. Well, did. She doesn't exactly know about anything that's been done to it. She drove it a few nights ago and remarked at how it almost got away from her. (ughdance)

She elected to not drive it anymore as she doesn't feel safe or secure especially when it's wet out.

What's funny is that her BMW isn't that slow. Its power delivery isn't delivered like a skillet to the face as the MS3 is. (first)