Now that it is spring my wife, who hated the idea of my getting the S now wants to drive it. She has driven sticks in the past but not enough to the point where she is comfortable or good enough to drive by herself. Last night was the first night I let her attempt to drive the car, she did not do horrible but she did stall it about 4 or 5 times. She has driven all of my cars that where sticks in the past, and she was even able to drive my fathers viper, it just takes her a little while to get used to the car. How bad am I killing my clutch if she keeps stalling the car. I have never had to replace a clutch in any of my cars, but I have read on this site that the S2000's clutch is kind of weak. I even remember one post where someone replaced their clutch at a little over 10000 miles. So do I let her continue driving it until she gets used to it or not.

 

I would be more concerned with wear on the starter motor.

Clutch problems occur when you rev the engine way up and try to let the clutch out gently so that the power overwhelms the clutch and spins it, frying the friction material. A beginner driver is not likely to hurt your clutch very much.

I spent a couple of sessions with my 15-year old daughter, teaching her how to drive a stick shift by using my S2000. The first thing we did was practiced getting the car moving without giving it any gas at all. That teaches the concept of friction points and how to keep from releasing the clutch too quickly. She still occasionally makes jerky starts, but most of the time she's able to start and shift rather smoothly.

 

I agree. No harm in a few practice stalls.

 

i say find an easier car to learn the clutch on and one thats not your s2000!
repeated dropping the clutch and killing the engine can do more harm than to the clutch- although probably more long-term damage than short-term...

 

It is cheaper to replace a clutch than a wife.

 

Stalling and your clutch burning have nothing to with eachother. You burn your clutch when you give the car gas while not having the clutch at the "catch-point." thats when u get that burned peanut butter smell, and can feel it grind (sorta) on the clutch. Dont worry about it, unless shes letting up the clutch really slow ur ok. its seems like she knows how to drive

 

I think he has a point there.

 

She's doing okay, stalling won't hurt the clutch but riding it will. By riding the clutch...... this means not releasing the pedal all the way while the car begins to move....... or trying to balance the car on a hill. This is bad, because while this seems cool, it burns the clutch because the friction material is slipping, sort of half engage and half disengage. Happy motoring

 

Just something from an old fart here that has been driving standards for forty years. The basic rule....from the days of cars being introduced.....is to slowly increase the gas pedal as you slowly release the clutch pedal. Not ridiculously slow, but down on one as you go up on the other. Once the person has that learned, they will increase the speed of the maneuver and learn to give the car just enough gas to keep the engine running, and release the clutch as quickly as possible to minimize wear, but not so quick as to cause jerking and drive train stress. You can actually light up the rears this way w/o hurting anything much more than the tires. Be gentle and she'll last forever. Clutch popping is kid stuff. I'll sit here in my shawl now and wait for the flames.

 

This is a good point. A lot of beginner drivers will hold their foot either on the clutch peddle or just over it in preperation for the next shift. Inevitably, the leg gets tired and they start putting more and more pressure on the peddle which can cause slippage that's not necessarily noticable but it will take a lot of life out of the clutch. My Dad taught me to put my left foot firmly on the floor when it wasn't on the peddle at an intersection or during shifting when he noticed that I was riding the clutch. I wasn't even aware that I was doing it until he pointed it out. Placing my foot all the way to the floor between shifts was a pain at first but I quickly got used to it. I learned how important this can be when a friend of the family fried a brand new clutch in about 18k miles on an MG Miget. It can add up!

Drive Safe,
Steve R.