Burning Clutch

[skinner]

Had a bit of a Lax Power moment at the weekend which, instead of me leaving a nice smell of burning rubber, left me with a rather more worrying smell of burning clutch.

Has anyone else had similar experiences, if so what was the outcome? Are clutches on Elises as fagile as the engine cover?

The car is just over a year old with 11k on the clock.

[abz 7001]

Skinner, not wanting to hijack your thread but very intrigued to any answers as I have had a couple of these "moments" recently and thought I had caused a small fire in the engine bay. Whilst happy that I did not shorten the life of my Bridgestones I am however perplexed about´potential damage to the clutch!

Whats up with that?

[bogie]

yep - clutch isnt very good for standing starts etc...from new maybe good for 3 or 4 starts, after that it seems to slip all the time. If I go out in mine, drop the clutch at 4500 revs it just sits there and gos nowhere...guess I ought to get a new clutch soon (S2 14 months old, 27K miles)

[Gfun]

Same here S2 12k if you are too gentle it slips -

My solution so far is give it a blip and let the cluch go fully before burying the pedal (if its dry).

I'm not sure if its faster or slower but you dont get the burning pong (apart from the rubber)

[skinner]

Thanks all, good to know I am not the only potential Nova owner here!!

I popped into my local dealership yesterday to ask them about it as the car is still under waranty. If they drop the gearbox out and find no problem with the clutch I pay the labour, if there is an issue Lotus pick up the tab. So it is a couple of weeks seeing if the smell returns.

It does seem odd as I have had no slipping and the biting point hasn't moved. Just glazed?

[DanH]

If you are changing clutch, you may as well try the AP racing one as I don't think it costs any more.

I burnt my clutch a bit at north weald a while back, but appart from the stench no problems, although I don't do standing starts

[inb2003]

I did mine when some jerk stopped suddenly and parked ... just demonstrating my displeasure by reving and dropping the clutch...

Couple of days taking it easy and now its ok again... till the next time...

Must remember to get rolling before giving it serious gas...

[laughing apple]

What are you guys all on? Every time I go out the clutch gets a little warm and smelly. Nowt wrong with that - it is virtually in the cabin with you! If your clutch is slipping when foot off the pedal, go get it sorted. It shouldn't do that hot or cold. Could be a simple adjustment (may need a new clutch). Otherwise, for a standing start, the mix between clutch slip, tyre spin, tarmac grip, heat in the tyres and revs is a tough one to master. Remember though that you need some tyre slip to get the fastest launch and clutch slip should be pretty minimal. Yeeehaaa!

>> Edited by laughing apple on Wednesday 20th August 12:35