Clutch Feel
 

I test drove a new Cooper S with a manual transmission this weekend. Is it normal for the clutch to be vague and sticky? When I lift off, the pedal seems to be slow go up and the clutch engages really low. Also the shifter was rubbery.

Can anyone with a manual comment on how their clutch and shifter feels?

Thanks

Not much help. Over 60 years of driving a wide variety of vehicles with clutches there have never been any two that responded the same, from heavy grain trucks to English roadsters to my wee R52.

My 2015 S does not feel anything like that, particularly at the pedal, the engine and transmission are extremely forgiving though so it's very hard to outright stall it if that's what you mean. The shifter should be crisp and clean, that I can tell you for sure.

There is a lot of unused travel at the bottom of the pedal. I got a Burger clutch-stop, and that helped a lot. As soon as your foot lifts up, the engagement is right there. No hunting for it.

I thought the shifter isn't bad stock, but a Craven short shifter makes it much shorter and more crisp. A poly rear engine mount makes it a bit more solid as well.

Overall- pretty good shifting I think. Glad to have the manual.

I drove it for about 15 minutes on local roads and the highway.

The clutch engagement was very low, like almost at the floor.

My F56 S is smooth and engages about 1 inch or so of travel. The NM short shift is great. Compared to my wife's R58, hers is hard/stiff and you can feel it engage about half way down. F56's travel if further. As I drive both, I will take the F56's clutch any day although it took a while to get used to. Proper seat position, for longer pedal travel, was a challenge.

A question for previous and future posters: Do you disengage the clutch clear to the floor or just until you feel it? My reason for asking is this, Not fully cycling the clutch mechanism is one of the causes leading to a short TO bearing life. The pedal should be depressed clear to the floor. I had to bark at my co-pilot on more than one occasion to quit sitting at stop lights in gear/clutch disengaged and driving with her foot resting on the clutch pedal. Both contribute to a very short clutch and TO bearing life.

In the R series you can "feel" it more, the F series, not so much. From a stop, fully depressed. I have an S with a JCW tune so with the advanced timing it "feels" like it disengages "quicker." Also fully during normal driving. When accelerating faster, say entry ramp on Interstate (merging with 80 mph traffic), I "cheat" a little, a little over half way. But with rev matching and the syncromesh gears, it is not really cheating. Theoretically, you can shift up without a clutch if you in the correct RPM range. The short throw really helps-it cut shift lever travel about 50%. Had the same problem with my co-pilot years ago on my manual Porsche. Nothing will kill a clutch faster than riding it. The first thing I did when I picked the car up new was to disengage the auto start/stop as the car started when the clutch was slightly disengaged.

Slightly off topic...sorry. I bought a Craven Speed short shifter as well. Then got thinking if something went wrong with the trans would that effect the warranty ?? Only have 3800 miles on it.

How was it to install ??

Install isn't hard. Maybe an hour? There are some clips which are a pain, I think I used some needle-nose pliers. For sure put in their white bushing too, so you can destroy the OEM one upon removal and not have to worry about it.

If you're concerned, before any service you could easily slide the shifter back to stock (or near stock) height, in about 2 seconds without removing anything. If you are actually experiencing tranny issues, you could always spend the hour to remove it before bringing the car in- ought to be easier the 2nd time around.

I wouldn't let the dealer question stop the shifter install. =)