I've never had problems with clutches or trannies before but from what I've heard, many people have had problems with theirs on their MINIs, especially the 1st gen models. Mine being an 02, I thought it wouldn't hurt to be a little more careful.

Do any of you all ride the clutch to allow smoother shifting? I always had, especially with coming out of first but now I am rethinking of changing some habits.

Also, do you downshift to slow down or put in neutral and brake? I've always downshifted while using the break but I never go into first. I go from 2nd to neutral if coming to a complete stop (redlight/stopsign/traffic, etc).

What are some good habits and bad habits to avoid, i.e. DO's and DONT's?

 

I downshift.

I grew up with cars with bad syncros, so I've always double-clutched.

I'm actively trying to ween myself from that habit - although it doesn't harm anything and is probably good.

 

When I had my IS300 I had to always use 1st gear when going around the parking lot, exiting driveways or making slow turns. You can do it on 2nd gear but you sense a lot of struggling from the car. So I brought this habit to my MINI. I would recommend it anyone with any car. It's less work on the clutch although it's more work to constantly shift gears.

Also about downshifting to slow down, I believe it's called engine braking. My dad taught me about that almost a decade ago and how it's healthier for the brakes in the long run. I don't see how it will hurt the car if you're downshifting it correctly. Double-clutching makes it smoother and sometimes use heel-toe. All for the sake of keeping the clutch healthy.

 

Downshifting is fun, and you are correct it is engine braking and saves the brakes. However, it is harder on the clutch unless you are great on matching the revs. I love to downshift as it makes running the car more fun and faster but brakes are much cheeper and easier to replace. Just my $.02.

 

I don't think downshifting "hurts" your car and it does save the brakes. There is no free lunch in physics though, and all that momentum has to go somewhere. In other words, you can't "save the brakes" and not have the expensive shift somewhere else. Something has to pay the price.

Clutch, transmission and engine take the load in engine braking (coupled with downshifting). it's an important technique to master and useful on long downhills to keep the brakes from overheating and fading (working, but less effectively).

Around town, engine braking (and downshifting) it's mostly just something to do.

How many brake jobs can you do for 1 clutch replacement?

A lot.

 

I heel-toe or rev match for all downshifting, I usually downshift and keep the car in gear until a complete stop then hit neutral, I don't ride the clutch for more than 10 seconds. (having the pedal fully depressed while stopped. So no feathering through the friction zone for smoothness, hill holding, etc.)

 

I dont ride the clutch 1st-2nd when I'm alone, but when I'm with someone I tend to ride the clutch a bit and keep it smooth.
On Downshifting: I double clutch 6th-4th-3rd-2nd-N when going stopping at lights. I brake in between shifting if needed (Which it is most of the time). I don't heel and toe because frankly with the gas pedal anchored at the bottom I can't seem to properly do it, however I have not really tried to perfect it.

I tend to shift at about 4k until 4th, then much much earlier as you're doing at least 60 by then. Sometimes I just put it in 6th from fourth, unless I'm on the highway accelerating then I go 6th->4th...Gas then 5th-6th.

What are the things that wear the clutch other than riding it? I've always been taught that it is better to have the car struggling a bit than to shift, which sounds like it could be wrong.

 

Well, double clutching puts 2x the wear on the throwout bearing, slave cylinder, and pedal mechanisms; while saving the clutch disk. Rev matching and heel-toe save the clutch disk and only put normal wear on the other parts - same as conventional downshifting.

I keep my revs above at least 3,000 rpm all the time. Lugging an engine is bad because the stresses on the crank and internals aren't as smooth and balanced as they would be at higher rpm.

 

Double-clutching adds essentially zero wear to the clutch plate. There is very little inertia in the gearbox, so the clutch engagement that happens while you're in neutral is doing almost no work.

On the whole, I would think double-clutching is less stressful on the clutch plates than not. The whole point is to match the speed of everything, so if done properly the second engagement should also have very little slip.

Maybe I've talked myself back into double-clutching as a routine.

 

And while we're at it, I've always considered "riding the clutch" to be the (abhorring) practice of intentionality slipping the clutch for the purpose of holding the car on a grade.

Some degree of clutch slip is an intended necessity when starting from a stop and the clutch had better be designed for it.

 

4-5 brake jobs to 1-clutch

 

Now correct me if I'm wrong but the throwout bearing should incur next to zero wear unless the clutch is held in the disengaged position.
The revs I'll agree with you on. Car always seems happier and more stable upwards of 3k

 

I think the majority of wear on a throw out bearing occurs when the bearing contacts the pressure plate and the bearing transitions from not spinning at all to spinning a engine speed nearly instantaneously.

When the bearing is not spinning there is essentially no lubrication film between the rollers and races. It take some (small) amount of time for the lubrication to become effective. Very similar to how most engine wear happens when you start the engine.

The loads that a throw out bearing transmit should be trivial for the size of the bearing. The sizing is based on needing to fit over the transmission input shaft, resulting in the bearing being much larger than needed based on loading.

Holding the clutch released (pedal pressed) should be very light duty for the bearing.

 

I know this might sound ridiculous coming from someone who has only ever owned a 5 speed (and I've been driving for 6 years now) but I'm not sure how to double clutch or perform the heal-toe technique. I am okay and matching revs: If am to engine brake, say 4th to 3rd, while still in 4th I'll coast or brake some (depending how much time I have) and then disengage the clutch, switch to 3rd, keep the clutch in and brake till I am about the appropriate speed/rev and then Ill release the clutch pedal. It feels smooth but I guess that doesn't mean it's good.

Also, about keeping the RPM at 3,000+ I don't normally keep it that high. I keep my RPM around 2,500 unless I am going uphill of course. But with the mini and the way it's gear ratios are compared to my previous cars, I keep the rev closer to 3,000. I didn't know it was hard on the engine. I thought lower RPM meant less stress.

Are MINIs designed to be able to slip the clutch a little, i.e., when starting in first without running the chance of ruining the clutch? I just want to keep my car in good condition as long as possible.

And yeah, I always keep the shifting smoother when I have passengers. Today I was out driving around just to get a feel for the clutch release point. I squeeled the tires a few times by accident lol. I'm trying to learn to keep the clutch pedal play as limited as possible. Hope I am not counteracting my intentions and end up ruining it...
I also need to learn to let my left leg rest on the dead pedal rather than the clutch and to keep my hand off the shifter...

 

I'm not sure what your technique would be called, but rev matching would be: say you are traveling in 3rd gear at 3,000 and you want to downshift and get on it. So you would push the clutch in, hold, blip the gas to bring the revs to 4,000 or so, then move the shifter to 2nd, then release the clutch and get on the gas. You could also use it for decelerating.

As for heel-toe, I made a drawing for this a while back.

X = pedal is not touched
-> = pedal is pushed or actuated
O = pedal is held


The idea is similar to rev matching but you use heel-toe to get ready for a corner with the brake and you want to maintain the balance of the car or to use engine braking and regular brakes at the same time, also maintaining the balance of the car.

 

Every press of the clutch pedal puts wear on the bearing, regardless of whether the clutch plate is moving or not.

As long as you are matching rev's to the gear you are placing no addition wear on the engine or trany while coming to a stop. One advantage to this is that you are always in gear so you can move the car quickly if needed.

Riding the clutch when starting out is a part of driving a manual, just try to minimize the time spent using partial clutch.

When you are coming to a stop you need to rev up the engine a bit so that the engine speed matches the gear you are dropping down to, not coasting.

 

I've driven several standard transmission cars over the years and the MINI is by far the oddest feeling to date. Turns out BMW decided to try out an old idea and use a dual mass flywheel on our MINI's. Look it up if you need an explanation.

What it boils down to is that the flywheel is now sprung and thus gives in to some rotational force that varies depending on a number of factors. I think the idea was to make things more comfortable. Unfortunately, this has, for me, made determining optimum shift points a little difficult at times as it is hard to determine how much give the flywheel has in it. Now when going all out it's not an issue but when doing some mild accelerating around town the clutch has felt like it was engaged when it actually wasn't and vice-versa.

Love the gearbox though, nice piece of kit there.

 

Downshifting: If you are not rev matching, using heel and toe or dbl clutch, I would not downshift thru the gears on daily basis. The slipping of the clutch as you engage each downshift does add wear.

If fact I don't recommend using heavy compression braking to slow the car at all, that's why they put brakes on the car. For instance I have ridden with people who, while heading down an exit ramp, shift from 5 to 4th, slip the clutch, compression brake, then to 3rd slip clutch compression brake, THEN add some brake, down to second, slip clutch again. I would ask them if they were mad at the engine for something?!

Nabeshin's artful illustration (luv the shoes!) is great. Practice heel and toe down shifts, the most challenging part is keeping your brake pedal pressure consistent while blipping the throttle. It is easy to learn this safely on the street and will make you a smoother, easy on the car driver. Just be smooth with all your inputs while practicing.

Also, never ride your foot on the clutch in between shifts. period. That's what the dead pedal is for. Foot moves to clutch, shift, back to dead pedal. It's a good habit to learn and having your foot on the clutch does not make you any smoother.

 

The term Riding the Clutch is a very old term and has nothing to do with holding a hill or starting from rest. It is a bad practice that came from either no good place to rest your left foot (no dead pedal) or trying to stay ready for the next shift. But, the problem is that any pressure on the clutch pedal, even if it is inadvertent, causes a bit of slippage. The clutch stays hot and wears out prematurely. The clutch is designed to tolerate slippage from starting as it is of short duration. It is not designed to tolerate long term slippage caused by having continual pressure on the pedal.

 

The only problem with this is that if you need to accelerate suddenly, for whatever reason, I think you will be in the wrong gear. You need to disengage the clutch, shift, reengage the clutch and then accelerate. That's a lot to accomplish if something is getting larger in your rear view mirror, for example.

In your situation, there will be some engine braking; it is just a matter of degree. The only way not to have engine braking would be to disengage the clutch. I think that would be freewheeling. I am originally an Ohioan and from I remember, freewheeling used to be illegal.

 

Never ride the clutch. Even the slightest pressure on the pedal loads the throwout bearing and can cause clutch slippage you're not aware of. Let the clutch out as fast, but also as smoothly as possible. Let it fully engage. Then, fully depress the clutch when shifting up or down. Sometimes you don't have to press the clutch all the way, but you want to make sure you're completely disengaging the clutch. To check, stop, put the car in 1st, then very slowly let the clutch out and notice when the clutch first starts to engage. Note how far the pedal is from the floor. When you shift, you want to make sure the clutch is pressed far enough to get into the zone where the clutch is not engaged.

Of course, you can shift with some engagement of the clutch. But the more the clutch is engaged when you shift, the more wear and tear on the synchros.

As for downshifting and using the engine to slow the car down, remember that brake bads and rotors are a lot cheaper than clutches and transmissions. For every day driving use the brakes more and down shift to be in the right gear for the next accelleration. You should be using little engine braking. However, when driving spiritedly in the twisties, more use of engine braking can be advantageous. Just don't use engine braking all the time or to max effect.

Cheers!

 

Wow, some great info. Thanks everyone. I'll have to master those techniques, especially the rev-matching. I've been keeping my foot on the dead pedal so that's one improvement.
When in the city and having to stop at frequent stoplights/sign's, I'll use the breaks more. In cases like that, do put the car in neutral or just keep the clutch pressed in (if you know you'll be coming to a complete stop).

As for the heel-toe, you use the heel for the break, keep pressure steady but subtle, and use the toe to give gas to raise RPM to prepare the engine for the increase of RPM that will occur when downshifting, correct? Similar to rev-matching but with the brake? Sorry, but the diagram was a little confusing to me lol.

I've been practicing reducing clutch slip and re-engaging the clutch as soon as possible when shifting gears without making it lurch.

 

As I do it, heel-toe actually uses the ball of my foot and the edge of my pinky toe. I press the brake, hold it there, then pivot my foot onto the gas. I'll add some to my post above to explain a little more.

 

With the pedal setup in the Mini you don't really heal and toe with your heal and toe.

More like the left side of you foot on the brake on the right on the gas.

Just like Nabeshin's picture.

One of the interesting things I noticed right away is that this pedal setup is exactly like that on the BMW 2002 that I learned to heal and toe on. Not surprizing I suppose, considering both cars have the same parents.

So to me the pedal arrangement is like coming home to a favorite chair.

 

Don't worry, I didn't know how to heal toe nor double clutch, down shift or anything when I first started to drive. Just play around when traffic is light to learn to heal toe. You'll get use to it. Now I every technique for daily driving cept double clutching without even thinking. Double clutching isn't needed.