Hi guys

First post, looking to buy my first MC, and I want to buy a manual.

Problem is, I cant drive stick, and know that i will burn a clutch learning.

Are clutches included in Warranty/Service contract (I mean, it is definitely unscheduled maintentence)?

 

Satinsixstring,

Aloha from Hawaii and welcome to NAM.

Best way to learn to drive a stick is to rent one and practice for a few days.
Or find a friend with an old car like a Honda with a stick and practice for a few days. Or get a driving teacher that has access to a stick and get some lessons.

It's pretty easy to learn how to drive the MINI with manual. I don't think you will have much of a harder time than anyone else. I taught my 20 year old daughter in a few days on my MCS, her first try at manual.

The clutch if it fails really early probably would be covered under warranty but you can't really make the same claim if it was a few years old and had over 30,000 miles on it and it was raced.

It's really not that bad at all.

Here's another idea- true story too.
Go to a honda dealer. Tell them you want an Accord with manual transmission. You heard it was good. You want to test drive it. Can they help you take it out. They might do it. The sales people at my Honda dealership take out people that have never driven stick before for a test drive on the street! Beats me how they can do that.
Gutsy I guess.

 

What you are saying is that up until now you have never really driven a car, you just steered and braked while it drove itself!

There is no rule that says that if you learn to drive on a stick you will burn out a clutch. Both of my daughters were taught at age 16 to drive on a car with a stick, and neither of them has burned out anything. We have 7 cars - all sticks.

The trick is understanding that a car with a stick and clutch will never shift as smoothly as a car with a torque convertor eating up power to smooth things out. If you try to be "smooth" you WILL burn out a clutch. Learn to appreciate the control that you gain, even if you give up a little smoothness in shifting. A turbocharged engine and a good tight clutch is a pleasure to drive - but it ain't no Caddy.

 

With some dealerships, it's hard to convince them that parts that break on your car aren't your problem and should be covered under warranty. Things like clutches are part of the owners responsibility, unless something odd happens to it before it's estimated time of repair/replacement. It then may still be a touchy deal with your dealership, it they're the kind of dealership that are sticky with accepting natural faults with the car.
Now with learning how to drive stick, it is actually easier than it sounds. It only takes like an hour or so or less to catch on. The biggest part about it is, is the hills. Other than that, don't think you're going to fry too much with learning. But like it has been suggested, find a friend that wouldn't mind lending you his/her junker car to learn. Or if you can find a rental car dealer that actually has stick shift cars, then take out for a bit. Or if you have a few extra bucks, buy some old manual shift junker for a hundred bucks that are usually for sale around town, then turn around and sell it after. I'd be a little leary on teaching or learning on a new car. Severe damage to the car would depend on how quick a learner the person is, and how hard they drive. Get the proper teacher, and it should be ok. But if I were you, I'd exhaust my efforts to find something else to learn on.
Cheers, and good luck. Welcome to the group btw as well.

 

Hank Aaron Mini in Atlanta let my wife test drive an MCS (with a stick, of course), on the street--and she had never driven a stick before.

 

To answer your question simply; No, clutches are considered wear items (like brakes and tires) and are not covered under the service plan or the warranty. Some dealership may be nice and replace them under their good-faith budget, but I wouldn't bank on it. Best bet is to learn the basics of manual shifting on something less valuable.

How to learn to drive a manual transmission:
Rule #1: Get off the clutch pedal! You [basically] can't kill it if you're not slipping it!
Rule #2: Learn to improve your foot to ear to eye coordination. Balancing the clutch with throttle with whatever gear is important for smooth shifting and maximum fuel economy (or fast shifts). Just learning you need to not concern yourself with this, but just getting into gear without burning the clutch or the tires (much).
Rule #3: No really: get off the clutch pedal
Rule #4: stalling? USE MORE GAS, NOT MORE CLUTCH. It's way less expensive to buy tires than clutches
Rule #5: GET OFF THE CLUTCH PEDAL!

there, now you're ready

 

Not quite... If you get the extended maintenance plan (4yrs/50k miles) it does in fact cover 1 clutch replacement.

However, my wife learned to drive a manual on our MINI (and it was no easy task, not becuase it was hard, but becuase she was quick to throw her hands up in disgust!) and didn't destroy our clutch...

But, her riding the clutch the length of The Dragon has probably knock a few thousand shifts off the life of our clutch!!!

 

Might be good to read about what a clutch does and what can go wrong.

See
http://www.indiacar.com/index2.asp?p...ank/clutch.htm
They mention:
Don't: rest foot on clutch pedal while driving, slip or ride the clutch for long periods, use old or contaminated hydraulic fluid.
and see
http://alliance-docs.freightliner.co...efault;pt=6942
"Damage to clutch"-
Overloading will not only result in damage to the clutch, but also to the entire power train.

Riding the Clutch Pedal

Riding the clutch pedal is very destructive to the clutch, since partial clutch engagement permits slippage, generating excessive heat. Riding the clutch pedal will also put a constant thrust load on the release bearing, which can thin out the lubricant. Release bearing failures can be attributed to this type of misuse.

Holding the Vehicle on an Incline With a Slipping Clutch

A slipping clutch accumulates heat faster than it can be dissipated, resulting in early clutch failures. Never use the clutch as a hill holder.

Coasting With the Clutch Released (Pedal Depressed) and the Transmission in Gear

Coasting with the clutch released and the transmission in gear can cause high driven disc rpm through multiplication of ratios from the final drive and transmission.

High driven disc rpm could cause the clutch facing to be thrown off the discs. Ample safety factors are provided for normal operation, but the burst strength of the facing is limited. If this limit is exceeded, flying debris could cause injury to persons in the cab.

Engaging the Clutch While Coasting

Engaging the clutch while coasting can result in tremendous shock loads and possible damage to the clutch, as well as to the entire drivetrain.
---------------------
Stay off the clutch pedal unless you need to shift and shift slowly and precisely.

 

Thought all normal wear items are covered under the warranty. I seriously doubt that you'll burn so much clutch that you'll shorten its life THAT much.
You really need to smoke it like slip it in 3rd gear going uphill from a standstill
for over 30sec to kill a clutch and warp flywheel.

You'll be fine to learning MT on the Cooper...id be little more worried about
breaking gears accidentally.

Also, anyone can pretty much learn how to make a MT car move. to really
know how to drive it like if the car's part of your body, it takes a few years
practice. It's sorta like learning a musical instrument.

 

My mini is not here yet and will be a 2006 MCS. What type of clutch does it have? Hydraulic or cable. The reason I ask is that when we bought our 1991 Mercury XR2 (which we still have) the Turbo had a cable clutch and the normally aspirated version had a hydraulic clutch. In reality, it would probably be easier to burn out the clutch on the non-turbo version, since the clutch disk is not as strong and the hydraulic "self-adjusting" clutch allows more slippage.

I assume the S version has a stiffer, stronger clutch disk and cable actuation. Am I correct?

 

2005 or 2006? I don't think anybody outside of BMW/MINI knows what the 2006 clutch will be for sure yet. The 2006 is supposed to feature a new engine so the clutch may change as well...

 

I thought the changes were going to be in '07

 

Actually from what I'm reading the changes are for 2006-07. Don't know if that's because they aren't quite sure when they'll be ready to release the redesign, or if it's for the 2007 MY which will be released in mid 2006.

 

I used Click & Clack's method after my daughter spent I don't know how many frustrating hours trying to modulate gas/clutch. Their advice: Don't use the gas when starting out, just the clutch. I tried it and it works. Modern cars with the engine management software will provide enough fuel to get the car moving without using the gas pedal, at least on fairly level ground. That means you can concentrate on letting the clutch pedal up smoothly to start out without thinking about the gas. Once you can start moving smoothly, modulating the gas pedal will be easy.

 

The MINI is very easy to drive, for a stick it is very forgiving and I think you could learn pretty fast. Not enough gas, too much gas, starting in 3rd all result in acceptable outcomes (not stalling). You can let the clutch out with out any gas and the car will not stall.


Go for it!

 

I have to agree with most here. Once you get the hang of it you will be driving it like a champ in no time. I taught both of my kids to drive a stick when they were about ten. We live in a rural area so it's no problem for them to learn to drive early.

They are both now extremely good with a stick and won't drive anything else.

I would be surprised if you burn out a clutch. You will just need a day or two of practice. Learn to use the hand brake to take off from a stop sign or red light on hills without rolling back into the car behind you. Simply hold the button on the hand brake in and hold the car from rolling backwards until the clutch starts getting hold of the car, then release the hand brake while simultaneously engaging the clutch the rest of the way and giving it the gas. Once you get this skill down, you are a bonafide stick shift afficionado.

You can do it and you will really enjoy driving a manual transmission. Go for it.

Good luck,

 

The MINI has a very light clutch ,so It does not take much pressure from your
foot to depress and control the movement.Try driving an older 1/2 ton,with either a stick or three on the tree shifter,you have to hold on to the steering wheel to push in the clutch,and in stop and go traffic your left leg feels like
it is doing a stair master,with one legGo for it ,way more fun IMO