Quote:
Originally Posted by TEiN
Hey Ford Man,
While I appreciate the concept of "sink or swim", there's a big difference between being able to do something, and being able to do it well. Learning by yourself in most cases precludes the latter. Not saying that it isn't possible, just that it isn't likely.  |
I know I didn't do the greatest for the first few stops and starts, but I didn't burn the clutch out. For most people getting the feel of the clutch down for starting without stalling or rolling backward on an uphill start is 90% of the task of learning. I still drive manual transmission cars on a daily basis. The '88 Escort that I have with 503K miles on it, I bought with 146K miles and it has had the clutch replaced 1 time since I bought it (at about 310K miles) although I am expecting to have to replace it during the next 100-150K miles. The current clutch has approximately 200K miles on it. The only other clutch I've ever replaced on any vehicle I've owned was in an '84 Mazda pickup I bought new, it was changed at about 80K miles when a friend was doing some other work on some bearings in the transmission, so I told him to go ahead and replace the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing, but he told me when I picked it up, he changed it per my instructions even though the current clutch still looked nearly new. Of course I also grew up in an era where cars with manual transmissions were pretty common so I had learned too from just observing others.