Love everything about my V8V except the transmission.

It's a new manual transmission V8V. I have driven it 1500 miles so far, and I have still not become comfortable with the clutch take up. Dealer says there is no adjustment possible.

Car stalls frequently, especially in reverse or if starting in front of a speed bump. It seems like the RPM's drop too much as soon as the clutch starts to engage. The throttle input does not feed in smoothly and it can stall. Trying to compensate with more throttle input results in clutch burning smell.

Is this a clutch problem or technique problem? I have driven manual transmissions for 35 years in everything from Fiats to Vipers and never found one that that is this irritating...

Thanks

 

I think that's pretty much how these cars are. Reverse gear is way too high, resulting in having to slip the clutch and make it burn on any incline. It's also very easy to stall the car when moving off, compounded by the fact that the mapping seems to cut the fuel if you lift off the throttle at all. I never really got on with mine, but when I changed to a V12 Vantage it was much superior in the low speed driveability, I think the V12 has a twin friction plate clutch setup.

 

You've discovered the high gearing in reverse
It is close to 2nd so needs some extra revs, DO NOT slip it as this will wear the clutch out
This another reason why I prefer ASM2

 

I have to think something is wrong.

I'm a lifetime clutch user like you and I've never had any trouble with mine. Granted, mine came to me pre-loved with 18,000 miles on it, but the clutch seems plenty grippy. I don't slide excessively in reverse though I reaize that it is a rather tall gear.

I've stalled the car once or twice rolling out of first, only because I was daydreaming or otherwise distracted.

No way should you be having such a struggle if your years of clutch use have been on any decent variety of vehicles. Can you go to your local AM dealer and try out a showroom car that has a clutch?

 

The rear is geared too high as others have said - I agree. But I'm OK in mine going forward and don't find it problematic in the least...unless I'm going into my garage and climbing the transitions at low speed, then it can sometimes stall.

Get another Vantage owner to try yours, see what they think.

 

You should not be putting any throttle until the clutch is 80-90% all the way out. What you are doing is applying way too much throttle then pulling the clutch out too fast so it's dropping like a rock as it drops.

Try going to an empty parking lot and completely pulling the clutch out slowly without using any throttle. Once you realize it takes almost zero throttle you will realize you cannot drive this car like any other.

For the record, I have make it all the way to 6th gear WITHOUT even touching the throttle, takes patience but the idle computer manages to add all the throttle you need to prevent it from stalling.

 

What 007 said. Took me > 3000 miles to figure it out -- lots of trial and error, and some ugly hiccuping starts and stalls. Wait until clutch is almost all the way out, then come on throttle smoothly as you let out the remaining clutch. Also takes time to develop muscle memory for where that magic point is with these V8V clutches. My starts are now very nice (although starting on an uphill can still be challenging).

 

It's a little bit of both. The clutch engagement point is a bit different on the car, which is a "problem" if you're accustomed to cars that engage more quickly, but you can adjust your technique to account for this. It just takes more clutch pedal travel until you get to the engagement point and providing enough throttle.

 

+1 on the clutch being 'unique'.... and getting better with it in time. After 6mo I still can stall in reverse trying to go up a slight incline. (Always lame when parking in public). Hard to go slow in reverse. Also if your 1st gear take off is not perfect it can lurch a tad. Doesn't happen often. 'Seems' to me that there is a light flywheel in there... Took some practice to correctly do near redline up-shifts without the revs dropping too quick. My clutch has 46k on it... but a friend who valets high end cars said it felt 'new' in its take up.

I'd agree, try to see if there is another car you can drive and compare to. Best with the new ride.

 

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. It really seems to help to just avoid throttle completely until clutch almost all the way out. Just takes patience and practice. Very different from other cars for sure... Really glad I posted this!

 

mine was doing the same thing when I got it. it acts a little like a racing clutch, probably has a lot of pressure plate pressure. but, after smoking it going reverse on a real steep driveway exit, the propensity to stall went a way. almost like the clutch needed to be bedded . now its actually a joy to drive and no more lump accels from stops. I don't recommend cooking the clutch to bed it, but whatever I did, seemed to fix it because it was kind of a pain to drive. 2nd gear starts cured the problem if the start was really slow. quick first gear take offs were either very very slow, or clutch dumps and almost burning rubber to not have that "stalling" characteristic.

 

For the record, you can make it all the way to 6th gear without touching the throttle AT ALL. It's a great exercise to try and will teach you how to get rolling smoothly with almost no throttle.

At idle in 6th gear the car will sustain 20mph all day long lol. Thanks to the unbelievable amount of rotating mass in our motors, the engine can rest on its idle computer alone in gear, I have never driven any other car that can do this, it's quite impressive lol.

 

Aside from the reverse gear being horrible, I actually love the transmission and clutch engagement in my V8V. I have an upgraded clutch, so that might play into it, but I've found every manual AM I've driven to feel extremely similar and very, very easy to drive. The only thing I suck at are downshifts on track. But that's because I'm entirely incapable of heel-toe lol

 

In your defense, I find the brake and throttle pedals poorly placed and shaped for heel-toe action. My '69 Datsun 510, now that was a heel-toe driver!

 

I thought they fixed the reverse gear in 2012. I read about problems related to the gearing but that was with the AMT. The 2012.5 has the AMT2 and it drives really well. 30k miles on mine and the computer indicate 50% life left on my clutch (although I am told the computer can be significantly off in this regard). Either way, on a new car, I would approach the dealer about options or maybe some instruction on clutch characteristics of your car.