I was able to visit the dealer in Minneapolis yesterday again and they're currently waiting for the new clutch assembly for my DBS. I drove the car at length yesterday and it's experiencing the common problem with the clutches in early 6-speed cars. Very noisy and a VERY high pedal (engagement point).

The clutch pedal in my DB9 has always felt a little bit too high for my liking as well. I'm referring to the point at which the clutch engages in relation to the position of the pedal. Your foot has to be nearly off the pedal for it to grab.. It's always been a little unnerving but I've gotten used to it over the years. I've read that this behavior is a sign of clutch wear but my DB9 has always been like this and hasn't gotten any "worse" over the years at all.

While at the dealer yesterday I had a chance to speak with the tech who will be performing the work on the DBS and expressed my concern to him. He seemed to know exactly the symptom I was talking about and I asked him about any type of adjustment that could be made to correct the pedal engagement point etc. He said that there's not any adjustment like this but then said something very interesting regarding the car getting the new "updated" clutch assembly and there was a TSB regarding this noisy clutch problem.

I'm just wondering if anyone has had any first hand experience with this? If someone has had the "newer" improved clutch installed in their car after having these problems with the original clutch.

I'm really hoping the clutch update will correct this characteristic of these cars that has always bothered me. If it does I think I will go ahead and have the clutch changed in my DB9 also. Anyone have experience with this?

 

I'm not sure the high engagement point is related to wear. Every Vantage I've driven has been like that. So it shouldn't really change over the life of the clutch. You'll get different symptoms when the clutch begins to go.

I do think, however, that it's directly related to premature clutch wear. I've seen plenty of drivers get on the gas before they've let the clutch fully engage (they aren't used to the clutch pedal having to be released). I wrote about it a little while ago in a blog post. Here's a big copy/paste so I don't get in trouble for linking

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The easiest way to explain how a clutch wears out prematurely is to go back to our childhoods. Well, for some of us this is still relevant. Remember back when you had your bicycle, and you'd turn it over so it rested on the seat and handlebars with the tires facing up. You'd spin the wheel nice and fast and then try to stop it with your hand.

Your hand is the clutch, the tire is the flywheel. If you grazed the tire with your hand, the tire tread would rub your hand at a high speed and possibly even hurt or burn your skin. If you grab the tire rather than graze it, the tire would come to a quick stop and you'd barely feel a thing.

This is [metaphorically] exactly how a clutch is when engaging.

Getting on the gas before the clutch is fully engaged is like grazing the tire with your hand. Waiting until the clutch is fully engaged is like grabbing it - the clutch has grabbed the flywheel. Clutches do wear out eventually as there's still a small amount of wear on the clutch when done right, but it's minimal compared to burning the clutch.
Astons have an engagement point that is high in the pedal stroke compared to its release point. This results in a lot of drivers giving the car gas too early, before the clutch has fully engaged, and prematurely wearing out the clutch.

What I see people do is they let off the gas pedal, press in the clutch pedal, shift, then get on the gas as they let off the clutch.

What they need to do is let off the gas, press in the clutch, shift, let off the clutch pedal, then get on the gas.

 

The clutch replacement only fixes the 'squawking' that occurs if you apply too many revs upon engagement from a stop. Not gonna change pedal engagement height, unfortunately. It's a design characteristic that was poorly chosen IMO. Makes it hard to smoothly control the clutch engagement since your foot needs to be off the floor because the pedal is so high. It'd be much better if you could keep your heel in contact with the floor, but nooo...

Frankly, I'd prefer if the DBS/DB9 had SSM because of this flaw. So easy to stall these cars from a standstill, particularity in reverse.

 

When cars had mechanical linkage clutches this was an easy adjustment. With
Hydraulic activated clutches the engagement point has to be built in the design.

Interesting Stuart's dual clutch conversation for the v8 vantage uses a spacer behind the clutch actuator I believe. Changing the thickness of this spacer would change the engagement point.

Stuart can comment on this

 

I thought that was to adapt the V12's clutch to the V8... but I'm curious if it does affect the engagement, too.

 

That is the purpose I believe. But a change in thickness should affect the engagement point

 

Thanks for the comments. The tech I spoke with also didn't think there was anything they could do. The only hope I'm holding onto is that my salesman drove the car also and he owns a 2011 V12V with a manual trans as well. He is saying that the clutch in the DBS feels completely different in regards to the engagement point and pedal travel. Normally I would just discount this kind of thing based on a salesman telling me what I want to hear..but this guy is an enthusiast as well who really understands my concern and I just don't think he's doing that.

That being said, is the clutch in the V12V different? Has anyone driven both cars and can give an opinion of the difference (if there is one)? I remember reading a thread Irish commented in a couple years ago where he indicated that the clutch pedal (high) engagement point indicated that the clutch was getting worn..

Every V12 Manual Aston I've ever driven was an early car without this "updated" clutch and they have all had this characteristic. The other thing I noticed while driving my new car yesterday was (beyond the noise) that it just seemed to instantly GRAB hard at the top of the pedal travel, and forget about downshifting..it made a horrible screetch when you release the clutch during downshifting..even when rev matching. Maybe there's more going on with the clutch in my car then just the noise that the TSB is addressing.

I'd love to hear from someone who has had a clutch change and received this updated version and software update. I did find some old posts on the Pistonheads or AMOC forums with comments from guys who have and they say it's a completely different animal now with the new clutch...but no real specifics. I guess I'll know pretty soon.

@XJRS OWNER: I agree with you completely. Your heel should be able to rest on the floor. I've had my DB9 for years and it's still a bit unnerving pulling out into traffic from a dead stop. Really a silly problem for cars like these to have.

 

Ive always prefered clutch engagement to be high. For me it helps make shifts very quickly since the clutch travel of disengagememt is quite short.

 

I agree. After a little practice modulating the clutch at super low speeds (I can go from a dead stop to 1st then 2nd gear without ever touching the gas), I've gotten to the point that I can shift super quickly when running the car hard.

 

You won't find second gear until that gearbox has warmed up.

 

hahaha yeah, fair point - I can only do the 'no gas' thing when the gearbox is already warmed up

 

Haha 99% of my manual driving has been in the lotus / aston, I get so used to the high engagement point. When I drive my girlfriend's fiat abarth, its so jerky because I would not get on the gas until after the clutch grabs (but my foot is still clutched in) and I could never get the hang of it. I always complain to her that her clutch grabs too deep into the pedal lol

 

Lol, I once had a manual fiat abarth for a loaner while the v12v was getting serviced, fun little car but the cluthes couldn't be more different between the two...it was like relearning how to drive a stick

 

Anyone ever experience some odor from the clutch? Just got this new clutch installed and I've noticed on a few occasions, usually when backing out of the garage or an angled (street) parking space (up an incline) the smell of burning clutch.

I've been driving manual transmissions for almost 30 years now and never have to slip the clutch in any of my cars very much. Certainly nothing that would be considered abuse or excessive.

Could this be normal "break in"? I'm not THAT worried about it... Yet, but you guys all know how things like this seem to haunt us fanatics.

 

Sounds normal to me when reversing.