BritCGT

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, as I am not someone that knows a great deal about computers and was unaware that such places exist!

A friend of mine suggested I came and asked my question to the members here, so here I am.

I am curious about the mileage people are getting out of their clutch on the CGT. I purchased mine from brand new and had it about 6 months and had done about 1800 miles when the clutch expired on me. None of the mileage had been done particularaly agressively and I have never taken the car to the track. I wondered if this is what others had experienced? Or if not what sort of mileage they are getting from theirs?

Thank you for your help.

themarsman

I have about 3800 miles on mine and the clutch is still perfect, I think either you had a defective clutch or you might want to work on your technique for launching the car. From everything I have read the clutch is very durable if used properly.

By the way how much did they charge you to replace the clutch?

fayence

I'm at 3000 miles with no issues, including a track day and autocross day.

1958 Convertible D

Mine is #727 with 2,500 miles. No issues with the clutch at all. The only other clutch issue I heard about was a posting here on Rennlist about someone with no experience driving a manual transmission burning out a clutch in the first few hundred miles. (I suspect that this person would have burned out the clutch on any car).

JasonAndreas

BritCGT,
Porsche has published a technical service bulletin for checking the ceramic composite clutch (dated November 11, 2004, I don't know the exact contents). I would check with your dealership to make sure they have seen it. For some reason P-dealers have a habit of ignoring TSBs until they realize you know otherwise.

BritCGT

Thanks for the responses.

I guess I should perhaps elaborate a little. We were actually out on a driving event from London to Monte Carlo when it went. So the car went straight to the factory itself. My dealership didn't get a chance to have a look at it themselves before hand, so we can only really go on what the technicians at the factory are saying. They said it was worn out and are generally implying that it is something I have done.

Now I will admit that I was unaware of the the trick with the clutch when doing slow manovering, however I was always very careful with it and generally had done very few slow manouvers anyway as the majority of the mileage had been done on a couple of long distance drives.

I've also just had one of the porsche instructors come along to show me how to drive the car. (apparently I was meant to get this when I first got the car) Having driven their demo car as well as have my dealer drive the demo car, the clutch mechanism itself felt totally different to the way that mine has ever felt.

My feeling is that there was a fault with the clutch when I first got the car. Although I may not have helped the situation being unaware that the clutch works differently to that of any of the other cars that I own, I feel that I was as careful as I could be and that my actions alone could not have resulted in the clutch failing.

However Porsche apparently disagree so it looks like I'm going to be left with the bill, as yet I'm unsure as to how much it is going to be as they have had the car since June.

So I was curious if anyone else had any similar experiences or if it was just my own bad luck, sounds like it is just me though!

I'll let you know once I get the bill.

Thanks for all your input.

Porky

BritCGT, I am not a owner of the CGT yet....Still need a few more squids before I can have my dream car but what in fact did you learn about the correct way to use the clutch in slow manovering? I have never driven or been in the CGT but have heard the clutch in comparison to my 997 would be rather heavy and pulling away can cause the clutch to wear. In fact, I did actually read one of the first UK mag reviews of the CGT and the reviewer stated that pulling away really slowly can cause clutch wear....at any rate, quite intrigued to find out!

BritCGT

The 'trick' to the clutch is that there are electronics in the car that will keep the throttle at the right revs to allow you to pull away using the clutch alone and not touching the throttle at all. However as soon as you touch the throttle it over rides the automatic settings. I was unaware of this so was doing all the throttle control myself, however I was being careful and didn't feel that what I was doing should have caused the clutch to go so quickly. Unfortunately I don't know any way of pleading my case so I'm rather stuck with it being my word against theirs.

Jason - you mention a technical service bulletin, but when I asked the dealership they said they needed a reference number, do you have any idea what this might be?

Thanks

JasonAndreas

Porsche Technical Service Bulletins are broken down by Group number, part identifier and date. I don't know the group number or the part identifier for the CGT transmission but the date should be 0411 (the release date was November 11, 2004). I do have the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) item number (10011923) but that only applies here in the USA. There are only a few TSBs that apply to the CGT so your dealer should not have any problem going through the Service Information books (or checking their computers) for the clutch TSB. If they refuse or can't help you it should be no problem to have it faxed/emailed over from a US based dealership or Rennlister/PM.

One of the first CGT owners here in the USA, Larry B (its really odd to go through the archives and see posts from Ben) ended up selling his because of problems with the clutch. Just about every major automotive journalist had similar complaints and then all-of-the-sudden the clutch problem was no more. When was your CGT built? Here in the USA Porsche is pretty good about warranty claims IF you push, otherwise they will run over you like they were an insurance company (maybe not that bad but close).

DMin

BritCGT

I have 4000+ miles on mine and have driven the vast majority of the miles using my standard launch technique of manually applying revs while releasing the clutch. The clutch is still good to go, so I don't think it is necessarily due to not using the "Porsche Certified" method of launching the car.

Ray G

Same here - I have about 3100 miles. I would push hard to get P to replace it. Maybe they might cheap-out on a Boxster, but this is a CGT!

BritCGT

Thanks for the encouragement. I must admit I did feel rather at a loss not knowing any other owners to compare my experiences with. The dealership seems to not want to upset Porsche so have not been very helpful, despite having spent over £mil in the last couple of years with them.

On the plus side porsche did loan me a a 997 to finish the charity drive in so it was not a totally bad experience with them.

I'll let you know how I get on !

GoFastKindaGuy

I have about 3,700 miles on my 2004 CGT. No issues. I've received two recall notices from Porsche -- one for headlight fogging, the other for door opening cables. Both taken care of at a dealer. (Nothing on the clutch.)

BritCGT

Seems persistance wins the day. They are going to cover it all under warranty plus I have my car back. The drive with the new clutch is a totally different experience to the old clutch and it is proving a real joy to drive.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to hang on in there and gave me the confidence that it was not just my fault. Am having a lot of fun now.

On the plus side it has meant I now know about these forums and it will be nice to share experiences with the car with other owners.

Thanks again.

Ray G

Great news. That is a very interesting observation. It would seem that P did revise the clutch, or maybe you just had a defective clutch. That might explain the early negative reports.