[ttpscooby]

well i was running some back roads and gave it too much comming out of a turn in 4th and the car did a 180 and slid off into a field, no damage except a cut tire, but i was wondering since i didn't put the clutch in when i was going backwards and still in gear how bad is that on my drivetrain? i dont hear any new noises and it doesn't grind at all but all the sudden it seems like its alot easier to shift into 1-4th and the clutch has no feel to it anymore

[CharcoalSTI]

Clutch maybe toast if there is no tranny noise

[520]

you didn't clutch in

[WRC~06~STi]

oh boy! along with 4 new tires(if 1 is unrepairable), my cards tell me you might be heading to the dealership with incurring costs.

[berdugo]

just hope that only your clutch is toasted and not anything on your gearbox

[eroc263]

I would guess that if you were pretty much in the grass by the time you were backwards you would be better off since your tires have wayyy less traction than on asphalt and this should alleviate some stress on the drivetrain. Also, did your engine stall when you were sliding? If so you may have not stressed the clutch as bad, but like I say, it's just a guess. It's fairly easy to check for a worn out clutch and you could always drain your trans fluid through a filter of some sort to look for metal in it.

[ttpscooby]

yeah the car stalled the clutch smelled alittle, not near as bad as when i glazed the hell out of it at the track, 5.5k launches are killers. and then i turned it on and drove it back with the spare on. im kinda thinking the tire was cut before it happened cuz the slash pretty much looked like someone knifed my sidewall. not sure how a rock or something would do that. and how strong is the stock clutch there's been countless times that i've thought i killed it but it was just glazed and worked like a champ and never slipped after i let it cool off

[eroc263]

Originally Posted by ttpscooby

yeah the car stalled the clutch smelled alittle, not near as bad as when i glazed the hell out of it at the track, 5.5k launches are killers. and how strong is the stock clutch there's been countless times that i've thought i killed it but it was just glazed and worked like a champ and never slipped after i let it cool off

I would say this may be the reason your clutch would be gone if it was, not the going backwards in 4th gear thing. I guess it really depends on your driving, launch RPM, how fast you release the clutch, how many times you've done this, etc. I have smelled my clutch a few times while learning to launch but it still holds good and now when I launch I don't smell it anymore. From what I have heard and read, if you get your launch down good you shouldn't smell clutch. The launching topic has been coverd a lot so you can always do a search for tips on that. A good way to see if your clutch is on its last leg is to put the car in 5th, or 6th gear next time you're getting on the highway and floor your car until full boost builds and if the car pulls hard you should be OK. If you do this and the car doesn't pull hard, the tach jumps to redline and you smell clutch, then it's probably slipping and is also likely toast. Clutch slippage FTL!!!