Very interesting MPG experiment!

Engine braking does NOT wear a clutch out, or should'nt if your doing it right lol

The only time a clutch is wearing is when the clutch plate is slipping, eg pulling away,

Bad habits thats wear clutches

1) sitting on hills slipping the clutch holding the car on the clutch not handbrake/footbrake
2) bad gear changing slipping the clutch too much
3) downchanging & using the clutch to bring the revs up
4) dipping the clutch midcorner - attrocious habit

All of the above are very bad habits!!! If I'm looking to buy a car its something I look for by asking the owner to drive the car before I do. A simple rule: If the rev counter moves when you lift the clutch up your slipping the clutch & its not a very comfy drive too ;)

A good driver should only slip the clutch on pulling away, the rest of the time it should be a rev matched gearchange & almost no slip/wear.

I've had 320k miles of out an original Saab clutch before now :) & my previous Landcruiser was on it original clutch at 225k miles & it was used solely for towing a 3.5 ton trailer.
 
Engine braking does NOT wear a clutch out, or should'nt if your doing it right
Exactly. I down-shift to slow down and always have done and have never had a clutch wear out. I have had one go due to oil contamination from back seal though. My A2 is now on 126k and is re-mapped and is on the original clutch with no signs of issues with it at all.
 
You are lucky 'cos the 70hp A2 has NOT got the dreaded dual mass flywheel. However, the 90hp one does................................

There are only two types of dual mass flywheel owners..............

the ones who have had it fail,
and the ones that are going to have it fail.

Remember the four certainties of life.
1 Death
2 Taxes
3 Your flat roof will leak
4 Your DMF will fail
 
A couple of mpg figures I've got from my 1.4 petrol recently;


33.4; Finland, -30, includes Icetrack tomfoolery, left idling to keep warm.

52.4; Stockholm to Mariestad, includes sightseeing laps of Stockholm, not quite -30 but still a bit nippy.

44.6; mostly autobahn at Englishman-on-autobahn speeds, still firmly in the -plenty temp range.


I'm not surprised at the 33mpg but I am by the 44 and to a lesser extent the 52; maybe 40 for the autobahn run and 48 for the Swede run I'd've though fair but happily surprised :cool:
 
Indeed. I just make sure I match engine speed with wheel speed when changing down through the gears.

I do wonder how long does it take you to down shift to get it right? The throttle response on my 1.4 petrol will take the best part of 1/2sec if not more, that's the best part of 1 sec to change a gear while actually concentrating on rev, not on the road. I know what I want to concentrate on. Besides, you'll never actually match the rev, it will wear, unless you're a CVT gearbox or auto slush.

Mileage point is a bit moot. My last trip of 32 miles return to the west end of London worn the clutch far more than my 200 miles return to Birmingham last month and I don't even need to measure anything to know that. I average only 2000 miles a year, yet I drive every weekend, almost exclusively in London where it is good traffic if i can use 4th gear. I think i know my clutch wear.
 
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