Hello everybody!

I’ve just registered here, been around here (reading) for about a year though.
This board helped me a lot when I was about to buy my own ITR. Since there’s only like 8 of them sold trough Honda here in Sweden I had to import it from Germany.

My car is a Milano red ’98, it had 23 000 miles on the clock when I bought it and now it’s up to 27 000 miles. Everything’s been great with it so far and I really enjoy driving it.
Something did occur this weekend though. After a friend and I had driven it pretty hard for something like 30 minutes, we decided to time some 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) sprints. I feathered the clutch at around 4000 rpm to get a quick start with little or no wheel spin.
After a couple of tries (we did get a little over enthusiastic with the driving that night…) the clutch just slipped when I shifted to second gear (at ~8500 rpm).
I then shifted to third gear and we drove straight home being very cautious with the clutch.

At first I thought my clutch was soon to be gone but I’m not so sure anymore, when I drove it today (going around 30 mph) I put it in third, revved the engine and dropped the clutch, the clutch hooked up alright and I got some wheel spin. So now everything seems to be normal with the clutch again.

Is it possible that the clutch got overheated when I was driving this weekend but that it’s okay now after it’s cooled off?
Do clutches ‘heal’?

Please don’t complain about my driving, I know I pushed the car pretty hard but I’ve been driving manual since I got my license 9 years ago so I know how to use a clutch. I’ve never broken a clutch before (never took the car to the track or the strip neither).
I’d be thankful for an answer or some thoughts about my clutch.

 

Wonder if the flywheel/pressure plate had glazed from the hot runs? Once cooled off and driven easily for a few km's the glaze was removed?

I am sure a disc can not heal from damage... but the damage (?) may not be as bad as it seems.

Although... a shifts to 3rd at ~50km/h may not be that hard on the clutch (low torque range). Shifting at 8k or so will be a lot harder (more torque to transfer).
Have you tried a high rpm shift (to check for good transmittal) since the 3rd gear at 50km/h test?

RED ITR JOY!

How were your 0-100 km/h times?

Sverige...nice.. Another country represented.


Will

 

your clutch is probably gone, the stock clutch doesnt handle so well, just like on the WRX/GT ´preza. I will upgrade my clutch to Spoon this winter, the car will be stored all winter. I have 50,000 km´s on the tach.

are only 8 ITR´s in the whole Sweden or just in Stockholm? Here in Iceland we have 6 ITR´s from 98-99 and 5 of them were from the dealership

best regards from Iceland

 

I’m gonna try some high rpm shifts on my way back from work today (which will be in an hour or so).
Thanks for your advice.

My 0-100 km/h was something like 7 seconds, not too serious (manual timing), we was just playing around with our cars, my friend just bought himself a ’00 Subaru Impreza GT, thats the old style Impreza (lighter) but with almost exactly the same engine (turbo) as in the new WRX.
That thing was quite a lot faster (he can reach 100 km/h in second gear, which helps). It’s possible to do 5.8 seconds with that one, the ITR is supposed to do it in 6.7.

Can't say which one was more fun though, but I wouldn't mind having that car in the wintertime here in Sweden...
Speaking of Sweden, how do you like that Volvo of yours?
/Tom

 

Hello Iceland!

There's probably around 15-20 in the whole country, as I said before: 8 of them from Honda Sweden and the rest are imported from Germany.

How much is that Spoon clutch gonna cost you?
Where will you get it from?

 

yep, those GT/WRX´s fly, my friend has a personal best time of 13.991 at the 1/4 mile with just an exhaust and K&N air filter. If you get a good start, a stock ITR vs stock GT is very close to call, all depends on driver skills, I´ve beaten stock GT´s but also lost to them.. about 50/50

 

the clutch will be expensive as hell, I´ll probably order it from a Spoon dealer in the States or in the UK. I reckon that just the clutch will cost me about 500-800 $

 

It’s easy to get traction in the start
from the 4wd, a lot harder to do a quick
shift to second though compared to the ITR.
I think the ITR is supposed to have like 5 km/h
faster top speed so like you said, I guess a lot comes
down to driver skills.

 

yep, I think that the stock ITR has faster top speed, I once overtoke a Impreza GT and when I went past him the tach said 230 kmh! but modded GT/WRX´s are another story, my friend can do 255 kmh with an exhaust and air intake

 

The factory clutch is pretty good holding up to medium driving but... hard use = less life.

My brothers ITR clutch had the paint melted off of it... not from acceleration tests... from track time. Low mileage.
I will just have to see how long my clutch lasts.

22B... JOY!!!

Which Volvo?
75 242 GL
80 242 DL
82 244 GL
84 242 TI
79 242 GT
I love them all. I just need some S.A.M. parts... i.e. (16V B234) turbo manifold. I would like to have a little project soon.

Will
-who wishes his Volvo was as fast as his ITR.

 

Clutches and brakes get hot and start to fade. Your clutch is probably fine. It happens to R's when you "hot-lap" them at the drag strip. So I'm sure the car is fine. If the clutch isn't slipping now I wouldn't worry about it until it starts slipping under normal use.

 

ahh, willard . . . the 22B!!! i would sell the ITR for one!

http://www.i-club.com/gallery/22b_meet.htm


[Modified by R1020, 11:06 AM 8/21/2001]

 

ITRs come in red???

 

I read once that a good way to test your clutch is to put the parking brake on, rev the engine to a reasonable amount (3-4 grand on an ITR probably), and let the clutch out in first or second. If the car stalls, your clutch is fine...if it slips, you'll know it. Don't know if this is a good idea or not, but couldn't hurt too much....cool to have members abroad flying the R! Does it get recognized in your country by anyone?

 

Europe, Australia, and i think Japan get the ITR in Red as well, possibly some other colors we don't get too.

 

1) Clutches are like brakes - you can overheat them and they fade. When they cool they come back to normal.

2) ITR clutches are like brakes in another way - hydraulic actuation. The hydraulics need to be blead like the brakes. If clutch actuation isn't up to snuff have this done before pissing away your money on a new clutch

3) A lot of advice on this board is by non-experts. Do not believe everything you read.

4) I suspect that your clutch is fine but try to avoid massive slip starts like that in the future.

Regards,
Alan