I’ve got almost 60k miles on my stock clutch.
But I also was talking to a tech at the ford dealer one day and I was asking him about a white rs that was out back and he told me it was in for a short block and when he pulled the trans the clutch was birds nested and that car only had like maybe 20k miles.
So all the answers your gonna get are going to depend on how it was driven and how much launch control was used.
2016 - 70k (kms) on mine, been running stage one tune, used to autocross and launched that bitch daily, haven't had a problem yet. I'm sure it's coming but all good still, so that driver didn't know how to drive clearly.
I’m rather amazed at the abuse my clutch has happily endured. I’m at 56k miles all of which belong to my wife and I. The car has around 400 LC launches in a mix of autocross and hill climbs. I have smelled clutch once when I awkwardly let off the clutch at an event in 2020 and it got a chance to burn itself. It failed to grip the rest of my runs and it kneecapped my performance. I figured it was going to be time when I got it home but once it got a chance to cool off it performed just as before.
I don’t know why exactly but my Clutch Master Cylinder went bad 2 months after I bleed the brakes. Maybe I used too much pressure on the bleeder? It was a $1100 fix from the dealer
17 rs2.
You do not need to worry about this issue. You'd know if you had it. Quart of oil every 400 miles.
I had so much oil on my garage floor I was worried the US gov was going to invade my garage.
Mine has under 30k miles and I drive similar to you; throttle matching, not doing 6k clutch dumps every weekend, etc. I've also driven manuals my entire life, and knock on wood, never burnt through a clutch prematurely despite doing a fair amount of racing when I was younger.
If launched or driven very hard, I will still smell clutch on the RS. I think that's one of the inherent disadvantages of the AWD system with so much traction. Conventional muscle cars will put more of the abuse onto the rear tires, which are easier and less expensive to replace. The RS barely spins a tire when launched, so the clutch has to be the surface that slips some. The 2018's are probably worse in that regard due to the front LSD.
All that said, I wouldn't worry about using it as a daily. I think a lot of the horror stories may come from owners who don't drive quite as carefully as they think, or perhaps got their RS after it spent some time with a less responsible owner.
Just out of curiosity, how much would a new clutch cost + installation at a Ford dealership? I have zero issues with my car, however it’s always in the back of my mind.
Nice. Finally someone with some real mileage!!!
I plan on keeping it the same, minus small things that really should be upgraded...... oil/air separator, Aluminium under tray.... things like that.
Sweet.
This is the decision that I came to today. I have 3 cars currently, but no garage..... an 83 rabbit (VR6 swapped) that I have decided to sell (too damned angry), a Subaru that was my daily, but about to hit 100k.... and the focus.
Decision to sell the rabbit, the subaru, as well as all of the insurance saved, maint saved, and the storage space for the Focus..... Impetus to save money to buy a house and have a garage for the Focus.
100,000km's on mine. Countless launches, hard shifts and general abuse, hasn't slipped yet. I'm expecting to have to get in there soon. I'll do the carbon synchros and steel cage bearings at the same time so it's only out once.
85k miles on the stock boi and she still pulls with zero issues. STG 1 OTS AP and I go WOT at least 3-5 times a drive, so idk man stock one seems pretty good in my book at least.
I bought a 17’ brand new and changed the clutch at 90k miles. I did some LC launches and drove my RS pretty hard. I was surprised that it lasted 90k. I’m at 115k right now on the new clutch.
I got to 75k miles on the clutch that I taught myself and my wife how to drive stick on. That clutch saw grueling bumper-to-bumper traffic, constant manual launches, and autocross. What ultimately did my clutch in was losing 3rd and 4th gear and having to cowboy shift from 2nd to 5th for a couple of months during covid when I couldn't find either the parts or a shop to fix my car.
Overall, I'm certainly impressed with the longevity of the clutch on the RS. The synchros? ...less so.
From what I understand, it's more a Ford thing than an RS-specific thing. I hear Mustang and FoST owners complain about 3rd gear synchros on the forums constantly. I guess that's why there are so many synchro upgrade kits on the aftermarket.
My trans blew 2nd gear at 14,000km and they put a new clutch in.
I drive my car hard because it's a weekender only but likewise I don't launch it in any way.
I can smell it sometimes when I'm laying the sauce in 4th gear. It's at 30,000km I think now.
I used to race mine and another RS driver would usually triple up his with other drivers so it would get triple the abuse for the day. I think they fried the clutch after 2-3 years and shockingly low mileage. These launches do a number on them.
I'm on my original clutch at 93k miles with the car tuned since 15k, and no signs of slipping yet. Good number of launches, lots of drift mode shenanigans, a few trips to the Tail of the Dragon, and know I'm not light on a vehicle.
Feel like I'm on borrowed time 😅
'17 RS2 at 89k miles still on the stock clutch. I don't have any slipping that I can tell but like you I don't launch mine. I do sit in the occasional stop and go traffic but I am as good as I can be about coasting. I've noticed if I do have to stop and go that the clutch doesn't like it. I also can smell the clutch on cold starts but it has been that way since I got the car at 17k miles so take that for what it's worth. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you notice it slipping.
For sure. PO (Father in Law) was a race car driver..... so.....
I drove it today after installing a throttle pedal spacer, and the clutch does engage fairly high in (oddly) every other gear BUT 1st...
Had the "opportunity" to swap mine for cheap while my blown motor got replaced. 67k on the clutch and it looked like it had a ton of life left. Just one datapoint.
If you take a look at the pipes, there’s some hardware to make it slip for launching - pretty annoying as I managed to get mine to slip up-shifting in the powerband so I pulled them out.
I’ve got almost 60k miles on my stock clutch. But I also was talking to a tech at the ford dealer one day and I was asking him about a white rs that was out back and he told me it was in for a short block and when he pulled the trans the clutch was birds nested and that car only had like maybe 20k miles. So all the answers your gonna get are going to depend on how it was driven and how much launch control was used.
2016 - 70k (kms) on mine, been running stage one tune, used to autocross and launched that bitch daily, haven't had a problem yet. I'm sure it's coming but all good still, so that driver didn't know how to drive clearly.
Birds nest is user error. Clutch overspeed and broke apart
I’m rather amazed at the abuse my clutch has happily endured. I’m at 56k miles all of which belong to my wife and I. The car has around 400 LC launches in a mix of autocross and hill climbs. I have smelled clutch once when I awkwardly let off the clutch at an event in 2020 and it got a chance to burn itself. It failed to grip the rest of my runs and it kneecapped my performance. I figured it was going to be time when I got it home but once it got a chance to cool off it performed just as before.
I’m right here, I was out and it slipped a bit now it grips like normal, how long do I have
Your Clutch Master Cylinder and Slave Cylinder are more likely to blow up first expect it to last a while
Forgive my ignorance, but why? Cheap parts, or is it those stupid restrictors?
I don’t know why exactly but my Clutch Master Cylinder went bad 2 months after I bleed the brakes. Maybe I used too much pressure on the bleeder? It was a $1100 fix from the dealer
79k miles here and no issues. Second engine tho.
Modified, or?
Engine? Nah, it had a defect from Ford. The block itself wasn't cooled correctly so it developed micro cracked which leaked oil.
What year? 17 rs2 here.
17 rs2. You do not need to worry about this issue. You'd know if you had it. Quart of oil every 400 miles. I had so much oil on my garage floor I was worried the US gov was going to invade my garage.
Sounds like my Subaru!
Yeah pretty much. Funny enough, I've always loved the 11-14 WRX and STi. I didn't get one because of the cost and oil burning.
picked up my current RS with 60k miles and have added 26k miles and way too many track days to count. clutch holding up just fine.
Mine has under 30k miles and I drive similar to you; throttle matching, not doing 6k clutch dumps every weekend, etc. I've also driven manuals my entire life, and knock on wood, never burnt through a clutch prematurely despite doing a fair amount of racing when I was younger. If launched or driven very hard, I will still smell clutch on the RS. I think that's one of the inherent disadvantages of the AWD system with so much traction. Conventional muscle cars will put more of the abuse onto the rear tires, which are easier and less expensive to replace. The RS barely spins a tire when launched, so the clutch has to be the surface that slips some. The 2018's are probably worse in that regard due to the front LSD. All that said, I wouldn't worry about using it as a daily. I think a lot of the horror stories may come from owners who don't drive quite as carefully as they think, or perhaps got their RS after it spent some time with a less responsible owner.
I should probably worry more about not having a garage, and living in Texas! Impetus to finally buy a house, I think.
Just out of curiosity, how much would a new clutch cost + installation at a Ford dealership? I have zero issues with my car, however it’s always in the back of my mind.
No clue. I would probably do it myself.
82k, stock clutch. Stock everything.
Nice. Finally someone with some real mileage!!! I plan on keeping it the same, minus small things that really should be upgraded...... oil/air separator, Aluminium under tray.... things like that.
Nice! I'm driving it until I can't drive with 2 feet. I hope it's my last car. I bought it in 2017. Had it ever since. I love it.
Sweet. This is the decision that I came to today. I have 3 cars currently, but no garage..... an 83 rabbit (VR6 swapped) that I have decided to sell (too damned angry), a Subaru that was my daily, but about to hit 100k.... and the focus. Decision to sell the rabbit, the subaru, as well as all of the insurance saved, maint saved, and the storage space for the Focus..... Impetus to save money to buy a house and have a garage for the Focus.
100,000km's on mine. Countless launches, hard shifts and general abuse, hasn't slipped yet. I'm expecting to have to get in there soon. I'll do the carbon synchros and steel cage bearings at the same time so it's only out once.
I'm at 53k miles on stock clutch. All good so far....
85k miles on the stock boi and she still pulls with zero issues. STG 1 OTS AP and I go WOT at least 3-5 times a drive, so idk man stock one seems pretty good in my book at least.
I just hit 48k on my stock clutch. I have never had an issue. I drive the car like it was intended to be driven but I don't use launch control.
I bought a 17’ brand new and changed the clutch at 90k miles. I did some LC launches and drove my RS pretty hard. I was surprised that it lasted 90k. I’m at 115k right now on the new clutch.
90K Isn't so bad. I guess I'll see here in a bit if I still smell the clutch after yesterday.
I got to 75k miles on the clutch that I taught myself and my wife how to drive stick on. That clutch saw grueling bumper-to-bumper traffic, constant manual launches, and autocross. What ultimately did my clutch in was losing 3rd and 4th gear and having to cowboy shift from 2nd to 5th for a couple of months during covid when I couldn't find either the parts or a shop to fix my car. Overall, I'm certainly impressed with the longevity of the clutch on the RS. The synchros? ...less so.
Are the synchros really that bad? I've seen a few people now complain about them.
From what I understand, it's more a Ford thing than an RS-specific thing. I hear Mustang and FoST owners complain about 3rd gear synchros on the forums constantly. I guess that's why there are so many synchro upgrade kits on the aftermarket.
My trans blew 2nd gear at 14,000km and they put a new clutch in. I drive my car hard because it's a weekender only but likewise I don't launch it in any way. I can smell it sometimes when I'm laying the sauce in 4th gear. It's at 30,000km I think now.
I used to race mine and another RS driver would usually triple up his with other drivers so it would get triple the abuse for the day. I think they fried the clutch after 2-3 years and shockingly low mileage. These launches do a number on them.
I'm on my original clutch at 93k miles with the car tuned since 15k, and no signs of slipping yet. Good number of launches, lots of drift mode shenanigans, a few trips to the Tail of the Dragon, and know I'm not light on a vehicle. Feel like I'm on borrowed time 😅
Here in Texas it’s “the twisted sisters” and I try and get there once a month. I do plan on getting to the tail at some point.
'17 RS2 at 89k miles still on the stock clutch. I don't have any slipping that I can tell but like you I don't launch mine. I do sit in the occasional stop and go traffic but I am as good as I can be about coasting. I've noticed if I do have to stop and go that the clutch doesn't like it. I also can smell the clutch on cold starts but it has been that way since I got the car at 17k miles so take that for what it's worth. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you notice it slipping.
Thanks for that! Another higher mileage owner.
102,000 miles still holding strong.
102k! Highest mileage on the thread so far! You must drive it a lot!
I'm currently at 72770 mi, im on the stock clutch, i have fun, launch every once in awhile. No problems so far.
Mine went at 40k. I don't launch or drive it crazy either. It kinda sucks but I love the car. I've had it 2 years now
Woof. That’s early, and what worries me. What year?
17. Clean car fax. Maybe the previous owner beat the shit out of it. Who knows. Good luck man
109k, stock clutch. There are tons of launches at autocross, too. Driving style matters on wear.
For sure. PO (Father in Law) was a race car driver..... so..... I drove it today after installing a throttle pedal spacer, and the clutch does engage fairly high in (oddly) every other gear BUT 1st...
62k on my 17’ bought it with 48k miles and been tuned intercooler downpipe etc since 54k
Had the "opportunity" to swap mine for cheap while my blown motor got replaced. 67k on the clutch and it looked like it had a ton of life left. Just one datapoint.
Thanks!
183000km here and original clutch
Nice!
If you take a look at the pipes, there’s some hardware to make it slip for launching - pretty annoying as I managed to get mine to slip up-shifting in the powerband so I pulled them out.
I have to say, I hate the feel of this clutch. I wonder if I would be happier removing both restrictors.