I've had my Boss 302 LS for a few weeks now and have to say I'm enjoying it more and more. One thing that I'm wondering about is the clutch action. Specifically, I notice that the clutch becomes significantly stiffer when I'm under hard acceleration. Is this normal? I'm used to Porsche's and various other manual transmission cars and never noticed this before. I'm hoping it's normal and I'm just getting used to the car and the different way it drives from my previous cars.

 

I have not noticed that on my car and I've had it for six months and driven it about 4,000 miles. Take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

 

Your foot is having trouble operating the clutch what with trying to overcome the positive Gs being enforced upon you by the awesome that is The Boss.

Or... something is shifting due to that G force thing, and yeah, have the dealer look at it.

/I'm goin' with foot problem, myself.

 

Thanks, I'll have the dealer look at it. I'll have a podiatrist look at my foot

 

i notice the same thing sometimes, it seems that the clutch feels stiffer. typically when i notice a stiffer feeling pedal i have found that i have a different part of my foot on the pedal and it just feels different. you might watch and see if that is what you are experiencing.

 

Is it stiffer when the car is hot or cold? Maybe a fluid temp issue. Dunno

 

I had a similar issue. I was also used to Japanese (S2000) and German (mostly Porsche) manual transmissions. A friend of mine who is more accustomed to muscle cars gave me some advice. He said "Don't be so gentle. SHIFT it, especially when under power and treat the clutch like a light switch. (On or Off.)" That bang-bang style of shifting seemed counter intuitive at first, but the car seems to like it better...and it sounds and feels cool.

 

i notice it on occasion when i have accelerated quickly and then don't shift for a while and go to downshift. anyway you never shift a high power rear wheel drive car quickly near corners, smooth is the name of the game or you will loop it especially near a corner, fast shifts upset the chassis. that quick stuff works well on the drag strip where it is all straight though.

 

ShaneM, I was thinking the same thing. I haven't had time to make an appointment but the thought that the leverage and therefore the feel of clutch pedal would change if I was using a different part of my foot.

As for fluid being hot or cold, I'm pretty respectful of my cars so I wait for it all to warm up before pressing the loud pedal too hard.

I agree with the comment about smooth being the name of the game. That was drilled into me by my driving instructor when I was getting my SCCA racing license. I don't know the first thing about drag racing as I was more into road racing.

Thanks for the responses. I'll repost after I have the dealer check it out.