GR86 GR86 - The clutch pedal thread

Jumping from a Nissan Navara pick-up with a clutch that is as stiff as a board and a sometimes dead-zone Turbo lag when pulling out of junctions, the GR86 feels like a bit of luxury! My only issue is I’ve yet to find a correct seat position as my right shoulder aches after every trip 🥺
 
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Bluemanc100 said:
I’m a time served mechanic but maybe not as nimble as I used to be..

The clutch spring mod is proving difficult trying to squeeze myself into the footwell on my back…

I think I’m going to have to remove the drivers seat which looks as simple as four bolts.. Has anybody had the seat out, is it as simple as it looks?
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Ive not had my seat but did on the old car and it was as simple as that, you do need to disconnect the heated seats and airbag so might be worth disconnecting the battery.

The clutch pedal job is a pig of a job unless you are a ferret.
 
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Off topic: From your description I think you sit too far away from the steering wheel. I enter the car with the seat in furthest position and then move forward to the position where my clutch leg just touches the seat whilst fully pressing the clutch pedal. Due to the close seating position you don't lift yourself out of the seat with every steering wheel turn and operating the pedals. Hope this helps.

Bye for now Fred
 
Sonic said:
Jumping from a Nissan Navara pick-up with a clutch that is as stiff as a board and a sometimes dead-zone Turbo lag when pulling out of junctions, the GR86 feels like a bit of luxury! My only issue is I’ve yet to find a correct seat position as my right shoulder aches after every trip 🥺
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Reminds me of every harvest - time in various tractors makes the GR86 (and the clutch in particular) feel like a luxury car. But swapping to a 'normal' car feels like there's acres of travel compared to the 86.

Seat took me a while too due to the limited steering wheel reach - I ended up with the seat about as low as it'd go, quite far back, but the backrest a lot more upright than initially felt right in order to bring my torso close to the wheel - actually looks like endurance GT racers. Lumbar support is a bit lacking for momentous journeys but it's supremely comfortable for everything else. The one rule I have for all guests is NEVER to touch my seat controls, I dare not move away from perfection!
 
AP756 said:
Off topic: From your description I think you sit too far away from the steering wheel. I enter the car with the seat in furthest position and then move forward to the position where my clutch leg just touches the seat whilst fully pressing the clutch pedal. Due to the close seating position you don't lift yourself out of the seat with every steering wheel turn and operating the pedals. Hope this helps.

Bye for now Fred
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I used to get an ache in the middle of my shoulders on longer journeys, in what was my usual seat position. I moved the seat a touch closer with the back slightly less vertical and I've not had it since.
 
I've not given up on a job for a long long time but the clutch spring has beaten me...

Even with the seat out I just can't get the connectors off etc while the car is on the floor... The only other option is borrow a set of ramps to get the car up in the air slightly... That's the third time (I think) that I've gone out to have a go :rolleyes:

A mate of mine is a master tech that works at Chester Audi, I may swallow my pride and brace for pi55 taking (as I'm time served) and ask him to do it... He may be able to take it into work and stick it on a ramp

Alternatively, if anybody in the Chester area wants to do it for me there's a box of beer waiting for you ;)
 
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Does anyone happen to have a spring for sale? Lee springs have a long lead time right now. Cheers
 
GaryG said:
Does anyone happen to have a spring for sale? Lee springs have a long lead time right now. Cheers
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Hi Gary, I’ve got one that I never got around to fitting… I was struggling to get my ageing body into the driver’s footwell so I gave up trying to fit it 🫤

I can’t remember what it owes me but make me a realistic offer and it’s yours

Steve Heywood
 
Bluemanc100 said:
Hi Gary, I’ve got one that I never got around to fitting… I was struggling to get my ageing body into the driver’s footwell so I gave up trying to fit it 🫤

I can’t remember what it owes me but make me a realistic offer and it’s yours

Steve Heywood
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Great cheers Steve, I’ll message you
 
I've got used to it now, it's the rev hang that bothers me the most.
As the weather has been nice I've have been out in the Westfield, which has a Type 9 box and uprated cable operated clutch. It had been sitting for three years and was so heavy at first it genuinely hurt my feet. As Sonic said, the GR86 felt like luxury afterwards!
 
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So having the car for quite some time now, the whole jerkiness / unique clutch and throttle control required for this car I thought I had all but mastered. Not ideal but completely usable. I've done over 21k.

Then the other day I had to pull out of a junction quickly and rev out first and quickly into second to get up to speed. It was terrible, like learning a manual car again. Elastic band/kangaroo'd into second. I'm not sure if the clutch spring change would help me here or that's more down to the rev hang / precious throttle?
Thank god nobody else in the car!
 
GRMatt74 said:
I have just moved my seat backwards slightly more so I’m not depressing the pedal as far to the floor. Works for me.
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interestingly, if I'm sat at idle and shift to first even with the clutch pedal pressed as far as it'll go I get a "thud" as I shift into first gear, suggesting it never fully disconnects. - I'd probably hapilly sit further back if I didn't need to fully press each time.
 
TorqueOfTheDevil said:
interestingly, if I'm sat at idle and shift to first even with the clutch pedal pressed as far as it'll go I get a "thud" as I shift into first gear, suggesting it never fully disconnects. - I'd probably hapilly sit further back if I didn't need to fully press each time.
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This is normal. Had it on the first gen to, caused by the still spinning input shaft being stopped by the synchro as you mesh the gear.
If you hold the clutch and leave a few seconds, and then engage first, it probably wont happen as the input shaft will have slowed down, nothing to worry about.
 
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TorqueOfTheDevil said:
interestingly, if I'm sat at idle and shift to first even with the clutch pedal pressed as far as it'll go I get a "thud" as I shift into first gear, suggesting it never fully disconnects. - I'd probably hapilly sit further back if I didn't need to fully press each time.
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If I sit too close to the steering wheel the car kangaroos big time. I find you don’t need to depress the clutch right to the floor to change gear anyway.
 
I've noticed that my up shifts are smoother if I release the clutch quickly. Devotion to mechanical sympathy means I generally let out the clutch quite slowly when shifting up, as I've always done. But in the GR, counter intuitively, this almost always leads to a bit of an over-rev and jerky change, I guess because of the sensitive throttle. If I change gear and then just lift my foot off the clutch almost instantly as I get back on the gas, it always turns out much smoother and quicker.
 
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Conscript said:
I've noticed that my up shifts are smoother if I release the clutch quickly. Devotion to mechanical sympathy means I generally let out the clutch quite slowly when shifting up, as I've always done. But in the GR, counter intuitively, this almost always leads to a bit of an over-rev and jerky change, I guess because of the sensitive throttle. If I change gear and then just lift my foot off the clutch almost instantly as I get back on the gas, it always turns out much smoother and quicker.
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Yep, finding this too. And over the course of ownership the timing of doing it has got better as you get to know the rev drop per gear, it's just the top of 1st into 2nd for me (when freaking out not to get collapsed by an encroaching lorry) 🙃
 
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Does anyone know if a M-TEC Clutch spring actually helps? Thinking about it after a year of daily driving in heavy Traffic.
 
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