Riding the clutch

Almost certainly. Fit a buzzer on the clutch pedal, so that if a foot is on it for more than a few seconds, it goes off...

Are you mad? I got enough gip when I suggested to my mum that she ought to at least have some idea of what gear she's in, and then start driving in the right ones...

I don't think anyone takes kindly to having their driving criticised unless they're going to something like an IAM or RoADA meeting, and probably a good few of the people who turn up bugger off pretty sharpish because they've already decided they're good drivers :).

But with due care and mechanical sympathy, cars last much, much longer...

It's all about how you tell your mum, rather than what you tell her... :)

This is a simple case of a knackered clutch. Change it.

Steve

Mmm. That'd make it two clutches in less than 70 thousand miles...

THat's what happens when people can't drive properly I'm afraid. If you think that's bad, my grandad used to wear surgical shoes and slipped the clutch like you wouldn't believe. I don't think he ever got more than 10000 out of one.

Is riding the clutch just someone sitting with their foot resting on the peddle, or just someone who pulls it in/out a bit too often?

--Nick.

Resting on the pedal so that the two friction disks never contact each other with full pressure, so there's always a little bit of slip and hence acellerated wear. Slipping the clutch excessively can also cause wear, not quite engaging the clutch to make fast starts or change gears without rev matching. More the hard starts in first gear than slipping the clutch to change down.

Slight change, but does, say sitting in first with the clutch fully depressed accelerate wear on the release bearing?

Absolutely and also wears out the fingers on the pressure plate.

I always wait with the car in neutral at traffic lights. It means that I can't beat Shumkacker in his NovaTURBOGTI, but I really don't care.

Yes you can - just watch for the lights on the other route changing to red!