5 Things you shouldnt do in a manual car

Tigger

Oooh! Let's debate this for a moment.

Holding the clutch pedal down while stopped really isn't a good idea because, like you said, it'll affect the CSC. But if you are in stop and go traffic and have no choice in the matter, either be fully disengaged or fully engaged. No riding the clutch. Your CSC and throw-out bearing won't like you much but they are designed to do a job and like all parts they are designed to fail. Lots of stop and go = more maintenance. End of story. But being fully disengaged when shifting or idling (in stop and go) is paramount and this is where we differ in view. If you are just mostly disengaged then your clutch can still contact the flywheel and wear in a not-so-good way. On the other hand, if you are just barely touching the pedal then you may likely be just barely disengaging the clutch which means if you gas it real hard you may slip it.

All it really comes down to is this. The clutch itself is designed to be the primary wear item. Trying to get a clutch to last 200k miles is really pointless unless you are a serious A-B driver. If that is all you care about then yes, it is possible and many have done it. If you drive a sports car then your clutch will not last 100k if you actually drive it with any serious amount of aggression. I love the comments by those that claim they do 1/4 mile runs all the time and they have 150k on the stock clutch. Sorry but your interweb claims are ********. Don't ******* lie to me.

So use the clutch. Slip the clutch when appropriate and when you need to but just don't burn/score the flywheel. It was designed to take the impact off the driveline. People that are 'instant-in, instant-out' are really doing more damage to the transmission and all the other components. Oh sure, you'll get 200k out of your clutch but you are going for a transmission overhaul at 70k. Have fun with that ****.