So I had a little temper tantrum the other day after 3 consecutive traffic incidents with bad drivers,..( not road rage just stupidity ) and from the stop sign I decide to get on it hard. Well, as you know theres no burning out with all wheel drive unless the roads plenty wet or snow white. Something was cooking and it wasnt dinner, aka clutch. Left foot completely off the pedal, right foot to the floor. Car didnt move much and the engine was revving nicely....still drives fine but I was quite surprised that the traction was stronger than the clutch, 73,000 miles the clutch should still be strong , yes ? Abusive behavior aside, how much life is left in this clutch?

I bought my car used, and one of the first things I had done was a new clutch. I've had many problems with it since (Lou Fusz did a bad install), but one thing I found was that it never gripped. The other day I was comming off a gravel road, onto a highway. Needed to accelerate quickly, so I took the rpm's up to about 3500. Nothing but slipping clutch...and this is on gravel.

Subaru clutch's must be...well...crap.

I dont know, I bought my 95 L with the original clutch at 78,000 miles. I assumed it was either bad or a weak clutch when at the dragstrip it would slip throug 1st and half of 2nd. I replaced it at 115,000 miles when i installed a 2.5. To my surprise, the clutch disc was in amzing shape for the mileage and the way i abused it. I dont know if my clutchwasnt adjusted properly or it was just a super weak pressure plate on the 1.8L. The new 2.5 clutch is MUCH better after i adjusted it but it still slips alittle while drving the thing in a stupid manner.

Don't underestimate the traction of AWD.

And if you go throw a hefty aftermarket clutch in there, next time you dump the clutch like that it's likely that you'll be complaining here about your broken transmission.

Put it this way... decent power + massive traction = somethings gotta give. Either the clutch slips or the tranny snaps. Too much power + not enough traction = spinning tires... but you don't have that problem.

PS. Clutches last as long as you make them. My sister and I learned how to drive stick on a '91 miata - 2 sets of tires and 1 clutch destroyed in 40k miles.
A buddy of mine nursed 140k+ out of a clutch on an older subaru. Another friend got 100+ on both a Honda and an Acura. It just depends on how you drive them.

I'd agree with Horatio. I traded my '91 Civic in with 110K miles on the original clutch. Clutch was still strong and the car handled hard driving fine. I bought my OBS with 30K miles on it and noticed that, while the car launched fine, it would slip in the mid-range with the clutch fully engaged. I had it replaced within the last week or two and you should have seen how badly that clutch was abused! The mom who previously used the car to cart her kids around must not have known how to drive stick. Anyhow, driving the car hard and beating the crap out of it are two different things. Keep the high rev clutch drops to a minimum and your clutch should last you indefinitely.

On a side note. One of the tests I did for my car was almost exactly what you did. I took the car out to a gravel road, revved to about 4K and popped the clutch. The car didn't move an inch and the clutch burned. One symptom of a bad clutch that I experienced PRIOR to (and after)my clutch drop was something that no one seemed to have heard of before:

Driving in 5th gear with the engine speed at about 2500 - 3000 RPMs and my foot off the clutch pedal. I'd hit the gas and the engine would rev up 1000 - 1500 RPMs before settling back down and pulling the car forward.

Mark

CenterForce and ACT make some really good clutches from what I've read in different magazines. If you go for a direct replacement clutch from like Advance Auto, steer clear of Zoom clutches. I had a turbocharged probe that I had to put a clutch in (Zoom) and it is still in 85,000 miles later, but I've heard a lot bad things about Zoom. From my experience the cheap clutch worked fine. I don't know what your going to do, but I just wanted to inform you of the little amount of experience with clutches I have. Good luck which ever direction you choose.

-Charles-

IIRC the '97 OBS is the same as my '00 OBS. The problem with the ACT clutches is that even ACT was unable to confirm direct compatibility with the 2.2 OBS, as they could for the 2.5 RS. Between this board and various vendors/shops, no one was able to say for sure.

Exedy makes our factory clutches,I chose an Exedy clutch for my RS-t,nothing beats factory fit and feel.