MrCaliKrome wrote:Are heat cycles important?
I was thinking of taking an afternoon to just cruise around city streets to get a ton of miles at once, but wasn't sure if heating up and cooling off of the clutch played any part to the break in?
I just know that I never had any long term luck with attempted accelerated clutch break ins. And, heat certainly is one enemy. However, I was a clutch slipper at launch, by intent, so if you use the clutch differently, your results might vary since engaging the clutch fully without slipping it will not tend to glaze it and generate the kind of heat that my method would. I learned the hard way that hurried, last minute, preparation for a known future drag event was not the best way to roll. When I had drag racing fever, I hated to miss any racing, so I did fret and hurry, but, it did not pay off. So, I began to prepare in advance, and, if I could not be ready, I skipped running, and this improved my drag racing experiences. Also, I learned, over time, to be quite calm at the strip when waiting in line to run, or staging, or doing the burnout, or launching. I did try to have a routine that I followed , such as disconnecting the sway bar a day or two ahead, and making the exact same seat adjustment at the strip (remember, the seats in almost all race cars, of all sorts are not reclined), removing the passenger side headlight at the strip, and checking hot tire pressures with a good tire guage at the strip several times beginning as soon as possible after driving in on hot tires, and, all the other little routines that I developed, including a check list that I went over several times before leaving for the strip as there is nothing like forgetting your helmet or your wallet or a necessary tool such as a tire lug log key, etc. But, hurrying can be frustrating, and, being calm is one of the secrets to a good run. Another example is that if you are worried that you will miss a shift, you actually are increasing your odds of doing so. You need confidence, and, with lightening fast shifts, you need to rely on instinct and muscle memory and proved past successes. Overthinking drag racing does not pay off, although there is science involved, and it might dictate set up to some extent. Even then, at the strip, unless you have a laptop or can flash a bunch of custom tunes, tire pressure would be the most common adjustment that you might make. And, when racing, if you already have determined what the optimal shift point RPM(s) for your ride are (they were 6200 in my old car as the Navigator cams in most Cobras give up well before the stock 6500 red line), launch technique might be the only variable that you deal with. As I said, drag racing is quite simple, but, also, surprising difficult to do well.
I would recommend keeping actual times and miles driven. For an ADHD guy like I am 5 minutes seemed like a half hour. Miles don't lie if you are running their start shift shift shift drill. The starts should be gentle. Why not count them? Give it a couple of hours. It will not be many miles. Tetge might have replaced more clutches than any of us because he ran more than most. I would suspect that he used an abbreviated, consistent break in routine. What say you Tetge? Driving to the track gives you some 4-5-6-5-4 time too. I remember that I never pounded the clutch for at least a week after a new install, and that was with a lot of break in drill. But I can barely remember my kid's names at this point, so my memory might be playing tricks. 
