Clutch Shudder

Go over to the Miata.net in the NB Forums and search for the term “clutch shudder” and you will get a million hits. Here is a good example. When I first started going in there after buying the new Miata I read quite a few of the posts and at first it got me worried and I was always in the back of my mind looking for this thing to show up. Occasionally when first driven about 1/2 from home when I got into 3rd gear the car would do a bit of shaking, but it would disappear in less than a hundred yards. Was this the shudder or something else? Although this clutch has never been as smooth engaging as in the previous 2 Miatas I’ve owned it is not really a problem, but more of a quirk.Yesterday morning the clutch seemed especially hard to engage smoothly for the first half of the trip to work. This morning though, any doubts I had that this was my clutch developing the dreaded shudder, were put to rest by confirmation. When backing the car out of the garage there was noticeable bucking and accompanying noise to go with it. Even Donna said, “What’s that?” “Clutch shudder,” I replied. I paused at the end of the driveway to let a car pass and when I backed out the shudder was there again just as bad. The trip to work was fairly normal after that.I guess I will wait it out a bit more before saying anything, see if it get any worse.