I haven't read through all the posts, but the clucth thing is a bug/flaw. If you drive correctly it isn't a problem, but in real life you can drive like a maniac and slip the clutch and start in second gear and so on, and the clutch would take it, a real clutch lasts a long time, even on cars used on a track. There is no reason the LFS clutches should burn up just by taking of in second gear a couple of times.