Ok, I just bought a 2005 Cooper S 6 spd. Its in great shape, and with 115000 miles. The previous owner said they had the clutch replaced, and they put less than 15000 miles on it overall. I was driving today with some heaviness on the accelerator. I noticed an out of proportion RPM increase with the hammer down at about 5,000rpm. It would go to 6000rpm and hang there a bit as the car speed picked up. I am guessing that this is early signs of clutch wear. Any thoughts? I want to be wrong... but, you know...

The car will be very local driving only. I have a kid learning to drive it, so I want to hold off on the clutch as long as possible so he can put his learning into the old clutch. He wont go more than 35-40mph as its all in town driving for now anyway, and he can jsut stay off the accelerator. Thoughts on this too? I dont want to replace the flywheel too.

Thanks,
Rod