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Hey guys, first time poster here. Hoping you guys could help me figure out what is wrong with my car.

So yesterday as I was driving up a hill and came to a stop, I had the clutch depressed about halfway and was giving it some gas so I wouldn't have to deal with the E-brake or rolling back (I know this is bad, but I had never had a problem with this before by only doing it for a couple seconds). When the light turned green, I tried to move forward but as I released the clutch, my car started bogging down like it was about to stall so I gave it some more gas. It didn't die, but i ended up almost flooring it just to crawl up the hill, this has never happened to me before.

After all of that, I noticed a terrible smell that I now know was me burning the clutch I guess. After browsing around some, I don't think that this is something that needs an immediate replacement or anything like that, but there was another problem i noticed this morning.

When I start the car and start moving, there is this high-pitched whirring noise that has never been there before. It seems to get a little louder when i depress the clutch all the way, but only when I am not moving. If I am moving, there is no noticeable increase in volume when I depress the clutch, and it seems to die down as I gain speed. So I was wondering if someone could help get an idea of what is wrong with my vehicle? I need to make a 5 hour trip today or tomorrow and am hoping that I will be able to make it haha.

I don't know if it makes a difference, but I drive an '02 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally.

Oh, and I don't know if this made the problem or not, but the day before I was in stop-and-go traffic and the driver behind me fell asleep, his foot came off the brake, and he idle'd into my rear end. There is no damage or anything so I don't think it was a hard enough hit to mess with the engine.

I really appreciate anyone who can give me some insight into the problem. Thanks so much in advance.  

I will try to give you a little help, the smell was from a hot clutch, I will assume your car has an organic clutch as opposed to a ceramic clutch, when you say smell thats what I first think of.  OK the sound you here comes and goes with the depression of the peddle, yes? if so it most likely is your throw out bearing, no mater though you will have it replaced at the same time as the clutch. you can drive it as long as the friction disk is grabbing, if it starts to slip you will notice it in high gear, the RPM's will rev,up but your speed will not, this will be the real notice to get it fixed. the loud whirring sound is caused by the bearing being dry of grease, this happens when the system has had a lot of heat generated. The noise is irritating but you will most likely be ok for your trip, but be cautious about the strain you put on the clutch, some units can be greased but most are sealed units. good luck.