sheeet my warranty is already mostly gone already at 28,000 miles + ...

 

i do downshift when coming to a stop, but i rev match when doing so. this makes it is easier on the engine and tranny. i will also put it in neutral and cost to a stop when i don't feel like down shifting. i like to do downshift because it is part of driving a manual car. it is a good feeling to actually drive a car unlike an auto. :D

 

I guess i wont mention that i used to and can shift gears ( up and down ) with out a clutch. :D A little something i learned driving rigs, works in cars too, just have to be a little faster and more accurate.

 

personally, i enjoy putting the clutch at about half way out of it and use the brake and the engine when i'm coming out of 5k+ rpms. its satisfies my engine breaking wants, but also doesn't strees the engine too bad

 

Me too... :D

 

i have done that in other cars i have owned. it is tricky and can be done with grinding. if anyone tries this make sure you have the engine rev up enough to sync the gears and don't grind it.

 

I do it but need to stop so I don't waste gas.

 

ditto for me, i like keeping it in gear simply because i can respond if some thing happens: light change, accident(not my own but someone in front or behind me) etc.

now when i used to downshift using my first(well not my first but the first i drove) car, thats a different story :D an automatic acura legend it was just kinda cool. however the people that bought it had SERIOUS transmission issues. But i was 17 and didnt know any better. of course alot of things happened because of that and for some reason im not dead.

 

I agree, anyone with experience tuning on a datalogging ecu, s-afc, apexi avc-r, or any other fuel tuning tool will be able to see that the injector duty cycle goes down during coasting in gear.

---------Btw those that like to hold down the clutch, blip the gas, and down shift. you're eating up your synchros. You need to double-clutch for synchro longevity.

It's not much if a concern though if you plan on selling your car after 5 years. But after 7 years, depending on the tranny, it'll start to show signs of wear from your downshifting method.

 

i enging brake but it depends how i feel

if im coming up to a corner after doing 55 and the corner calls for say45-35 ill tap the brakes and blip the throttle to rev match the motor.

plus its more fun

 

What's this all about? I would think that you're just letting the wheels spin and the engine would be idle, as if you were stopped. anyone care to explain?

 

would you rather replace an engine part, or some brake pads? Personally, i go for the brake pads. They are cheap and easy to install, I find that engine parts are harder to replace (impossible for me to do myself), and more expensive overall to replace due to parts costs and labor charges.

John

 

I sometimes coast, and pump my brakes lightly, then downshift
and once i get to a slow roll, i put it in neutral and press on the brake

Everyone has their own style, but like someone said earlier

brake pads and rotors are cheap, clutch, tranny and engine blocks arent

So use your own discrestion i say.

 

i don't like to engine brake...reason being, i did it a couple of times going down a steep hill...i even kept it in 5th gear one of the times, with my foot off the clutch totally...by the bottom of the hill, i had a strong smell of burnt clutch both times. people have said it's just my clutch breaking in, i have 600 miles, but i don't think it sounds right to me.
i shift into neutral and ride the brakes every once in a while down the hill, it works fine for me.
also, it's better for your gas milage to shift into neutral or push the clutch in all the way because your rpms drop to idle, engine braking to every stoplight will keep your rpms up and over time will cost you gas.

one thing i was thinking about that is really scary is this: lets say i start off on the top of the hill at the light, i start off in first gear, but i don't shift out of it, instead i keep it in gear but i push the clutch in to make it neutral...what would happen? somthing bad i think, because you pick up some speed on this hill, i could easily get to 60mph with no brakes in neutral

 

You would overrev the engine when you poped the clutch and possibly blow the engine, the RPM limiter only stops the engine from going too high, it wont stop the wheels from dragging the engine too high.

I use engine braking to help correct understeer.

 

double clutching is pointless..... theres a whole thread on it somewhere.....

 

^^^^^ 100% Correct.

Anyone who thinks you need to double clutch a car nowadays(did I just use that word) watches too much F&F.

For those more experienced drivers try this little trick, Left foot braking and 3>2 downshift without using the clutch. It can be done, it just takes practice.

 

I'm prtetty much an adaptive driver... I engine brake depending on the situation, tight corners, highway off-ramps, etc... I also match the revs when doing so. Also, if ever in an all out to the limits of the vehicle's capability, then the brakes are designed to stop you, and the manual gear selection is used to be in the right gear to power out of the corner using the sweet spot of your powerband. One usually doesn't encounter this scenario on the public ways though... At least I would hope not!



I also pretty much agree with what TheScionicMan, Dibujob, kdanie, and BigOrangeXb have all previously posted here in this thread.

:D

 

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread, so I'm probably just
repeating what the better drivers already said.

The advanced drivers ed classes I've taken teach down
shifting and coasting as standard practice. I also use
the gears to help keep me from "accidentally" going over
the speed limit. For example, if I'm on a road that's 30Mph
and I know it's a speed trap, I might go all the way to 4th
gear at 2000 RPM where the box pretty much idles around
32Mph. If I jump on the gas out of bordom or frustration,
I won't suddenly be up to 60 and getting a ticket. It will bog
a little and remind me that I'm supposed to be going slow.

As for wear and tear on clutches, my SAAB before it was
totaled in an accident had 330,000 on the original factory
clutch. The previous owner was a SPG racer (SAAB
Performance Group) and also downshifted for turns.

 

there are at least a few reasons to engine break, and a few more if you use dirt roads and drive them fast. Sharp turns are easier when the front suspension ggets preloaded by slowing the car from the front only first, the car overrotates a little inthe middle of the turn and you are already in the best gear to accelerate out of the turn. No breaking involved sometimes. this works well in the snow too.