I was wondering which one would be better? Engine brake(downshifting) or shift to neutral and brake with the brakes? For example, I am so familiar with my route to work like the back of my hand where the stop-and-go spots and the kind of uninterrupted spots. So for example I'm in third gear at about 60km/hour and I see that cars are lining uphead at the traffic light, I shift from third to neutral and brake with my brakes instead of downshifting from 3rd-2nd finally 1st plus braking. Kind of like cruising in neutral and slowly applying the brakes. I'd rather use up my brakes than my clutch discs.
I shift from third to neutral and brake with my brakes instead of downshifting from 3rd-2nd finally 1st plus braking. Kind of like cruising in neutral and slowly applying the brakes. I'd rather use up my brakes than my clutch discs.
For daily driving definately use the brakes.
The possible exception is when cruising downhill and -not- coming to a stop at the bottom.
Any time you are going to come to a full stop you should take the shifter out of gear and use the brakes, but if you are just slowing down you should leave the car in gear and augment the decelleration with the brakes.
The only time you should heavily use engine braking is in a racing environment in which case you should -always- use it. When racing, the idea is to be out of gear as little as possible.
I use both but I only downshift to 2nd most of the time and let it stop.. rarely I downshift all the way to 1st, unless I really need to or I'm already going slow enough.
well my dad and I use downshifting to 2nd until your going to slow then use the breaks, saves you tonns in breaks. And your clutch should be fine since the only reason the one in our 90 jetta burned up was because oil started to drip on it. you shouldn't be burning up your clutch doing that since the clutch should be fully engaged...thats the advantage of the manual transmission, saving on breaks :p. And that extra control you get by being able to slow the car with the trans, unlike an auto.
if you can rev match good when your downshifting why not, i do all the time, heck i run around town heel toe shifting all the time i do agree though it probably will kill your clutch faster it definately will kill your syncro's faster
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Ah when she was in her glory, Not so nice anymore 358k 17years old her time is getting short ....
well my dad and I use downshifting to 2nd until your going to slow then use the breaks, saves you tonns in breaks. And your clutch should be fine since the only reason the one in our 90 jetta burned up was because oil started to drip on it. you shouldn't be burning up your clutch doing that since the clutch should be fully engaged...thats the advantage of the manual transmission, saving on breaks :p. And that extra control you get by being able to slow the car with the trans, unlike an auto.
what about the time that youre clutch isnt eithe fully disenalged or engaged? THAT is when you kill your clutch. but htis isnt the problem. the problem is the synchros die much much quicker. and are much more of a hassle to replace too.
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125 front wheel horsepower with major retard issues between 4500-5200RPM -
OD switched off, even when not in 3rd results in major power loss/rpm drop.
if you can rev match good when your downshifting why not, i do all the time, heck i run around town heel toe shifting all the time i do agree though it probably will kill your clutch faster it definately will kill your syncro's faster
i do heel toe all the time in my corolla (on a daily basis)... 2 years on a 4afe clutch IN the 4afe and almost 2 years on the same 4afe clutch with it in my 4age.....
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1) 2004 IS300 Manual/LSD/Sportdesign 2) 2010 Corolla S 5 speed 3) 1986 MR2 "MK1.22" 5sfe/s54 swap 3) 1995 Ford Explorer 4x4, TT/AAL/custom shackle lift, 31"s
hey man all i know is that it is a HELL of a lot easier (and cheaper) to replace brakes than to replace your clutch. also, i was taught that engine braking in the snow is a good idea. my dad lies to me a lot though so i actually dunno if it would be any better. it seems to me like you could lose traction by engine braking too.
Last edited by kevin_alvarez; 10-18-2005 at 03:16 PM.
Yeah, it's cheaper and easier changing the brake pads than the clutch assemblies. I'll stick to pedal braking and shifting to neutral.
Will changing the clutch plate, clutch disc and flywheel to TRD make any difference in performance? When it's time to change my clutch assembly, I'm considering changing all the clutch assembly to TRD and also the TRD flywheel.
I bought my 89 GTS with 211,000km on the car with original clutch I used engine break all the time and didn't replace the original clutch until the car reached 270,000km that goes to show you how long a clutch will last regardless of what you do with it. Engine braking won't damage your clutch regardless.. the clutch is designed to engage the transmission in gear so regardless of whether you're speeding up or slowing down with the clutch engaged, the clutch is still doing its job. What will damage the clutch more is inexperienced drivers burning the clutch by not engaging it properly, I've seen noobs burn a clutch in less than a year yet I've seen cars with original clutches right up to almost 300,000kms.
As for engine braking in the snow, it works and it actually cuts down the chances of sliding thru when you're coming to a stop.
yay so what I thought was right lol. Like I was saying about my jetta. has almost 500 000 km on it, and the only reason the clutch went was because a seal went and oil dripped onto the clutch. And my dad always uses the engine to break. Which is why I do, because he taught me.
and yea I prefer manual transmissions in the snow because of that. If you are doing to use the breaks to stop you might as well be using an auto in the snow...
I'm mostly with the clutch-costly, brakes-cheap crowd but I actually have a different method. I don't use either. I just hang behind the crowd and when I see them slow down or stop I take my foot off the gas, cutting my speed with the engine or proceeding near idle speed (= 15 mph in third) but not downshifting. Probably 50% of the time the crowd's moving again by the time I catch up with them. I also really cut back on fully stopping for red lights since I spend my red light waiting time actually moving to the light at a slow speed (my engine's going to idle while waiting anyways, so why not let it move the car at the same time?) rather than dashing up there and slamming on the brakes, then sitting there and waiting. Since I'm patient with acceleration I can actually let my revs drop pretty far without having to change gear at all. My car is pretty comfortable doing 15-35 mph in third so if I can keep my speed within that range then I can really reduce the shifting. By backing off the traffic I can cut down on the braking. By not needing to brake you save gas (i.e. you aren't wasting energy speeding up your car just to lose it to heat when braking).
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1981 Corolla Wagon, 5-speed, 159k miles-- my winter wheels
1981 Corolla Wagon, AT, 125k miles-- my summer wheels
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