LSWannabe

99formulaM6, I think I know what you're saying. You do it sometimes during light braking to slow down faster. If you're not rev-matching then it's not good to do that. You'd have to be heel-toeing to rev-match while braking, which seems too much trouble for the result.

But if you need to slow down "in a hurry". Heavy braking would be the way to go my friend.

f-bodman

WS6 Kid

iTrader: (1)

If you were braking completely and activating ABS or skidding your tires, wouldn't the fronts lock before the rears, or would all four lock at the same time?

If they don't all four lock up at the same time and the fronts tires had more brake bias then they could handle, then downshifting could add some beneficial rear bias to the rear wheels. Especially if you have 315's in rear and smaller tires in front.

Somebody tell me whether i'm right or wrong. thought about this for awhile now and this is my best guess.

not to mention downshifting sounds badass, almost worth it for the sound

99FormulaM6

iTrader: (21)

well, me and my friend were hauling *** through a tunnel, and just as it was ending, and car decided to pull out of the emergency lane, back into traffic. i hit the brakes, and the abs kicked in and i tossed it in 2nd and slowly let off the clutch. i could feel it help me slow down a lil faster, and i came damn close to rearending that car. so i think it helps a little. is it bad, yea, but it did help me. or it felt like it helped atleast

wrencher

iTrader: (2)

I will echo the general opinion & say use the brakes to slow the car. Extra wear & tear on the the whole drive train from the clutch back, on the coast side that is. The fueling issue, at higher rpm 2K+ the PCM will go to a 0.0 pulse width on the injectors momentarily. The a rather short pulse width after, to decelerate the motor. It is RPM & PCM tune dependant.

98Z-6Speed

So you guys are saying that say you are going 45 and are coming up on a red light or stop sign, you actually don't use the engine to brake at all? You just either push in the clutch pedal or put the car in nuetral and use ONLY your brake pedal to stop?

Serious question here, I have literally NEVER tried that. I have downshifted manuals all my life, without rev matching either. I just work down the gears while lightly applying pressure to the brake pedal.

luv2spd

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, i usually pop it in neutral and only use the brakes. It doesn't seem worth the extra wear on the clutch and synchros to downshift coming to a stop.

777

iTrader: (21)

one thought is to just leave it in gear and push in clutch when you are about stopped (to prevent stalling) and this will not wear out the clutch...and uses less brake...and is "supposed" to not use any gas...i still have a hard time believing it but as already said someone with an instant mpg calc. has already proven it...

C.J.

Agreed

LSWannabe

I'm with you, that mpg calc almost seems like it only functions when the car is in gear. Because he said when he hardly hits the gas his mpg goes to ****. So when he hits the gas to rev match I HAVE to believe it uses more gas than "virtually none". Not as much as normal but definitely has to be some. I could very well be wrong but my brain just wont accept that information as fact. No offense to anyone.

-EDIT- It's like saying you can sit and rev your engine all day (to listen to it of course) and not worry about using any gas at all.

Mike98WS6

iTrader: (5)

I've been driving manual cars for over 10 yrs now. I rarely downshift my cars. I only do it when I'm going down a hill or just want to show off and listen to my exhaust.

C.J.

I bought this car with the intent to show off, so downshifting is a frequent event with me and the t-56.

98Z-6Speed

Yesterday on the way home I just used the brakes, no downshifting. That was interesting. It kind of felt like I was out of control, not feeling the drivetrain work.

z98

Sorry, you're wrong.

It takes very little fuel to rev to 3k or so, not even a measurable amount over what it takes to idle for the few seconds difference.

Ptvolly

Was taught to engine-brake (downshift0 so I've always done it and never had any problem. I drive my car like I'm running from a volcano at all times, I figure downshifting probably isn't what I should be concerned with! Yeah, brakes are cheaper than everything else (had never thought of it that way), but figure I'm gonna have to replace stuff anyway how I drive.

TheBlurLS1

iTrader: (8)

i only downshift when i need to

sticking it in 1st while rolling to a stop, uses the syncro's if you do not rev-match it, and since it takes a bit of time to rev match, you could have already stopped with the brakes. if you select a gear that revs the engine when you let the clutch out, you are using the syncros to get into that gear.

LSWannabe

If that is true, then I'll never be able to believe it. When I read it, my brain throws a code(BS247). So I guess I'll continue doing what I do, everyone else can do what they do, and we'll all be alright.

chaos

How in the hell do you do that?

BlueSix

It's all a matter of rev matching, i can do it on any manual i drive. There is no advantage to doing this.....you can only cause damage in the long run.

P Mack

iTrader: (6)

Thank you Blur, I'm surprised it took so long for someone to mention this. A transmission rebuild is more expensive than brakes too, and most clutches. Why do you think synchro's get worn out? It's cause your input shaft isn't spinning at the right rpm when you move the shifter into gear. True, you can prevent synchro wear by double clutching (not just rev matching), but downshifting to stop is still pointless. The only time I downshift is going down long hills and when I want to accelerate. I suppose I would downshift to stop if someone had cut my brake lines but that's about the only reason.