Originally posted by: Clair de Lune
For 5 years of driving my Mazda6i '03 manual, I've always went to neutral upon reaching desired speed and almost never downshifted. I see downshifting as pointless. If I'm going to stop, I put it in neutral and come to a stop. Why shift 5 times to get to a stop?
If I predict I'm going to stay in similar speed, I stay in current gear and coast
If I want to lower my speed, I just apply brake and proceed to re-engage to appropriate gear, matching the engine.
I never do the engine brake, braking is always done by brake pedal.
No problems unless I'm:
a) missing something that's bad which I doubt (my car has 80k miles, no problems).
b) misusing the term of 'downshifting', I do shift lower when speed becomes slower, but I
never engine brake myself, which what I understand as 'downshifting'.
Let me know your thoughts.
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Moving this to the Garage
Moderator Eli
My thoughts:
1.) Shifting down to a lower gear while underway
is "downshifting."
2.) When you say, "I never do (sic) the engine brake (sic)", I take it to mean that while you select a lower gear as you are slowing, you do not actually let out the clutch and engage that gear.
I would say, "Don't do this." You are riding your clutch,
even if you have your clutch pedal depressed fully to your floor, and putting unnecessary strain on your throw out bearing. Note: Clutch pedal depressed as far as you can /= some magical state of zero mechanical engagement.
The above advice is not critical, however. It is of FAR less importance than even the more famous "brake pedal vs. engine braking" debate.
Yes, yes, yes, it is far easier and cheaper to replace your brake pads. Nevertheless, I have always downshifted and used engine braking,
and I have never worn out a clutch! In the past, I have bought used cars of uncertain provenance (i.e., who knows how "used" their clutches already were?) and put an addtional 100,000 miles plus on them with zero problems.
I habitually downshift and use engine braking probably because I had two VW buses (and one 6 volt bug) in the past. Their brakes were so bad, engine braking was a necessity.
Also, I think I've been something of a hypermiler long before I ever heard of the term. Thus, I'm always looking far down the road, anticipating situations, and naturally trying to stay in motion. Slowly shifting down through the gears as I approach "that steady red" just fits in.
But, finally, I must admit that I downshift because I
like to downshift. I
like to drive. In the end, it's likely as simple as that.
3.) "my car has 80k miles, no problems" I am
of the opinion that, these days, clutches are
so good, you should easily be able to get 125,00 - 150,000+ miles out of yours.
Again,
it's just my opinion, but I think that if you encounter clutch wear before this, you are doing something wrong, and that what you are doing wrong is most likely "riding the clutch", that is to say, habitually keeping your left foot on the clutch pedal
to any degree while underway.
It goes without saying (I hope) that if you can't properly shift to begin with (WAY too much engine revving as you all too slowly disengage the clutch), you're going to kill your clutch prematurely anyway.
Cliffs: Yes, you are misusing the term "downshifting." No big deal.
Engine brake if you
want to, say I.
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