Hello all,

How do you all preform shifting in everyday in city driving?

Do you always downshift?
Do you just go into neutral and use brakes?
Do you keep your foot on brakes reducing RPMs then downshift while still on the brakes until near stopping?


What do you consider the proper way to come to a stop in everyday driving?
Also in regards to clutch saving and benefits of each method?


Post your methods

Thanks

 

I never downshift (i.e. use the gearbox to slow down the car). If I know I'm going to be coming to a complete stop, or having to shift to a lower gear to keep going, I just knock it into neutral and use the brakes.

 

Downshifting/not downshifting: Lots of manual gearboxes out there, lots of opinions. Do whatever you are comfortable with. However, DO NOT sit still in traffic in gear with the clutch disengaged. Take it out of gear and keep the foot away from the pedal. Any time your foot is just touching that pedal you are engaging the master cylinder and there will be wear on the clutch and TO bearing. If you want to learn the zen of shifting, contact someone in your local SCCA chapter. In Southern FL if memory serves, there is the EVSCC and I'll bet they still get some track time at Sebring once in a while.

 

Yes I too learned dont drive with foot on or near clutch pedal. I never sit at a light with car in gear and clutch pressed waiting for go. I was taught get out of first off the clutch then procede. I usually am off the clutch as soon as I can. I was taught to downshift when stopping while maintaining foot on brake while shifting through gears. Usually I get te engine down to 2k to 1.5k before down shifting while on brake. Typically downshift to 2nd then neutral and on to brakes only for the stop. Mixed conceptions about clutch ware vs brake wear. I figure if you are doing it right there should be limited wear on both.
Curious to see what the manufacter states is the proper technique?
You are right about Sebring and Morrosso down here too is nearest track.

Thanks for input

 

Brakes are much cheaper than a transmission, use your brakes in normal driving.

 

Problem with using the brakes is safety. If you're in neutral or too high a gear and you need to accelerate out of danger, you're hosed. If you're leaving the car in gear but holding the clutch in while braking you're wearing the clutch MORE than if you were downshifting properly as well. Kind of a double whammy.

 

White Roof Radio covered this topic several times.

Yes brakes are cheaper
Yes - do not keep your foot on the clutch ...only use when needed; If memory serves me correct... the throw out bearing is plastic --- thx BMW ;(
You can save fuel by downshifting and allowing the engine to slow you down (yes this sounds weird but is true... and been proven) BUT!!!! still I think I would rather wear the brakes down and use a little more fuel than put more wear and tear on my clutch system and transmission. IMO only

Cheers!

 

BTW; I do downshift probably more than I should.... but more of a habit from riding bikes and truck driving for 7 years. I do generally throw it in neutral if coming up to a stop.

 

Of course there are certain situations where you need to use the gears while braking. That's common sense, however most of the time you don't.

I'm talking about putting the car in neutral, not holding the clutch in while braking.

Good example of this is coming up to a red light or stop sign and having to stop.

 

I probably downshift about 50% of the time. I want to enjoy driving and I don't worry about brake wear vs. clutch/transmissions/engine wear.

Just remember to always leave the car in gear until you stop. Coasting in neutral is a bad idea... if you need to jump on the gas when in neutral, you need to remember to shift into a gear again which takes too long. Also when you coast in neutral, the engine must use up fuel to keep idling... But if you coast to a stop while in gear, fuel is not used improving gas mileage.

And of course always go in neutral when stopped with your foot off the clutch pedal - even better use the handbrake (which I almost never do...) in case you get rear-ended you don't want to zoom into a busy intersection or someone else's rear bumper.

 

Oh I wasn't saying that you always have to downshift, but simply that if you're not downshifting, and all of a sudden you NEED to be in gear, you won't be. It's a safety thing for me. I haven't had a transmission or clutch go out on me yet so unless I start killing them I think the safety factor is reason enough to downshift. YMMV

It's all good.

 

I always downshift, and I rev match every downshift. If there is a red light approaching and I'm in 4th, I rev match and downshift to 3rd, then 2nd, then coast in 2nd until I get below 1000RPM. Then I put it in neutral and hit the brakes. That way I am always in gear, I am not actually using the clutch to slow the car, and I'm always ready to hit the gas if I need to avoid something.

 

Pretty much my thoughts exactly!

 

One thing being missed is that there is a technique while decelerating when coming to a stop or a corner that is between "downshifting through every gear" and "put it in neutral". Just leave it in whatever gear it is in with the clutch out while decelerating until the last second. Wait in gear until the revs drop low enough that you need to use the clutch to keep the engine idling. This has the lowest fuel consumption and the least clutch wear. (At least on the Gen1 cars, you may feel the slight lurch around 1400 RPM during deceleration when the engine goes from no fuel to adding idle fuel. This is about the time you put the clutch in.)

The drawback to this approach is that you may not be in a gear where you can accelerate away in an emergency, but I think this is best addressed by being ready to quickly select the right gear. If you adhere to the policy of downshifting to always be in the right gear to accelerate away from danger, then I think to be consistent you also should leave the car in gear at stops rather than neutral. In either case, the tradeoffs of wear/tear on the clutch/throwout bearing are too much for me to do this regularly.

I teach experienced drivers occasionally and it is amazing how many manual transmission drivers have the reflex to automatically push the clutch in anytime they brake. If they have to brake for a turn, they'll push the clutch in well before corner entry when they first start to brake, coast through the turn till well past the apex, then clumsily engage a gear at the turn exit and accelerate. These are the folks replacing clutch and transmission parts all the time. Some say that they have been told they can't brake with the car in gear. This is, of course, not true. On one curvy route I take often, I can drive very briskly in one gear (3rd) and negotiate 100+ corners and never touch the clutch while the driver in front of me driving much more slowly and much less smoothly may use the clutch 100+ times. And we wonder why some get 10K miles out of a clutch and others get 500K?

- Mark

 

Yes, np.

 

I don't do it, but I thought that holding the clutch all the way into the floor wasn't bad if it was truely depressed the full way and was held there....

 

You are correct in that up to a point. Every time the clutch is disengaged, the pedal should be pressed clear to the floor. Holding the pedal clear to the floor when nothing else is going on, i.e. sitting at an intersection, waiting for your mother-in-law to extricate herself, and etc. is just causing wear on parts that should be conserved for the sake of their longevity.

 

You're not harming the throwout bearing or the clutch by keeping it depressed at a redlight. That is what a throwout bearing is designed to do. It could be said you are harming it by kicking the car into neutral. Everytime you depress the clutch the bearing engages the pressure plate fingers and in addition it goes from 0 to flywheel speed.