Just a little technical driving question. I learned to drive in the UK and was taught to change down through the gears whenever slowing down. I've noticed here that people often just hold the clutch down and use the brake to slow down, and then go into neutral or first gear. Which is a better practice for the gears/brakes/car in general? Does it matter?

 

Read an article once that said it was better to just use the brakes instead of downshifting. Said the wear and tear to the engine/drive train would eventually cost more to fix than a set of brakes. I downshift occasionally, but not usually.

 

I've been driving a stick for 37 years and downshift all of the time (never had an automatic). I don't run through all six gears and I never downshift into first. I've never replaced a clutch or had any kind of engine problems. I tend to treat using my brakes as a last resort (and a sign of failure) except when I'm coming to a complete stop.

 

I tend to do a combination of both. And like ShipM8 just don't go into 1st until I stop. The MINIs have a good strong tranny I think.

 

Going down through the gears is great fun, but, it stresses all your driveline components... stress is a killer!! Down shifting puts loads on your clutch, your engine, transmission and half-shafts because they are being used to slow your car. To replace those parts is very expensive. Brake pads and rotors slow your car in a very efficient, although, not-so-fun manner, ....pads and rotors are dirt cheap in comparison when it comes to replacement. It's a question of $.

 

Downshifting without rev matching is what *can cause* causes damage *over time*.

That said, doing it correctly, still causes wear on parts.

But I got a car that is fun to drive.

I'll drive it fun.

Fun is not abusing a car.

I do a combo of both.. say.. slowing down to a stop from 65.. 6th gear..

I'll hit 4th.. rev match... brake...

Then while still braking... Downshift to 3rd or 2nd.. depending on road speed..

It all depends on road speed.

Only 1st once stopped. Never downshift into 1st.. The gear ratio of 1st causes the mainshaft to have to react (input/clutch disk speed) WAY to much.. this causes stress on the blocker rings, "synchronizer assembly" and so on.

Dad always taught me.. "never downshift into a gear you would not be in at that speed"..

True brakes are cheaper and easier to change than a trans.. or clutch..

Think about it, when you let off the gas in a stick, you are driving the engine with the mass of the car. This, axle and bearing wise is much the same stress forces as downshifting.. but again, you don't want to subject the parts to sudden shock loading.. so 6th to 2nd is a pretty crappy idea...

I'll also occasionally up/down shift.. without engaging the clutch... so the mainshaft/clutch disk speeds can wind up properly..

ie - 6th.... (open clutch).. (shift.. 5th... shift...4th...) (close clutch..)... (6th to 4th..)

Same on skip-shifting on upshifts..

2nd... (open clutch... shift 3rd... shift 4th...) (close clutch..) gas... (2nd to 4th)..

 

+1 to most of this....
Downshifting done RIGHT is like upshifting...very little wear...let's face it...a pro can get a 100,000+ on a clutch..often much more..
I think the downshift "rules" are from the days of drum brakes....often undersized, and they would weaken with heat...if they went when "free wheeling" in neutral...you were in trouble...remember those EARLY cars of that era had STRIGHT CUT GEARS, and usually NO SYNCHRO'S....so recovering from a missed shift was much harder (Ever hear the term pres, rev and pray?)....
Even today if you are rolling to a stop in N, and say the light changes....and the engine has idled down to low idle....and YOU need to "guess" what gear to use...hopefully with a throttle blip to save some wear on the synchros....it takes a good ear to do this effectively....with folks running a stereo.... Becomes easy to miss....and make more wear than you ever saved....

 

P.S.
You know you are "one" with your car when you can "float" gears....
Truckers do it ALL DAY....(Double clutching is taught, but after a few weeks..ouch...will kill your knee!!)...
It is shifting, without using a clutch....you must revmatch and time your shifts perfectly (trucks have straight cut gears and lack syncro's...just like older car trannys...think classic car...then the couch is ONLY used to get the tranny in the first gear to be used to go forward/reverse from a stop...

 

Once won $50 at a party over a bet that I could drive my Jeep around the block without ever hitting the clutch.. including 1st gear.. (it did not have a clutch/starter interlock switch)..

Dude jumped in with me around the block... when he hopped out.. he paid me my $50.

 

I too downshift frequently, but rarely to first gear. The jump to match revs from 2nd to 1st is like 3k to 5k rpm. With the lag in drive-by-wire throttle its harder to donor at a slower speed, so I (usually) just stop, then shift in to first.

I frequently go 4th to 2nd when approaching a 90^ turn at like 50 MPH.

Clutches transmissions and engines all seem to last me a very long time. I usually end up replacing a clutch once in a car that came used to me, then it's good for another 100 to 150k miles, and I'm sure more if I owned the car longer.

Like mentioned about rev matching, it's important. It can keep from upsetting the balance of the car so that you can retain smoothness while setting up for a corner, but also,.. Make sure you're not using the clutch disk to speed up the engine, nor to slow down the car. Dad told me "That's what the other two pedals are for."

 

^^^^^
+1

 

+1 to ShipM8's reply.

 

Always a touchy subject. Pretend you're brain is the computer controlling an automatic transmission. Your body will do the shifting at just the right times and speeds if you listen to the motor, watch the tach and speedometer as your butt feels the road grade and attitude of the vehicle. Become one with your MINI. Easy.

 

Thanks for all your responses. I think I got my answer! That both are OK, as long as you downshift correctly at the right revs. My first vehicle was an old British Telecom van and I could go through his gears without the clutch if my timing was perfect, but I won't even be trying that with my new MINI! I like driving with gears (feel more in control of the car than with an automatic transmission - and it could be because that's what I learned on) and I like to downshift, as I always have done, but now I know it's OK to be lazy too! (Oh and no I wouldn't go into 1st unless I was at a full-stop). Thanks again!��������

 

In modern cars, when the throttle is closed, and the clutch is engaged so the wheels are turning the engine and not the other way 'round, the injectors are shut off which squeaks out improved fuel economy.

Knowing this, when I know I'm going to stop I take my foot off the gas as soon as possible, and I keep my foot off the throttle with the car in whatever gear it was in until the revs are ~1200 or so, then I'll change down one or two more gears to slow some more, clutching in as late as possible from as high a gear as possible.

I tested this through 4 full tanks of gas, idling in 6th for one tank (about a week and a half of commuting with an average speed of 32 MPH over 370ish miles per tank), then idling to a stop in neutral for the second tank.
Tank 1 (in gear) 31.0 MPG
Tank 2 (in neutral) 29.0 MPG
Tank 3 (in gear) 31.6 MPG
Tank 4 (in neutral) 29.4 MPG

YMMV (HA! Funny guy...) but those are my results.