mesaboogie

iTrader: (1)

just wondering how many people downshift their 8 while everyday driving.

i personally rarely downshift. when i originally learned to drive standard, people were always telling me "brakes are cheaper than a clutch/transmission." i know a lot of manual drivers do downshift, im just curious...what are your opinions?

HWK11

iTrader: (2)

i down shift every day

SPHINX144

I only down shift before entering a curve. otherwise I shift into neutral, coast and brake, then engage the proper gear.

dschreiner

i always downshift. better to stay in gear just in case something unexpected happens. experiment with blip downshifting. if you do it right there wont be any damage to the tranny. eventually for track settings you will learn to heel toe but you dont need that for everyday driving.

just focus on rev matching so you dont wear down your clutch abnormally and you will be good. just practice practice practice. eventually it becomes second nature and you dont even realize you are doin it

rxwarrior

iTrader: (1)

Me too

exsequor

iTrader: (1)

It's kinda random for me, but I usually do when braking while on a down hill grade. I also almost always double clutch when I down shift.

alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

i do for everyday driving. really does come second nature for me.

mesaboogie

iTrader: (1)

thats typically when i do it the most as well...and when there's a sharp curve coming up.

DarkLord7854

I always downshift, I need to be able to power out of "oh shi-" moments caused by other drivers not knowing how to control their cars.. happens a lot.

KrumbZ

iTrader: (3)

i downshift in the snow!! lots of fun

CRO8TIA

I drove semi's for many years so downshifting was compulsory and my driving style is the same for my 8 or any stick shift,here in Croatia they teach new drivers to shift into neutral and use the brakes to stop or slow,my wife is Croatian and it was a major effort to get her to downshift,besides,its a sports car and I find it more enjoyable to drive it like I stole it and use the transmission to pull the car up.Each to there own.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

I'm a firm believer in "engine braking." Done properly it's no more wearing then any other function.

You should never be in neutral while moving (especially around turns), to maintain torque-resistance (for both braking and acceleration) and esp. in case you must quickly react to a situation.

Driving a car manual is no different in theory then riding a 10-speed bike. Anticipate your needs so as to most efficiently use the power of the engine, up and down shifting.

Gr8Bullet

iTrader: (5)

its always fun to see people turn there heads when they hear a high reving car wind down from 7-9k rpms!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

If you rarely downshift, what do you do at red lights and stop signs? Leave it in the higher gear? Or highway passing...you stay in 6th? :dunno



I assume to mean downshifting to use engine braking as a means of slowing down. I do it all the time, primarily into 2nd and 3rd.

"Brakes are cheaper than transmission parts" but "wearing brakes is more expensive than not wearing either". As long as you rev match, there is no additional strain on the transmission, no "extra" wear. Yeah, there is wear, but nothing beyond the wear you already have during normal driving.

A WOT run is harder on the transmission than a rev-matched downshift.

What most people (who generally seem to drive ATs) are thinking when they give that quote about brakes being cheaper than transmissions, is disengaging clutch, pull out of gear, keeping clutch disengaged, putting it into gear, letting revs fall this entire time, than clutch dropping it in the lower gear with your revs at idle (presumably they fell that far during this process. THAT is stupid, incredible amount of shock to your transmission, you can slide the rear tires (seems like a brief lockup, but they are actually still turning, just WAY slower than you are going), the DSC has trouble overcoming that, and crashing is entirely a possibility on slippery conditions. So yeah, doing THAT is stupid.

Rev match and you are fine.

You can actually shift (up and down) without touching the clutch, leaving it engaged. This has a bit more wear, but entirely doable. I learned that when I had a transmission fry on me (dealer didn't put the transaxle seals back in, fluid drained and toasted everything), clutch was permanently engaged, and did ~8 miles through ~25 lights without using the clutch. I'd recommend doing it a few times to get familiar with it as a "just in case" educational experience, but not all the time.

DarkLord7854

Engine braking saves gas too

nikkdizzle

iTrader: (2)

i downshift and i usuallly rev match/heel toe unless i'm going at a slow speed...

i however, never coast in neutral seems very dangerous to me...just in case something happens..

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

yup, engine braking uses 0 fuel, while braking in neutral uses as much fuel as you need to idle.

Gr8Bullet

iTrader: (5)

plus the weight of the car slows it down even more. i do that on downhills to save gas.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I downshift when needed when driving aggressively but honestly brakes are cheaper and easier to replace than clutches so down shifting unnecessarily is putting unneeded wear and tear on more expensive things.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

There isn't any wear on clutches if you do it properly...only possible wear doing it correctly is the wear caused by gears spinning next to each other or in contact with each other....like normal.

Like I said, you can rev match downshift, and upshift, without using the clutch at all, using the same principle and practice but adding in disengaging the clutch, doesn't generate any clutch wear.

Again, WOT runs generates more transmission wear than proper downshifting. So if you are going to claim that you shouldn't downshift due to wear, then please add "or go WOT" to that...

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticl...ant-Drive.aspx

bse50

I agree with you. Actually downshifting is CHEAPER because you won't wear a clutch\engine\whatever as fast as you would wear your brakes up
In the driving schools they tell you to stay always in gear here, even during traffic stops... how can croatia be so different?

DarkLord7854

That made me laugh a lot

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Dave Coleman is my hero (professionally of course).

tza0001

iTrader: (2)

Gears are not only to accelarate but deccelarate as well! Do it properly and no problems come!