Brakes or downshift? Hold down you clutch as you brake, isnt that riding your clutch?

-Jon

p.s. Im back. Whomeover answers this beware, you will be bombarded with many questions, "maybe"

 

if im going above 50 mph, ill downshit 2 or 3 gears and then apply the brakes. then as the car is about to come to a complete stop i push in the clutch so the car doesn't stall. if you leave the car in a gear the car will slow down faster than just pushing the clutch in and having the car in a "neutral" state.

also make sure you rev match and double clutch for less wear on the synchros...
say you're in 4th gear, you push in clutch, put it in neutral, let go of cluch pedal, blip the throttle, push in clutch, put in 3rd and slowly let go of the clutch pedal. if you did this correctly the downshft action will be very smooth and almost like an automatic(atleast thats how it feels when i do it).


[Modified by Razor, 9:48 PM 10/28/2002]

 

put it in neutral and use brakes.

 

downshifting and double clutching, im only in neutral at the very end of braking right before i shift into 1st.

 

I just put in the clutch, brake, and then when it gets to 20mph, then I put it in first.

 

pull the ebrake

 

say I am in 4th, comming to a stop, I usually brake until abotu 1250 rpm and then put the clutch in so it doesnt stall.

 

i usually just press the clutch, put into neutral, release clutch, and let the brakes do the rest.

 

In general, engine braking is only done to decelerate at high speed, not coming to a stop. Rule of thumb is when coming to a dead stop from low speeds (~under 30) you want to use the clutch as little as possible to engine brake. Just put the clutch in, leave shifter in gear or put it in neutral, and coast or use brakes. Using more brakes saves your clutch, transmission and axles from wear and tear and it's way easier and cheaper to replace brakes than those other parts.
Technically, when coming to a stoplight in, say, 3rd gear, it's better to put the clutch in and use the brakes, leaving the car in gear so if the light turns green you can lift the clutch and be on your way. It's also fine to just put it in neutral, lift the clutch, and come to your stop, but you'll have less control of your vehicle with the shifter in neutral.
As for sitting at a stoplight, sitting in 1st with the clutch in is fine (saves wear and tear on input components of transmission, but hard on throw out bearing), or neutral with the clutch out (no pressure on T/O bearing, but the input shaft and its gears are still turning).
Phew


[Modified by 4doorH22, 11:19 PM 10/28/2002]

 

Brakepads cost $50 and take an afternoon to put on.

Clutches are $300 or more and require the removal of the tranny.

I think you know where I'm going with this....

 

take out of gear & brake early, slowly roll to a stop, using clutch as little as possible.

 

Kazmans94cord said it perfectly, "pull the ebrake" works everytime!

 

heel toe and late brake everyone..................

but really never use your engine to slow the car if at all possible, if the car is in gear either have your foot on the throttle or on the brake

 

Agreed. I maybe should have been more clear in my previous post. I do not downshift say from 5th-4th-3rd-2nd everytime I slow down from 5th gear.

I like to be in the appropriate gear for the respective mph just in case I have to make some kind of emergency manuever. I have been in such situations before. Being caught in neutral when you have to get out of the way quickly sucks

 

Yeah I also forgot to mention that in most states it's probably illegal to be moving and in neutral; shifter must always be in a gear unless stopped.

 

Whats your procedure for stoping on a hill.

Some cars dont have a hand brake, how would you stop on a hill?

-Jon

 

yeah i heard about that too.

 

Yeah I'm a rookie fuckit but here goes....

What's double clutching?

(Gotta learn somehow)

 

That's a huge discussion that's a lot of us have done before. You can start a new thread and see...

As for the parking brake on a hill, nah.
I'm sure most of us are quick enough to take the left foot off the brake, onto the clutch and instantly modulating the clutch with the left foot and throttle with the right foot (keeping the revs below 1500 while giving enough throttle to avoid stalling or bucking) that the car rolls back no more than one quarter inch on a steep incline.

 

if you haven't notice.
extensive usage of brakes will POSSIBLY cause master cylinder pump failure, rotor wrap, master booster failure, brake line leaks. blah blah blah.
so either way, old / high miles car will give unexpected probs.
that's why proper maintenance is important too.

i would say the best is stay within speed limits and use as much common sense as possible and be alert and avoid street morons.

i do brake or down shift or combo, just depends on what's in front. LOL

 

noobies tend to just push the clutch in and ride the brakes.

 

Depending on how fast I am going, but generally, I would downshift to 2nd and then brake, and the clutch right before I stop so engine will not stall.

I just get used to downshifting, from practicing heel toe. Now, I am just used to it so I do it more often. But, really, braking and clutch without downshift should be good enough...unless you are going really fast, and need to stop real fast too!

 

Nuetral then brake.
Nuetral then brake.
Nuetral then brake.
Nuetral then brake.
Nuetral then brake.

unless ur fearing for you life, then downshift and brake

 

Guilty as charged. Much rather redo brakes than remove the tranny to fix the clutch.

 

Ugh everyone rides brakes, I hate it. Going down slopes and stuff all the cars have their brakes on for 20 seconds at a time when reall just a tap of the brakes is required... now there's an example of where engine braking is better than using the brakes. Unless it's real steep, your motor's compression will slow you down.