An Age Old Manual Question

[Intrepidation]

So my girlfriend and I have discussed a few times which is better better to do when slowing down/coasting and/or coming to a stop? Her aunt (who taught her) said it was better to downshift, although she usually put it in neutral. She taught me that way, so it's how I do it. A friend of mine puts it in neutral. So...which do you do? and which is better or worse or the car?

[Dragon]

typically i'll just throw it in neutral. but if there's a way to go, I'll downshift.

in general, i'd rather let my brakes take the wear from slowing down than clutch and tranny.

[Charger4U]

little do i now but i would think to put it in neutral is better

[trinacriabob]

You needed an "other" category.

When I did have access to one, I would downshift first, if decelerating from, say, 50 to 25 mph.

If at low speeds and coming to a stop, I would put it into neutral.

Ah, yes, memories....truthfully, I'm GLAD I don't have a stick.

[Intrepidation]

How do you edit the poll itself?

[Cory Wolfe]

I always put it in neutral. Less wear and tear on the engine. Course... that was with my Grand Am and it was a lost cause anyways.

[bobo]

Neutral. Better to have some wear on brake pads than the strain on the tranny and engine.

[PurdueGuy]

you'll use less fuel if it's in gear - it won't feed fuel to the engine until the RPMs drop low enough that it needs to maintain an idle. The wear & tear on the engine & tranny are minimal, unless RPMs are really high.

[AAS]

Downshift or leave it in gear, but never just put it in neutral. Putting it in neutral leaves you with one less way to control the car.

[regfootball]

coast down as long as possible in a higher gear. you still get some engine braking and won't wear out your brakes as much. And, less overall wear on your clutch and tranny. downshift only at the last neccessary moment or when you come to a stop.

i was told to never have it in neutral. always have it in some gear so if you need to suddently accelerate you have A chance of being able to get out of a situation.

-edit- i will put it in neutral at a stoplight sometimes when I am at a standstill. So i kind of break whatever was told to me sometimes. If i am in neutral, i don't gotta press the darn clutch down.

Edited January 15, 2007 by regfootball

[ocnblu]

If I'm first in line at a red light, I'll just toss it in neutral because I don't have to be concerned with creep until everyone gets to a full stop. If I have to creep ahead, I stick it in neutral to coast, then stick it in a lower gear for the creeping. I try to keep my foot off the clutch as much as possible. Slipping, or partially applying the clutch is where you have your wear. Edited January 14, 2007 by ocnblu

[Dsuupr]

Neutral for gas mileage, downshift for driving aggressively.

[thedriver]

I was taught to always downshift, later reinforced by an ex-SCCA racer.

After owning 4 vehicles with a stick, I replaced only 1 clutch, and that was at 165,000 miles. . .

[ShadowDog]

Just say 'no' to compression deceleration. It does affect the engine/transmission/drivetrain in a negative way over time. Brakes are for slowing and stopping, while gears are used for acceleration.

The difference is on hills, but I should make something clear: Holding a gear, using the engine compression down a hill is to prevent the vehicle from speeding up, allowing less use of the brakes to prevent them from overheating. If you notice, a trucker stays one consistantly slow speed using the engine to compression-brake. They don't allow the truck to speed up at all. Some people hold a low gear, allow a vehile to speed up, then slow it down again with their brakes, and repeat the process down the hill. In truth, the RPMs should remain consistant to reduce wear-and-tear, and not climb with the vehicle speed.

As mentioned, neutral-coasting is a less-favorable practise, as I've always been instructed anyway. It's probably worth noting that downshifting for race-car driving isn't for rapid deceleration, but to rev-match in order for the transmission to even allow the driver to get into the favorable gear needed for the quickest acceleration out of a corner. By rev-matching and braking, the engine isn't even using cmpression-braking at all. In fact, compression-braking would likely kill their engine at some point.

[Camino LS6]

"Gears are for controlling speed, brakes are for stopping."

Quoted for truth.

Downshifting saves the brakes, improves mileage, and increases control of the car. = no-brainer

[scharmer05]

Always downshift. Driving truck gave me that habit, so I still do it in a car or pickup.

[scharmer05]

Neutral for gas mileage, downshift for driving aggressively.

You use more gas in neutral.

[Turbojett]

Quoted for truth.

Downshifting saves the brakes, improves mileage, and increases control of the car. = no-brainer

2Quoted for truth.

neutral puts just as much wear on the clutch because it' would do just as much wear/damage as riding it all the way to a stop. I usually downshift all the way to a stop, and then only put it into neutral after I've stopped so that I don't have to hold the clutch in through the red light. The Camaro's clutch has only needed to be replaced once, and it was way past-schedule, even after all the dragging and burnouts I've done in it, so that must say something for downshifting.

EDIT: although I must say that it is getting to be about time to replace it again. (It's going to be ten years old this year!)

Edited January 14, 2007 by Turbojett

[ocnblu]

Whoa, I see this is a topic that's going to go round in circles. I will downshift while going down a steep hill for engine braking, but around town, I usually don't get out of 3rd anyway, no use dropping it into 2nd and dealing with an upsurge in revs, which can't be good for mpg, also, I don't like to lug my engine, especially this DOHC 5. Most of my 19 vehicles (so far) have been manuals, and I've never replaced a clutch lining, although my '94 S-10 needed a throwout bearing at 110k miles.

[Turbojett]

Whoa, I see this is a topic that's going to go round in circles. I will downshift while going down a steep hill for engine braking, but around town, I usually don't get out of 3rd anyway, no use dropping it into 2nd and dealing with an upsurge in revs, which can't be good for mpg, also, I don't like to lug my engine, especially this DOHC 5. Most of my 19 vehicles (so far) have been manuals, and I've never replaced a clutch lining, although my '94 S-10 needed a throwout bearing at 110k miles.

actually, that little upsurge in revs doesn't take in any more gasoline than slowing down. in fact, after observing the fuel consumption meter in my cobalt, I notice that during the revs of a downshift, the gas mileage actually improves just the slightest bit.

Anyway, this is an age old debate, and one that probably isn't going to get generally settled anytime soon. I was taught at first to neutralize when decelerating, but I have since learned by several other people, including a GM certified mechanic, that downshifting really is the way to go.

[Intrepidation]

4Quite interesting. The clutch on the Prizm has been replaced once at 167k (idh) miles, and then the tranny abiout 3k miles later (it needed to be replaced then but we weren't able to get a tranny in time when the clutch blew). I learned to put it in neutral, my friend puts his Corolla in neutral when slowing down or coasting...he has like 156k miles on it with the original tranny and clutch. I downshift on hills or when traffic slows down, but coming to a stop, liek I said, I just put it in neutral.

[Z-06]

This is a very good thread. I used to stick it to neutral while decelerating. But one of my friend who drove in European rallies told me actually to downshift. Even though you think that it will end up at higher revs, as Turbojett rightly said, it actually helps the engine to match the revs and for a slight moment increase the fuel economy. I have seen people follow both these practices and still retain their clutch. So I think when it comes to wear and tear it depends on how much you push your vehicle to its limits in an unscientific manner. :AH-HA_wink:

[Hudson]

coast down as long as possible in a higher gear. you still get some engine braking and won't wear out your brakes as much. And, less overall wear on your clutch and tranny. downshift only at the last neccessary moment or when you come to a stop.

i was told to never have it in neutral. always have it in some gear so if you need to suddently accelerate you have A chance of being able to get out of a situation.

-edit- i will put it in neutral at a stoplight sometimes when I am at a standstill. So i kind of break whatever was told to me sometimes. If i am in neutral, i don't gotta press the darn clutch down.

This is pretty much what should be done, in a car. Adding a towed vehicle is another story.

In a typical car, brake with the vehicle in gear but there's no need to downshift, unless conditions warrant...towing or slippery road conditions might necessitate this. Downshift in a manual transmissioned vehicle was encouraged when vehicles didn't have vacuum brake boost or disc brakes. Today's cars do no need the additional engine braking under normal conditions.

However, unnecessary clutching and de-clutching will put some wear on internal parts. Only shift into neutral when necessary. A fully depressed clutch pedal will cause the least wear on your clutch where shifting in and out of neutral causes the clutch to be engaged/disengaged four times (twice when shifting into neutral and twice when shifting back into gear).

[jessi_chan]

Downshift or leave it in gear, but never just put it in neutral. Putting it in neutral leaves you with one less way to control the car.

Thank You! That was what I was taught, you should downshift so you can have better control of the car. Because yes if you put it in neutral you don't really have control of the car..

And as for you Dodgefan.. I told you to not include me damnit! You were supposed to say me and a FRIEND not your g/f... lol I didn't want anyone thinking I'm stupid.... lol. Oh well.