He uses it in everyday driving pretty much. He doesn't do it all the time though, but does frequently downshift.

He's got a turbo plymouth laser 92, btw.

 

I find that if you downshift and just slowly let out the clutch like that the car tends to have an abrupt deceleration, with a really sudden weight transfer to the front wheels, which in the right conditions could cause you to lose control of your car. Although maybe that's not what your friend is doing...

I usually downshift from 5 to 3 and then coast to the light in third gear before using the brakes to stop. But, even with downshifting, you need to replace your brake pads. Downshifting is great when you have time and distance to actually do it, but when some kid in the neighborhood jumps in front of your car, you're not going to have time to downshift.

 

Gosh I'd get a headache driving with him. I can imagine how herky jerky it is and how nice the car sounds when you "nicely" put it from 5th to 2nd. Ugh ugh ugh.

Just leave it out of gear when coming to a light and use the brakes. I don't understand what is so difficult about this concept .

 

He drives faily well and despite how this all may seem, his driving is no where near "herky jerky." It's fairly smooth...

I personally use the brakes but wanted to know how to downshift without effing up my tranny.

When I asked him he went into this huff about how it depends on weather conditions, what speed you're going, blah blah blah.

 

My method is like this. When i see i gotta brake. I put my foot on the brake and my car automatically downshift for me. :doh: thats right i got an AT. Im sorry!!!! :sad:

 

:slap:

 

Downshifting from gear to gear is much safer than what he's doing... but it's using part of the car that was not made to do that, do it. Brakes are for slowing/stopping, nothing else.

Sure doing that will save his brakes for a while but it will very quickly wear out his clutch.

New brake pads $50-150, lots of people can install it themselves.
New clutch.... $300+ and installation is not as easy, unless you know what to do let a mechanic do it.

Stopping and slowing wears something out, it's the way it happens. It's just a matter of which part you want to wear out faster, the cheap easy one to replace or the expensinve one that you probably will need help installing.

 

:werd:

 

Well downshifting in itself doesn't really depend on the weather I don't think :thinking: Rev-matching is just to help reduce wear on the synchros and clutch, and helps make the transition smoother. The heel toe business is just so that you can brake while downshifting as you approach a corner, it really isn't necessary for day to day driving.

 

yes my avatar is from hellsing.