Driving Manual Transmission

[colinchrisc]

I have a question for those who drive stick.

When slowing down to a stop sign or red light, do you shift into neutral and apply the brakes or do you hold down the clutch while applying the brakes and gointo 1st gear?

[aris]

When i slow down i usaly down shift

[FoXy]

If I am in 4th or 5th I will downshift but if I am going slow enough already then I usually just brake and push the clutch in when the rpms get low enough. Its kinda second nature so you don't really notice every time.

[Soyabean]

neutral most of the time. I only downshift when i want to slow down quicker or want some attention lol

[grex]

neutral most of the time. I only downshift when i want to slow down quicker or want some attention lol

lol its true, i admit it aswell.

[Zoom Zoom Boy]

I have a question for those who drive stick.

When slowing down to a stop sign or red light, do you shift into neutral and apply the brakes or do you hold down the clutch while applying the brakes and gointo 1st gear?

Never neutral. Why would you want to remove all control of your drivetrain at any point?

Just hit the brake and/or downshift and when your revs drop lower, depress the clutch, come to a stop and put the car into first.

[blankets3]

Never neutral. Why would you want to remove all control of your drivetrain at any point?

Just hit the brake and/or downshift and when you revs lower, depress the clutch, come to a stop and put the car into first.

+1 you never know when u might need to gas!

i usually down shift and never break unless i need too ... if anyone is behind me i just touch my breaks so the lights are on

[bubba1983]

you have a manual for a reason....you downshift to slow you down

[Donutz]

I always downshift.

[slam525i]

To prevent getting caught out of gear and needing to accelerate, I downshift. If you rev match and downshift, you'll be surprised how much brake wear you'll save. (And almost no clutch wear since you're rev matching)

[colinchrisc]

I have a question for those who drive stick.

When slowing down to a stop sign or red light, do you shift into neutral and apply the brakes or do you hold down the clutch while applying the brakes and gointo 1st gear?

But what I don't understand is how you guys can downshift so quickly? When I'm coming to a stop sign, I'm going from about 70km/h to 0 within about 5 seconds, so how is it possible to downshift through each gear so quickly? It almost doesn't seem economical...

[optiklenz13]

you don't downshift to each gear from that scenario..

[colinchrisc]

you don't downshift to each gear from that scenario..

What would you do in this situation? Press clutch + brake and go into 1st gear?

[Noisy Crow]

What would you do in this situation? Press clutch + brake and go into 1st gear?

Pretty much.

Brake, clutch in when the revs get near idle, shift into first when stopped or near-stopped.

Probably catch 3rd on the way down if slowing down over a distance.

[colinchrisc]

Thanks for all your replies!

- Colin

[Donutz]

I downshift in that scenario. Bwannn pop, bwann pop, bwann pop.

[Charlie S]

This is for "Colinchrisc' who asked if he should downshift into 1st gear.
And I say " At what speed you are going?" Don't even try it!
Your car would feel like it hit a brick wall.
Unless you are going at a high speed and let's say the lights ahead turn red, you should down shift to, not lower than 3rd gear and follow up with the brakes. Usually brakes alone are enough.

Charlie.

[Mty Mous]

Agree ... I rarely ever downshift to 1st gear when slowing down ... if I ever need first gear, its most likely cause I'm moving from a dead stop or damn close to it.

Also, when slowing down, its more economical to stay in gear and slow down than it is to put into neutral and slow down cause if there's zero throttle input while slowing down in-gear, the injectors aren't spraying any fuel into the cylinders .... because its at full vacum ... where as if you throw it into neutral and glide to a stop via your brakes (or even coast downhill in neutral), the car is using that bit of fuel to keep the engine idling.
I know we're talking about tiny amounts of fuel here, but its one more point to stay in gear as you're slowing down.

As I approach a Red light or Stop sign from whatever the posted speed is, I usually rev-match and pop it into 3rd gear and let the engine brake take effect, and compliment it with the right amount of Brakes to get the job done.
If I'm coasting downhill I just get off the throttle and let it coast in gear, and if the speed rises too much, I either downshift to the next gear (to increase the engine braking effect) or apply a bit of brakes to control the coasting speed.

[slam525i]

NEVER go into 1st while moving, unless you're at walking speed. The synchros will get huge wear, as will your clutch, and that's assuming you don't over rev it. Even if nothing on the car breaks, your passengers will need new front teeth.

If I'm slowing quickly, I double clutch directly into third or even heel-toe into third if I need to stay on the brakes. (I haven't learned to double-clutch-heel-toe yet.) Third goes to 120km/h (2010 6-speed), so no risk of over-revving. If I'm panic stopping, all bets are off; just mash down the 2 pedals on the left. Nothing will slow you down faster than a free drivetrain with electronic brake-force distribution.

Also, after clutching in and braking from speed (i.e. not rowing your way down), clutch out and in again in neutral to get your tranny speed down or you'll have trouble getting into first (or wear your synchros more).

[froggy]

watch out for the dreaded accidental 5th to 2nd downshift!

[Noisy Crow]

For shifting in general... if you need more pressure than can be applied with a couple of fingers, you aren't doing it right.

To add to my earlier post.. I often just nudge the car out of gear as it slows down without even bothering with the clutch... there's a sweet spot right before the car comes to a complete stop where there is no load on the transmission and the engine is about at idle. That's also about the same speed you can shift into first with forcing anything....

[bubba1983]

screw it...jus don't use the clutch at all...its pretty much what i do on a daily basis

[stormin84]

screw it...jus don't use the clutch at all...its pretty much what i do on a daily basis

i've witnessed it.

[Noisy Crow]

screw it...jus don't use the clutch at all...its pretty much what i do on a daily basis

Yep, not just anyone can drive everywhere in reverse!

[stormin84]

no seriously, Bubba uses the clutch for first and reverse that is it...

[McGuyver_3]

screw it...jus don't use the clutch at all...its pretty much what i do on a daily basis

i agree its not hard to do lol I had to do it when my clutch was on the fritz in my last car

But for the OP I down shift all the time unless i am going so slow it wont make much sense

[blake_peanut]

I downshift sometimes, yet sometimes I just go into neutral and brake. I don't rev match but I also don't downshift at retarded rpm's. I use slight engine braking. I'd never downshift into 1st, syncros will be gone in no time. I never sit at a red light with the clutch depressed in 1st tho, imo just not a good idea. My buddy drives his car like this and it drives me nuts.

It all comes down to your habits and how you want to drive YOUR car. As long as you're not doing any harm to it, give er.

[McGuyver_3]

yeah i dont keep my clutch pedal pressed and in gear at a light why work hard if you dont have to haha. BUT on the otherhand my driving instructor got so pissed at me for it lol. As for the rev match i always rev match i am usually in high rpms anyways

[x_o_k_x]

I downshift sometimes or most of the time. If its emergency or hard stop, I go neutral and brake. At the red light, I shift in first while holding brakes

[Kevin@nextmod]

i usually only downshift when i'm in 4th, 5th, or 6th gear. I only downshift 3rd to 2nd when i'm making a quick right or left turn, otherwise, i just put it in neutral because i'm not going fast enough so theres no point in downshifting.

[Cosmo77]

:pop

[Woodman316]

Brakes are much cheaper to repair than clutch's and drive lines.
Had a Neon 2 dr sport 12 years never change the clutch, and still good when I traded it.

[ShortBus]

Brakes are much cheaper to repair than clutch's and drive lines.
Had a Neon 2 dr sport 12 years never change the clutch, and still good when I traded it.

yup.

i downshift (just third in most cases) and brake, stops a lot faster and better than throwing it in neutral and braking unless you are slamming on the brakes.

i only downshift to second if i'm rolling to a stop (stopped cars or red light) if i know it's going to be close to green by the time i get to where i need to stop. and i double clutch into first if i'm moving less than 5km/h or if i'm pulling into somewhere like a parking lot with a steep incline at a low speed.

[Marvintpa]

If I know I'm coming to a full stop then it's just neutral and brake. I'd rather replace brakes than a clutch.

[Burner]

If I know I'm coming to a full stop then it's just neutral and brake. I'd rather replace brakes than a clutch.

What if you suddenly need acceleration to get out of a sticky situation?

[slam525i]

The whole "brakes cost more than clutch" argument assumes that you can stop the car as many times on the clutch as on the brakes. Difference is, if you rev match, there's essentially no clutch wear.

[ShortBus]

The whole "brakes cost more than clutch" argument assumes that you can stop the car as many times on the clutch as on the brakes. Difference is, if you rev match, there's essentially no clutch wear.

what?

unless you did something really stupid or have high mileage, you should only have to replace the pads which would be cheaper than replacing a clutch.

i'd rather use the brakes than the clutch to stop a car because well the brakes are just simply more effective unless you drive a semi.

[Burner]

i'd rather use the brakes than the clutch to stop a car because well the brakes are just simply more effective unless you drive a semi.

Or a motorcycle...:chuckle

[W_L89]

i started downshifting now because my brakes started squeeking and id rather replace pads myself (way too cold to do it outside right now) and it easier to stop in snow downshifting then with just brakes

[Gen1GT]

1. If nobody is in the car with me, I always downshift
2. If there is someone in the car, I just slow down like it was an automatic, then put the clutch in before it stalls
3. There is nothing wrong with downshifting into first...that's why we rev-match.
4. My 93 Protege likes clutchless shifting much more than my Mazda3...so I don't do it in the Mazda3. Oddly, the Mazda3 doesn't like coming out of gears with no clutch.

[Burner]

Oddly, the Mazda3 doesn't like coming out of gears with no clutch.

Try pre-loading the shifter before you take your foot off the throttle.

[Stoked]

i dont downshift to decelerate at all, if im stopping i go neutral and use the brakes then shift back into whatever gear necessary

[McGuyver_3]

The whole "brakes cost more than clutch" argument assumes that you can stop the car as many times on the clutch as on the brakes. Difference is, if you rev match, there's essentially no clutch wear.

i agree with your statement but I would also like to add my 91 pathfinder I had before my mazdas was about 14 years old when i traded her in for my first mazda. Had 160000km on it original clutch downshifted every day of its life without rev matching. Clutch was starting to slip when I traded it in but other then that car was mint

[SomeGuy]

Downshift to third if I'm going fast enough, rev matched of course...which will take you down to like 15-20km/h and use brakes along with it to get me down, then pop it out of gear and use neutral the rest of the way. Downshifts to second only for going around corners, pretty rarely when I'm coming up to the lights. First only when I'm going stupidly slow where second one chug and I need power again, not stopping, only getting going again.

BTW Bubba's clutchless shifting is quite fun once you get the hang of it. I do it quite a bit when traffic is light and I'm feeling too lazy to use both legs.

[grex]

Or a motorcycle...:chuckle

that isn't true the brakes on my bike are unbelievable. I down shift and rev match on my bike because i find it so much easier...a little flick of the wrist and i can bring the rpms up to 8 grand..plus it sounds sweet. but the breaks are awesome I can stop on a dime anytime...ive never had an issue.

[Burner]

that isn't true the brakes on my bike are unbelievable. I down shift and rev match on my bike because i find it so much easier...a little flick of the wrist and i can bring the rpms up to 8 grand..plus it sounds sweet. but the breaks are awesome I can stop on a dime anytime...ive never had an issue.

Riding around in the city, I have little use for the brakes. I tap them to let people know I'm slowing down, but my bike comes to a smooth and fairly quick stop by down shifting alone.