Acidangel_5.0

if you know how to do it correctly then whatever.. i do it all the time and i know its not causing problems... since i have 27k miles and not 1 single issue yet.. most people cant even get to 10k on stock clutch and im on my way to tripling that with not 1 slippage yet

either you drive the 5 speed.. or you are 1 with the 5 speed..

Stouffer

hhhmmmmm......to shift or not to shift...go ahead and shift if you want, never had burned out a clutch from dowshifting, the last car was a gti, didn't have to replace the clutch until somewhere around 115,000 miles and I down shift all the time.

JohnnySasakiMGS

I am one with the 5 speed.

Travi-ss-

[QUOTE=either you drive the 5 speed.. or you are 1 with the 5 speed..[/QUOTE]

word.............i downshift constantly..everytime my car slows down and i have no problems with the clutch. also id like to add that i downshift only when the rpms drop below 2k or 1.75k so its not like in going into second at 70 (i also have almost 20,000 miles on the car and its an ss/sc)

Ryuu600

GA Driver's Manual 2007

Page 30:

Coasting
The driver of any motor vehicle, when traveling down a hill, must not coast with the gears or transmission of the vehicle in neutral.

denn454

iTrader: (1)

hum... thanks! so i guess when i get to the top of a really big hill shutting the engine off is probably not exactly the best thing to do. but it sure does help on fuel economy. all i loose is power steering. Don't rag on me too much, i do this down the same huge hill every day, there are no cross roads or anything for me to have to worry about, traffic is minimal. and i get about a mile and a half totally free, gotta love that.

Ryuu600

Contrary to what the "hypermilers" might like to do, shutting off your car while in a lane of traffic is illegal for any reason other than vehicle fire.

katie

I just put my foot on the clutch and keep it there, slow with my brakes but downshift through the gears. I don't know why, thats just what I've always done. I rarely ever put my car in neutral when just slowing, just only put it in neutral when I park it.

Ryuu600

um, Katie, sweetheart, why would you downshift through the gears if your foot has the clutch pegged to the floor? That's like rewinding a dvd

06 pursuit gt

think f it this way would you rather save your brakes by downshifting or save ur tranny by just shifting into N and using your brakes

bigrroberto

I do a combination of both. Im good at rev matching so I try to downshift when I can. Especially if, for example, there's no traffic and my turn is coming up on a road that has a higher speed. I just take my time and downshift when rpms are low so there's really no harm to the car. I would say Im about 75 / 25 for downshifting vs. throwing it in nuetral. A good combination of both can't hurt?? That way you're not really wearing out either pre-maturely. That's my 2c anyways.

Red2.4SS/SC

haha no matter how hard you try it wont go into first at 30

PolishPauL

Anybody?

Also when i down shift, at the friction point i let stay on the clutch for about two seconds. Is that bad because i do that to make it smoother?

bigrroberto

Its not terrible, but that's riding the clutch. Basically you should be able to let the clutch out normally, if the rpm's are matched perfectly, with out or with very, very, little jerking motion. It takes some practice. If you've ever ridin a motorbike you'd be able to pick up on it alot better. When you're practicing turn off the music so you can hear the engine rev. Also try letting the clutch out like a 1/4 of a second after you tap the gas so that the clutch is engaging at the exact time the rpm's hit their peak. Should be smooth. Like I said, practice, practice.

YellowG5

hmmm, so, one who has been driving a manual since 16, is now 21, and hasn't had to change a clutch yet doesn't know what I'm talking about eh?

Lest see, only time I see a manual transmission car in a wreck that was caused by them, besides retards running into them, is when they try to down shift thru the gears, I understand fully the need to be in a gear for quick acceleration, but you are also forgetting that these cars can brake pretty darn quickly from 55mph. The brake tests are done at 70+.

now, my dad drove manual for his first half of his life, and my grandpa built hot rods with six speeds, they both told me when I was learning, to NEVER down shift unless needed. And face it, most people in america don't know how to double clutch, and I'm one of them. If you are down shifting, you should double clutch, but who the hell is skilled enough to do that on a busy city street???

NinjaHampster

downshift, nobody likes black asbestos wheels

YellowG5

Then get Ceramic pads!

bigrroberto

With syncro mesh transmissions there's really no need to double clutch. It's not gonna help, nor hinder you if you do or not. The only time you need to double clutch is if you're in a semi truck This info comes from my dad, who's been driving trucks for 25 years. And just because your father and grandfather say that you don't need to downshift doesnt mean that it's right... or wrong for that matter, it's just their own opinion.

YellowG5

funny, I blew out my Getrag in my Sunfire three years ago by downshifting in traffic, and was told by the dealer if I double clutched it wouldn't have happened, and NO, it wasn't me shifting to 1st or 2nd from 70...it was putting it into 1st at 25mph

katie

Mainly so if I'm slowing for a stoplight, I'm in the right gear if the stoplight turns green and I can go again, that way I know what gear I'm in and I'min the correct gear for starting out again.

alleycat58

As someone already posted GA has the law and I know for sure tons of other states do too. I'll take a look at the PA manual as well.

That is officially the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Wow. And no, power steering is NOT all you lose, you also lose the power brake assist. I hope to hell that's nowhere near a residential neighborhood - God help the kid or pet that inadvertently runs out into the street in front of you.

Acidangel_5.0

id stay away from this.. this is gonna cause alot of major vacuum issues and booster failues if you keep doing that

OzzyruleZ

me and my dad were actually talking about downshifting today. He's got plenty of experience with cars. worked as a tech for years and years and now builds race cars. His words were this "the engine and transmission are under nowhere as much strain downshifting than it would be if you were under full throttle. All the stories you hear about downshifting blowing tranny's, clutch's, timing gears/chains are exactly that. Stories." I don't doubt a word the man says. everytime he told me a specific part of my car was going to go it alway did shortly thereafter. you guys can do and say what you want but i'm gonna keep on downshifting.

Ryuu600

To the 21 yo. 5 years of driving does not make you an expert. I'm 30 and have been driving manuals since I learned to drive and I am not anywhere near an expert. I have also downshifted in every vehicle I have owned.

One of those was a VW wagon that was sold with 225,000 miles on it on the original clutch. We owned the car for 10 years. My father drove it before me and he downshifted too. Oh and in that 10 years my mom, who doesn't downshift because she doesn't know how to properly, replaced her brakes 7 times. We replaced the VW's brakes.... omg.... twice! Let's see... estimating a minimum of $50 per brake job (doing the work myself) my mom spent $350 on brakes and my dad and I spent $100. The '84 Quantum turbo diesel clutch is $185. So even if we replaced the clutch when we sold it we were at $285 and Mom was at $350.... Explain to me again how it is cheaper to replace the brakes?

denn454

iTrader: (1)

there is enough vacuum stored to use the brakes a few times. yes it COULD fail but it could fail with the engine running or not. Its probably not the safest thing to do but if i can get an extra few mpg out of it without risking anything, why not?

as for extra wear on the vacuum system, how do you figure? every time you park the car you shut it off. thats the same thing only rolling down a hill. do you put your foot on the brake every time before you start the car? (which even with letting my car sit over night there is still enough vacuum stored to get the power brakes working)

Its not doing anything that normally doesn't happen anyways. Its not safe with traffic and I don't do it with anyone around. Its a calculated risk, just like getting out of bed in the morning, there is always something that CAN go wrong.