So I was listening to the radio this morning to the two guys giving advice to people about cars and they were suggesting to someone to use their manual transmission to slow the car down when coming to a stop.

I've been driving manuals for 15 years and back when I was tought how to drive one of the reasons to use engine braking when coming to a stop was to reduce wear on your brakes. Please understand that I'm a novice when it comes to driving and I want to learn as much as possible to apply each time I drive.

So assuming the only reason to use engine braking is to reduce wear on the brakes I have to wonder if this makes sense. Changing brakes is significantly easier and cheaper than changing the clutch and replacing syncros. Can someone explain what the other reasons are for this? Keep in mind I'm only asking about coming to a stop, I can definitely understand why it makes sense when coming down a steep grade.

 

Brakes = cheap

Transmission = expensive.

Click and Clack are funny, but often wrong.

 

Not for these cars. Although, transmissions aren't cheap either. Still, though, I think the wear and tear on a transmission from engine braking is negligible, unless you're talking about using first gear to brake from 50.

Another reason to use engine braking is so that your engine is engaged while you're still moving and can more quickly accelerate.

Matt

 

Afshin,

I always did with my other BMW. But I always double clutched also. Owned it for 7 years, changed brakes at 175K and changed clutch at 180K. Both cases were for the first time. Never had a tranny problem. But then again, I sold it several years ago.

 

My guess is that engine braking is a very old method that originated way before brakes were trustworthy. Of course, it was (is) used to help slow a vehicle to a stop, but also used to slow a loaded vehicle when going down hills. I never use it, but I have some farming acquaintances that use it when hauling loads of cattle, which can shift.

 

For the street, use the brakes.

For very spirited driving/ track days you can use the g/box to slow you a little after heavy brake application but more importantly be in the right gear for getting back on it WFO.

 

Engine braking or compression braking is still used in F1 believe it or not. They use it to supplement the carbon brakes on the car. They have it all programmed in the engine and trasnmission software, whenever the car downshifts before the corner it will slightly engage and give you the effect of compression braking. I dont know if it will even wear much on he engine honestly. I say do it, there are times when i do it, no real reason why thought.

Nice pic of James Hunt Malcom, F1's original "playboy" (That is James Hunt right?)

 

Learning the OLD Heel and Toe, or Toe and heel braking and downshifting, seemed to be the fast way.......but that was long ago.

 

Very correct Ryan......wandering through some F1 sites recently getting ready for the new season and came across the pic. (playboy dead at 45; tragic)

 

I've tried to give up engine braking thinking it was probably more harmful than helpful to this old car but learning to sense which gear I needed once I'm back on the throttle isn't so easy since I've always used engine braking on every manual transmission vehicle I've ever driven or ridden.
With engine braking you are always in the right gear to maintain rpm's...without it I find myself picking the wrong gear.
Old dog/new trick syndrome I suspect.

 

Afshin,

When I learned to drive it was in an old VW and I learned engine breaking where you might depend on ABS nowadays. It lets you control the speed of the wheels and decellerate without locking them up. My first few cars were rear engine, rear wheel drive cars and the weight over the back wheels combined with this technique always made the car very controllable even in the iciest conditions.

On normal dry pavement though, I don't see the point and think it does cause wear on the clutch.

 

There's a big difference between engine braking and rev matching. One was developed before brakes were dependable and the other is a way to stay in the torque band. Done properly, rev matching will give you more fun driving. Compression braking is used as a component of the slowing, shifting, braking, turning process on the track.

 

Ernest,

I am guessing your response was in regards to my comment on F1 cars engine braking. If so i am well aware of rev matching, but current F1 cars do in fact use compression braking, along with slamming on the brake itself. This keeps the engine engaged and keeps the revs at optimum. The electronic clutch senses when the driver is on the brakes and will downshift and not simply rev match but slowly disengage the clutch to have a modest engine braking effect. They dont simply "blip" the throttle as they do in the Ferrari road cars with the "F1" box, current gen F1 cars will actually use compression braking to match revs, not just simply bump the throttle.

 

Engine braking should only be used on long downhills to save the brakes, IMHO. The brakes on these cars(even the early cars) are good enough (and clutch, synchros, etc. are $$$ enough) that you shouldn't do it all the time -- IMHO.

 

I use engine braking to slow down in snow, on the street I use it as a way to flex my exhaust pipe muscles, other than that dont really have a use for it