How do you slow down?

[Phate]

Sorry did not mean that to sound nasty or anything.

To your other point if you change down then brake you can often find you are over revving the gear you are in and would not then have a ny room for manouver so to speak.

Reving whle changing down is fine but only after braking slightly so that you are not over revving a particular gear.

In my opinion using the engine to brake is not a mechanically sound idea, as you are putting streess and strain on parts that are not really designed for that sort of thing.

When i change down i don't red line it 4th to 3rd goes from 2k revs to 3.5k hardly straining it , plus when changing down if you over rev a particular gear you will feel the car complain as it will lerch forward do it right and it will be smoother than a babys bum


EDIT: don't think i put enough smileys in that post!

so heres another

 

[volospian]

I didnt say just take your foot off the throttle and the wheels will lock up did i? i said if the clutch was down whilst applying the brake you will run a higher risk of locking up the wheels

And I said that an idling engine would have little effect upon the braking of the car. That is to say that if you did disengage the clutch the difference between the drag on the transmission and freewheeling would be barely noticable on the efficiency of the braking system.

My last point was to emphasise that you run a higher risk of losing traction via engine braking, than braking with the clutch disengaged or the car in neutral.

 

[volospian]

When i change down i don't red line it 4th to 3rd goes from 2k revs to 3.5k hardly straining it ,

But changing down from 4th to 3rd from 6k rpm will send the revs up to 7.5krpm, which may be past the red line, or are you saying that you never rev your car in 4th past 2k?

 

[Phate]

And I said that an idling engine would have little effect upon the braking of the car. That is to say that if you did disengage the clutch the difference between the drag on the transmission and freewheeling would be barely noticable on the efficiency of the braking system.

My last point was to emphasise that you run a higher risk of losing traction via engine braking, than braking with the clutch disengaged or the car in neutral.

Ok, but i never said to idle the engine whilst braking. atleast im pretty sure i didnt Hmm i'm afraid i don't believe your final point though, with the car freewheeling or coasting (what you want to call it) and i applying the brake then i think you have a higher risk of the wheels locking up. but it depends on a lot of factors ofcourse, if its raining, if you have crap tyres etc.

 

[Cueball]

An image is worth a thousand words...

So here's an image with words all over it!

Must be worth, what, 1,011 words at least!

 

[Phate]

But changing down from 4th to 3rd from 6k rpm will send the revs up to 7.5krpm, which may be past the red line, or are you saying that you never rev your car in 4th past 2k?

i take it past 2k, but i don't let it get to 6k in 4th, theres a 5th gear for that

 

[volospian]

i take it past 2k, but i don't let it get to 6k in 4th, theres a 5th gear for that

nah, you shouldn't be changing up until the needle runs out of room on the rev counter

 

[odoliam]

Say you had, for whatever reason, to suddenly accelerate as you were slowing down. Had you changed down to 3rd, instead of being in 4th at low revs, you'd accelerate a lot faster. With 4th, you'll struggle to pull away as fast. Unless you drive an RS6 or something.

This is the reason your driving instructor taught you this way as the Police always drive in the so called "Responsive" gears. They keep the car in the power band in order to be able to accellerate or respond when required.
By slowing using the gears in say, a chase, they can respond to speed changes much quicker than your average driver who uses their brakes and so they have an advantage on the criminal....usually anyway.
It's not great for the gearbox or the engine but that's ok in a Police car which gets regular maintenance

 

[Nozzer]

This is the reason your driving instructor taught you this way as the Police always drive in the so called "Responsive" gears. They keep the car in the power band in order to be able to accellerate or respond when required.
By slowing using the gears in say, a chase, they can respond to speed changes much quicker than your average driver who uses their brakes and so they have an advantage on the criminal....usually anyway.
It's not great for the gearbox or the engine but that's ok in a Police car which gets regular maintenance

My driving instructor didn't teach me that way...