Hey guys,

I recently traded in my old RS automatic for an 05 rs stick, and i was wondering, when slowing down is it better to clutch down into neutral and ride the brake to slow down, or downshift through the gears, 5 4 3 2 1. you get the idea.

Ive been trying to find an answer, people seem to agree with both ways...any help is appreciated, thanks!

 

It really depends on what you are doing. If you are in traffic, having the car in gear will get you out of trouble alot faster than having to shift into gear. That one split second may just be the time you need to get out of a situation.

If I am coasting to a stop without traffic issues, I usually drop it to neutral and coast. Engine braking can be hard on an engine/drivetrain so I avoid it as much as possible. If done right it can help, but I am no expert so I coast if possible.

 

brakes are for stopping, transmissions are not. when you are slowing down for a stoplight or whatever just stay in gear until you come to a stop when you would press the clutch in and put it in nuetral. then light comes green shift to first blah blah blah.


reason for this being it causes increased wear on syncros and whatnot from shifting more. granted you will probably wreck the car or sell it by the time this would have any effect.
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I look at it this way. Brake pads are a lot cheaper than a clutch. I rarely downshift. Brian

 

clutch= $500-800
brake pads= $100

 

breaks are easier to replace but as far as getting around a corner quick, I cant help but heal toe it into second...

 

This debate is as old as the modern manual transmission. It's up to you...if you're gentle with down shifting and double clutch to ease the load on the syncros, it doesn't really hurt anything. So when I'm turning or driving with 'performance' in mind, I down shift and break (heal toe+double clutch). But when I go to a stop light or stop sign, I just break until the revs drop to ~idle then shift to neutral.

 

I use this theory:

One must downshift to put the engine into desired powerband. ( for corner exit ) not to slow down the car.

The brakes are used to do that. Remember brakes are cheap transmissions are expensive.

My .02