Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

How many gears? I keep trying it, and it never slows down very much... if I'm driving in 4th, dropping it into 3rd only revs it to 3000-3500, so it's not going to slow very much.... Do you drop it more than one gear at a time? Or is it something you do when you see the light is red in the distance?

Gryphin

i always thought you downshift and press the break and downshift another gear after the engine slows down a little so you dont redline when you downshift and fu*k up your gears , but then again i could be wrong

StockV6Cam

Ummm, why would you downshift in the first place? Just put the car in neutral and coast for a bit and then press on the brakes. No need to put the extra wear on your clutch and all that by downshifting.

civic510

Yeah, I'd wear out my brake pads first rather than the clutch. Think about it this way. Would you rather replace your brake pads or your clutch?

NickDaMans02Civic

Jeez typical noob response sorry had to say it. Yeah if you did that why get a Stick? Just buy an auto that is the way people drive them. Yeah I usually go from 4 all the way down using the brake to 2nd gear a lot less wear on the clutch and doesn't hurt the engine at all. I hate going in and getting my brakes worked on its just annoying.

Nick

JCap

iTrader: (1)

yep... 4th to 2nd..... that's what I do.... In terms of wearing clutch or changing brakes..... cost just about the same to change so it doesn't really matter...

StockV6Cam

Are you referring to me? My car is stick and I see no reason to downshift at all when coming to a redlight. That'll just put stress on the engine, clutch, and pretty much anything in the drivetrain. Not that it'll break anything, just put stress on it.

StockV6Cam

You're joking right? You think it costs the same to get your clutch replaced as it does your brakes? Last time I had my clutch replaced with a OEM clutch, it ran me almost 800 bucks parts and labor. I could get a full brake job w/ new rotors for like 180 bucks.

NickDaMans02Civic

For Clutch life on my moms 88 civic that we switched off driving and still do brand new in 1988 and the clutch last 240K before it started acting up and I know people who have 300K or more on there civics and still have the same clutch. I forget how much we payed for a clutch but I don't remember it being $800 with parts and labor unless you had it straight done through Honda. But yeah I like the fun of downshifting thats why I bought my Stick, even when I drive a auto I downshift because I get so bored and it saves the brakes life.

Nick

StockV6Cam

Oooooh I gotchya, those cars must not put out enough power to screw up a clutch [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] BTW, I don't drive a Honda. I've got a Camaro. My buddy just bought a '02 Civic EX so I'm here studying up for him cause he's not the most mechanically inclined person. Oh and here's my clutch burnin' baby....

jazzmans

Hi all, I'm a n00b here.

I've always used my tranny to downshift and bleed off power as I come to a stop, consecutively going from the highest down to second. I rarely drop to 1st in the decelleration. this includes my bikes, and the 2 camero's I've owned in the past, I've never had a problem with tranny or clutch replacement any sooner than would be expected. Otherwise, might as well buy an automatic imo.

jaz

SoNiCcIvIc

I love how the Type SH Prelude downshifts... it slows down very noticably. If you downshift to slow down, just make sure your car lands no more than 4,000 RPMs. You really don't need to unless you have to make a sudden stop.

More wear to the clutch, but less wear to the brakes.

The pads might be less expensive to replace but no clutch is safer than no brakes. Everything wears eventually.

01civic911

obviously your method doesnt work very well either, so instead of just the clutch, youre replacing your brake pads and your clutch. it puts absolutely no stress on your engine or your clutch, as long as youre not giving gas into the downshift or are riding the clutch as youre doing it. but back to the original question at hand, depending on what speed your at it will vary a little bit, either downshift from 4th to 3rd while braking just a little bit if going fairly fast or if youre just cruising, just downshift from 4th to 2nd braking a little bit, and when youre almost to a complete stop put the clucth in. it is wise to downshift bc you are in much better control of the car than if its in neutral. i would rather be slowing down in second gear, then have it in neutral and your foot off the clutch in case something happens that you need to move your car, its alot easier when its in gear.

Silver02EX

iTrader: (3)

why would you spend that much on an OEM clutch. I can get an aftermarket one for about $250 and another $250 to put it in...

tekgnosis

Wait a minute...for a guy who drives a camero, you sure don't show a whole lot of driving skill.

YES, you should downshift. This is where "RPM matching" comes into play. When you downshift, you give it some gas, to rev up the engine to where it should be, then you drop the clutch. you are not using the clutch, because you have met the RPM's. NO, this does NOT wear out the engine. It's not as hard on the engine as fast acceleration, because there is no load on the engine.

Using the ENGINE to slow down (not the clutch) is the way to save both clutch and brake pads.

Sorry "StockV6Cam", but your response was quite amateur. Putting it into neutral and braking is the laziest and most novice thing to do.

In response to the original post (by BoilerMaker1)...you can slip it down as many gears as you want...it won't kill the clutch so long as you RPM match! A fast downshift from 5th to 2nd (while matching RPMs), and braking, will get you stopped a LOT faster than just slamming the brakes, AND it will be better on your car.

Try out RPM matching during everyday driving...you'll eventually get the hang of it!

Cheers

ricewashed

what are up with those rims. I saw those rims for $200 bucks a set. Ghetto sty'ol if you ask me. Saved up for some real parts.

noypirider

putting the gears into neutral when stopping will cause your car to go out of control compared to stopping while your car is in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or even in 5th gear. i used to do this when i first learned how to drive. this puts the car in a more dangerous situation. what if your brake fails? what will you do next? i hope you have the presence of mind to react correctly.

with regards to your clutch and brake wearing issue, well, both will wear eventually. there's nothing wrong if you do engine breaks. however, i only do engine breaks if i know my break will not be able to stop the car as fast as i would like to.

just my 2 cents...

noypirider

oh, btw, when im driving a rental car, i always do engine breaks by downshifting from d to 3 to 2. we all know that most rental cars are matics, so why not enjoy driving and doing engine breaks even if it's an auto-tranny?

my civic has a manual tranny, in case someone asks... [IMG]i/expressions/demon.gif[/IMG]

StockV6Cam

Well obviously prices are different for RWD mechanical and FWD Hydrolic clutches. I believe the OEM clutch was like 300 and the installation was in the 400 range. It was over a year ago when I replaced it so I don't remember exact costs.

StockV6Cam

You couldn't be further from the truth.

StockV6Cam

EEEEEEEEXactly. Obviously it's different between our cars. In my car, whenever I engage the clutch it wears on the clutch teeth. Not to the point of breaking them, but wear none-the-less. I think the FWD hydrolic clutches engage for you and give you less wear, not quite sure.

AznSaint

iTrader: (2)

if you're in 4th gear approaching a red light.. i usually just put it in neutral and coast... till it hits green. then put it into the gear i need to put it in.
ex. if i was coasting at 30km/h, i'll prolly hit it into 2nd gear......

not sure 'bout your mph gear box.

noypirider

[B]if I'm driving in 4th, dropping it into 3rd only revs it to 3000-3500

looks like you are moving between 35 to 45 mph. if you are moving at this rate, you can downshift from 4th to 2nd and you will feel the growl of the engine, slowing the car much faster. no problemo with our car. but don't do it quite often. just a suggestion.

Crash2002

V6 camaro's are slow as heck

edit: they should have only made them with v8's

klam

Like some others have mentioned, the best way is to match revs by blipping on the throttle before engaging the clutch.

Boilermaker1

iTrader: (16)

I've been out... I tried it a few times... trying to keep the revs under 4000, but it still seems to throw me forward pretty hard, do I need to rev it higher before engaging the clutch? I either get kicked forward, or I hang on the gas too long and speed up before I slow down...

noypirider

practice makes it perfect.

DC5@EM2

The way my dad showed me how to downshift like this. You're in third gear, you want to go back down to 2nd gear, you engage the clutch, pop it in 2nd, rev the engine a little; like 500 rpm's to where you are right now (so if you are at 3000 rpm's, you rev it up to 3500 rpm's), and then just let the clutch out easy. I dont know if this is good or bad on parts, but the car seems to slow down more steadily and no body roll movement to the car. I try to be smooth with the way I drive and that seems to work well for me. Just my $0.02 for yah. later.

tekgnosis

Boiler...

If the car jerks forward, it means you're revving too high. No big deal, just so long as you're not dropping the clutch instantly. If you get the RPMs right, you'll notice that there is no sudden slowdown or speedup...it'll be smooth like when you're accelerating. It takes time....its not something you'll be able to do first try. you just sort of 'get the hang of it', like when you first learned to upshift [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

keep at it though!

When you RPM match, you use the engine and pedals at the same time to brake, so it takes less effort for the brakes, and NO effort (when executed properly) for the clutch. thus saving you both brakes and clutch (like you originally asked? can't remember now..hehehe)

good luck!

n00dleboy

Anyone that says you should go to neutral and coast and then brake, obviously has little to no skill in driving a stick. Attend any driving school or performance driving school and they'll laugh at you for saying something like that.

The majority of stick drivers i know don't properly downshift and just go clutch-downhift-clutch and just let the engine rev up causing the head lerching feeling at every downshift. If don't properly, clutch-gas-downshift-clutch AKA rev-matching, you put minimal stress on your clutch and your engine will slow down for you. If reving down from 5000 rpm to 2000 rpm is what you call stress and reducing clutch life, then i guess accerlating from 2-5krpm is the same. Might as well take a yellow school bus then.

Edit: Also the important thing about downshifting is that you are ALWAYS in gear when slowing down. What if you are coasting neutral and then a deer runs out in front of you and you need to accelerate and move out of the way? You'll need to clutch-gear-release clutch and then accelerate and this takes MORE time than if you were already in gear and just gas it.

Think about that one.