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a friend of mine asked me if i ever downshift to slow my car down. i dont- prolly becuase im not too confident in downshifting. how is it done? ive tried it before- butit makes the slow down jerkily. or- its not strong enough to slow me down fast enough. when you down shift- what speeds is it safe to switch into certain gears? for example- could i downshift to 2nd gear going 50mph? do you downshift one by one,lower and lower?

thanks!

any other 5spd tricks i should kno about?

 
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well ask yourself this.... what would be cheaper to fix? your clutch? or brakes?

if you rev match it should pretty be smooth, altho you really should feather the clutch

 
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just downshift and dont let the clutch go yet until you rev a little bit, then just slowly feather the clutch. once you try couple times you'll get it.

 
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When downshifting properly, you put minimal strain on the clutch, similar to upshifting. And when done properly, you can use engine braking (which also lets you stay in gear while slowing down) and save your brake pads.

Clutch in, blip the throttle, change gears, release clutch. The hard part is finding the right RPM to blip the throttle to. Takes time, learn your car, and you will be able to do it. And you'll know when you've done it right because you won't feel that jerky feeling of the car slowing down, you'll just feel you're slowing down while the engine revs higher at a lower gear.

Then you can work on heel - toe while cornering

ps: Shifting to neutral and braking to a stop is for newbies.

edit: Easiest gears to practice on should be 5th to 4th and 4th to 3rd.

 
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I rarely downshift into second gear unless I'm going around a turn or in traffic. Other than that, depending on the situation I'll downshift from fifth to fourth, and then to third. After that I'll put it in neutral and either coast for a bit or brake to a stop.

 
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Sure, you can downshift from 5th to 2nd going 50MPH, but your engine will probably be around 5000 RPMs or so.... maybe more. To not have the jerkiness, release the clutch slower, I dont recommend trying the blip the pedal method unless youre confident b/c if you over shoot the revs, and dump the clutch, youre going to shoot forward. Just be happy though, that Civics are front drivers and not rear when downshifting.

 
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As for tricks, as noodleboy said, heel toe technique, double clutching, tap style engagement (not the right term, but I hope you guys get the idea)..... I think thats about it...

 
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i dunno what everyone means by like downshifting, but say im going like 60 in 5th and then the guy in front of me is just rolling down to like 30 cuz some guys turning infront of him, i just put my foot on the clutch, take it out of gear, then hold the clutch till it goes to about 30 or wherever and then i push the gas in to matchthe revs and let go of the clutch. i hope thats what u mean about downshifting, and yea, u downshift to second on turns and i rarely downshift into first gear unless im completely stopped. if im jut rolling, i put it in second. is that good or should i go back to start all over at 1st. sometimes the car jitters and all when i put it in second after rolling to a stop but not stopping and starting back up, i guess cuz it was idling or something.

 
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theres no point in double clutching with our cars because of some synch thing

 
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n00dleboy- couldn't have said it better!!
It's safer to downshift while slowing down, as u'r always in the right gear, in case u need to make an emergency manuver. What he described was double- clutching.

It is not required to upshift, due to synchros on our gearbox, but synchros are unable to cope w/ the high change in revs w/ downshifting. I always double- clutch when down shifting- It reduces stress on your tranny too (good enough reason for me ) plus it gives your passengers a smoother/ safer ride.
Hope this answers your question, R3DL1N3

 
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n00dleboy- couldn't have said it better!!
It's safer to downshift while slowing down, as u'r always in the right gear, in case u need to make an emergency manuver. What he described was double- clutching.

It is not required to upshift, due to synchros on our gearbox, but synchros are unable to cope w/ the high change in revs w/ downshifting. I always double- clutch when down shifting- It reduces stress on your tranny too (good enough reason for me ) plus it gives your passengers a smoother/ safer ride.

Hope this answers your question, R3DL1N3

 
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sorry for the double- post (i couldn't delete, either)! My browser/ PC freaked out

 
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thanks,

but downshifting and double clutching are two different things.

Black03rice: If someone in front slows down u don't need to hold the clutch down until your speed goes down before you rev match, you can do it immediately, just rev it a little higher then pop in gear and release - if it's the right rpms for that lower gear, then it's a smooth shift, no jerky feeling and it's a perfect downshift.

 
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Double clutching:

When downshifting my Pro 5 from 4th gear to 2nd at 50 mph, I need to raise the engine speed from 2200 rpm to 5000. To prevent excessive synchroniser wear, the clutch is depressed and the shifter is moved to neutral. The clutch is then released, and the gas is depressed to bring the engine speed up to where it needs to be for the lower gear. The clutch is then depressed again and the shift lever moved into the lower gear. When the clutch is released the second time, the engine is already turning the proper speed . While this sounds complicated, it's easier done than said, and only takes about a second

 
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hmm, thought it was the same thing. So the difference is releasing the clutch w/ the shifter in neutral when you blip the throttle- thanks n00dleboy! Guess i don't double- clutch, then

 
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B.K.A rev matching

 
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lifetime warrenty on my brakepads!!! Haha, I am taking it for all its worth! Good ol' Midas on 22nd street!

 
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How can you have lifetime warranty on brake pads? Normal wear and tear will bring it down to nothing.

 
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I agree with Wannabfast, CHEAPER TO CHANGE BRAKEPADS...even though i down shift when cornering im going fast and rev is high and it doesn't jerk

 
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I thnk coasting in neutral is illegal in lots of places.

You should always downshift to the gear that will be appropriate for the speed you are going or the speed you are slowing to..

I really hate to ride with someone who won't downshift and always chugs and lugs around corners and up hills.

Also I agree, downshifting going down hills gives you more control and less brake wear. There's some places where you could actually smoke your brakes till they get hot and won't hold.

 
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Driving down that california coast, I kinda fried my brakes, but that was cause I was driving as fast as I could, anywho... It was lots of fun, but now my rotors are warped which blows. My brakes held up pretty good, lots of 60 to 20 slow downs back and forth. and rev matching is different than double clutching. Also, I don't rev match when I downshift for braking because the rev different helps suck up some of the car momentum, granted i'm wearing my clutch more, but what the hell...

-Mark