Agleon

I heard not to downshift into 1st because they leads to stress on the tranny.

Sonic Boom NH

You should never down shift in snow or any condition that leaves you with limited traction. Of course that all depends on what speed and rpm you’re downshifting to but in any regards if you downshift in snow or wet surfaces you stand a very good chance of losing control of your vehicle because the rear wheels could lose traction.

Same is true for going around a corner it is never a good idea to downshift while in a corner. Downshift prior to going into a corner or after the corner but never while in the corner because again you can lose traction and have the rear-end come around on you.

moosestang

You can downshift to 1st if you're going slow enough. I wait until all that nice gurgling sound is gone before downshifting into first, i love hearing that sound when letting second gear wind down.

moosestang

It depends how sharp the turn is and how fast I want to exit it! Normally i'd downshift into 3rd or 2nd and give it a little gas while letting out the clutch. power shifting is when you don't let off the gas while shifting. I've personally never done this at WOT, only with a little throttle.

johnnyv8

double clutching or "rev matching" can be done for any kind of downshifting, weather it be to speed up or slow down. I dont rev match for easy ds like from 4th to 3rd when doing 40mph. but if im doing 60 toward a turn, i hit the brakes hard and slow down till about 40; right before entering the turn i rev the car to 4 while letting go of the clutch that way the time i start to take the turn im ready in 2nd to burst out of it. Its just want i do. Try it; you can hear the car sounds ten times better if you rev match.

algregory

My last car, now my "daily driver" has 263k on the odo with a custom built engine and a rebuilt 4 speed at 132k miles. It was driven aggressively, I"m on my 26th set of tires. I believe in "engine braking"

That being said, I think on occasion I'd shift down to "stop", but in day-to-day driving I think the thing to say is that I'd be downshifting, not to "brake" but to keep the engine/trans in the "right" range for reacceleration if the light changed or, when out in the mountains, slamming along, approaching a lower speed corner, you apply some brake, and downshift to get the RPM's in an upper range for more control and a more aggressive exit of the corner. I've never had a problem with transmissions. In fact I've been told three different times, two different cars, by the mechanics, the when he changed the clutch, that he/they were surprised cause my friction plate looked like new, just worn, no burning, no cracking, no scoring.

Way too long ago, I new a fellow that was a petty good driver, but even if he was doing 100 MPH and wanted to slow down or stop, he'd take it out of gear! No engine braking at all!

dtown

Great idea on the 5-speed sticky thread re: driving tips. I'll tell you one thing I've been wondering - I was always told that foot off the clutch or foot all the way down on the pedal are the two safest clutch points (no wear). That said, someone told me not to sit at a stop or creep through gridlock with the clutch pedal pressed all the way down. Maybe this is stupid, but if the clutch is fully released, what's it matter if I keep the car in gear and the clutch pedal fully depressed? Or am I missing something?

algregory

The problem is the "throw out" bearing. When you depress the clutch the "throw out" bearing goes into spin cycle. The bearing is factory lubed, but, never, ever, sees lube again. So if you spend a great deal of time with the clutch pedal depressed the bearing is getting used and abused. Maybe hot under the collar. I'm sure lubricants are better than they were too long ago, but, that was the cause of bearing failure, or, just getting noisy, maybe before you really needed a clutch change. I only keep my pedal depressed as long as absolutely needed. In stop and go traffic which we have here, it is in gear, or in neutral, but the clutch is only derpessed momentarily going from one to the other. I never sit in traffic with the clutch depressed waiting movement.

Nice thing about most motorcycles is they have a system which is always getting lubed.

saud alzaabi

Here is what I do I slightly press the brakes and then D.shift to 3rd then when the car is close to the u-turn i down shift to second and just turn it, my foot stays on the brake until i start turning.