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Originally Posted by edevlin
This is somewhat off topic, but does relate to braking. I was wondering if one should push in the clutch when doing hard braking from higher RMP's. It seems like if you dont, you are applying breaks to not only the wheels but the engine as well.
Ed
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Hi,
You would normally want the engine to do some of the braking, at least initially. But, I am not a fan of downshifting for normal driving, just let the engine wind down in the gear it's in until the Revs drop and then shift to neutral and let the Brakes do all the work. This is because of excess wear to the Clutch and Drivetrain.
Let's assume that your Clutch has only so many shifts in it. Using them for Downshifting to stop uses a lot of these available shifts for Braking, not driving. Plus, engaging the Clutch when the car still posesses a lot of inertia, places a strain on the Clutch, Synchros, Tranny and Axle Shafts, CV Joints, and the like, shortening their Service Life.
Brake pads are cheap - $150-$200, while the Clutch is $400-$1,000. As soon as you've bled off a lot of the inertia in the gear you're in, say 10-20 MPH, shift to neutral and use the Brakes until the car comes to a stop. Downshifting is unecessary, except to please the ears or impress that young Philly at the Stoplight. Both important, but at the cost of replacing components before you'd otherwise need to.
Of course, all this goes out the window in an Emergency. In this case, do everything you can to stop in as short a distance as possible - Downshift, Brake, even throw out a Boat Anchor if you have one.
But, in normal driving, you'll extend the life of your Drivetrain if you adopt the practice I've outlined above. Anticipate your stops, let Gravity reduce your inertia as much as possible and add the Brakes to bleed off the final amount of energy til you come to a full stop...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99
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