Engine Braking and Fuel Economy

[Lil bastard]

The accelerated wear to the clutch and synchros is gonna cost you 10 times the cost of replacing the brakes - use the brakes !

Neither method is gonna give any fuel saving !

[insite]

Originally Posted by Lil bastard

The accelerated wear to the clutch and synchros is gonna cost you 10 times the cost of replacing the brakes - use the brakes !

Neither method is gonna give any fuel saving !

if done properly, a blip-throttle downshift doesn't really use the synchros or wear the clutch. the important thing is not to slow the car by slowly releasing the clutch (using clutch slip to slow down). this applys reverse torque to the clutch friction surface & will cause accelerated wear.

as for fuel consumption, you use no more fuel than you would at idle when under engine braking. this is because the throttle position sensor (TPS) senses zero percent throttle & acts accordingly.

[RandallNeighbour]

Thanks for all this input. I fully realize that engine braking, when not done right with throttle blips, will wear out synchros and the clutch.

However, throttle blips use fuel.

I'm really focusing only on whether downshifting in and of itself uses as much, more, or less fuel than moving the stick to neutral and using the brakes.

From what has been posted thus far, it would appear that it does not use more fuel due to the computers shutting off the injectors.