Why downshift?

[LokisTyro98SE]

'cause it's fun seeing people look behind them wondering what the hell that was...

[aboythatskates]

daily driving not highway i downshift regularly. just 3rd gear though. for example a light turn red, i just clutch in, 3rd, and very slowly release the clutch. very slow. and usually i can get how to 15mph easy. i know it wears out my clutch faster. but my damn exhaust sounds so sexy, like its motorboating lol

[95_Mystique]

many fuel injected cars actually completely shut off (or greatly reduce the duty cycle of) the fuel injectors when decelerating. this is far more fuel efficient than idling in neutral as you decelerate since the fuel injectors are still opening to keep the car running.

a good example of why you should keep it in gear at a stop follows. a coworker of mine was waiting to turn left onto a side road, no stop light or stop sign. the speed limit had just reduced from 55 to 35 about 100 ft prior. a semi truck came flying around the corner at about 55MPH only to see my coworker stopped. coworker sees the truck bouncing as the driver is trying to get it stopped in time. knowing the truck wont stop before hitting him, my coworker accelerates and avoids the collision. does this happen all the time? no, but I have seen it happen often enough that i will leave the car in gear when im stopped.

I always keep mine in gear, and this is why! I've avoided 2 accidents with my Mystique the same exact way.

[iBrent]

This is why I keep my bike in gear at lights (even though the Motorcycle Safety and the Experienced Rider Courses "suggest" dropping to neutral at a stop followed by the triple-foot shuffle to go)

I was taught the opposite in motorcycle training. I was told the only time your bike should be in neutral is when you're pushing it in to the garage. It was for safety, in case you need to accelerate out of a situation quickly.

[LokisTyro98SE]

After reading through this, it's a little humorous that some people think that accelerating out of danger isn't possible. I find it hard to believe that none of these people have ever misjudged a car and had to give it a little more than they had expected to get out of a potentially hazardous situation.

[CSVT1214]

I agree. What about sitting in traffic and watching the idiot behind you not stopping? I've looked up in my mirror before and quickly moved out of the way because the driver behind me was not paying attention.

[Pete D]

I agree. What about sitting in traffic and watching the idiot behind you not stopping? I've looked up in my mirror before and quickly moved out of the way because the driver behind me was not paying attention.

I had a pretty close call last year when I was waiting in line in an ‘exit only’ lane backed up a few hundred yards from a light up ahead. As I sat at a standstill I saw the vehicle behind me coming up rather quickly. He wasn’t paying attention and didn’t brake when he needed to so ended up flying by me (and probably 10 other cars) on the shoulder and grass as he had to swerve after panic braking. Had I decided to ‘get out of the way’ I would have probably gone right onto the shoulder (instead of into ~50 mph traffic in the other lanes to my left) and he would have either hit me or plowed into a line of cars. My ‘quick thinking’ would have caused an accident in all likelihood.

I find myself downshifting a lot in my regular commute but that has just as much to do with maintaining the pace of traffic and avoiding putting the car into and out of gear 1000 times. With all the anecdotes in this thread you might expect the ‘always put into neutral and use the brakes’ crowd to find themselves unable to negotiate their way out of imminent collisions but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

[Pre98]

Most of the time I pop it in neutral and coast/brake to a stop. It's always in gear when I anticipate red to green is about to happen and just hold the clutch. I downshift the most taking turns, all while revving the engine a bit higher than needed to make daily driving a bit smoother. Always felt downshifting to stop wastes clutch; if my brakes fail in neutral, well, I hope I have a shoulder to coast to a stop on.

Interesting read about injectors in newer vehicles.

[ZoomZoom Diva]

Pete D, I had the same thing happen to me a few months ago, I was stopped on the freeway in traffic and I see and hear this Grand Prix hauling on the brakes... my "quick thinking" instinct was to try to move, and actually gunned the engine in neutral. If I had been in gear, I would have smashed into the car in front of me. The car ended up hauling on the shoulder and stopped with the nose at the middle of my door. In instances where actual room to move exists, one can still put the car in gear and accelerate.

[FastFord]

Sure I have had to gun it pulling out onto highways from misjudging how much room I had before the next car. But I just dont see ever needing to accelerate while coming to a stop or while I am stopped, like others have said if theres a car coming at you out of control the best thing would be to just stay put and hope that driver misses you instead of thinking your going to get out of the way which would usually end up getting in their way. Also most the time when you are stopped you are stopped for a good reason like waiting for other cars to pass through an intersection, I would rather have my foot on the brake if someone is going to rearend me then hit the gas and get t-boned. Maybe its because I have never been in an accident(knock on wood) and rarely use my brakes unless I am coming to a complete stop in which I will take my foot off the gas miles away until I see the light turn green or whatever it is.