Originally posted by tbirdjayc:
So i was reading a post on another car site where a guy claimed he put his car in nuetral and used the brakes to stop whenever he needed to stop or slow down. I immediately called him a fool because you never want to completely disconnect power from the wheels, especially when slowing down. In addition, you should be downshifting a manual car when slowing down to keep from possibly overheating your brakes. Anyhow, i was suprised by how many people had never heard of this, and called me a fool for not just leaving my car in gear and braking. Now i learned to drive stick from my dad who is pretty old school (69 mach 1 4 spd was his last stick car). But since i started doing it, I can't imagine driving without downshifting down a hill or into a turn, or when coming to a gradual stop. These guys are telling me its bad for the engine, synchros (though if i have time i double clutch), trans, etc. Is it really safe/good practice to not downshift when slowing?



A couple things:

The reason why you should never slow down or coast in neutral is primarily for emergency situations. You should always stay in gear so if a child runs out of the street, you can still accelerate quicklky without having to get into gear and do an emergency manoever.

I've never heard of 'overheating your brakes' before. Suffice to say, I would rather change my pads since its cheaper and easier than change my clutch, or even tranny if the syncro's wear out.

Personally I slow down in neutral when I see a red light, saves gas and saves my tranny.

And you should practive double clutching more. I can double clutch / rev match in a split second, and your car will thank you for it.