Originally posted by Christian:
Originally posted by Big Jim:
On decel, the engine is not driving the wheels. It is adding resistance and as such is actually assisting the brakes. Depending on conditions, this may not be significant, or it can be very significant.



But surely, unless you a braking extremely softly, when applying braking power you are working against power sent from the engine to the transmission, even though that power is dropping it is still there. I can understand it assisting in slow braking but in fast braking, especially emergency braking, clutch in is best as there is no power being sent from the engine.
At least this is the way I see it in my mind, the physics of this makes sense to me.



Once you lift your foot off the gas pedal, the power generated from the engine turns from propelling the car (positive power) to slowing the car (negative power). Surely you can feel that as you lift the throttle. While this is happening, the engine is assisting braking all the way down to engine idle.

Jim Johnson 98 SVT 03 Escape Limited