Hey wondering if someone could explain engine braking for me. Is it harmful to the car? And when I do it the car takes a small jolt is this normal? Are you supposed to go on the gas (as if you were upshifting) or not hit the gas at all? Thanks.
engine braking is when you use the engine to slow down ur ride. example when you are going downhill downshift to lower gear and let go of the gas. the car will slow down. if you are blasting up and down a mountain pass and you fry ur brakes you'll thank engine braking. engine braking will conserve your brakes but you will place a harder load on your engine. its like the jake brakes from a 18 wheeler. you are using engine compression to slow down your ride. if you feel a small jolt when engine braking its normal. just practice blipping the throttle when downshifting and this will be much smoother process.
In normal driving, no need to engine brake. Its just extra wear on the engine. I normally hit the clutch and brake.
using the engine AND the brake to slow you down is better.....not using first to slow down from 60 or anything, but i've always used both because if you'll notice, automatic cars' brakes last about 40% as long as a manual cars'
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In normal driving, no need to engine brake. Its just extra wear on the engine. I normally hit the clutch and brake
not really. you'll wear down your clutch more by shifting gears than by engine braking since the clutch is already engaged when making use of engine braking. clutch is a wear and tear item and the longevity of the clutch would not be effected much in engine braking. you'll wear down the clutch faster by having the clutch disengaged while braking just like the way you described yourself doing. its like riding your clutch. best thing to do is making use of engine braking first by downshifting then using your brakes imo. dropping a gear to make use of engine braking + using your brakes probably the best way to brake. less strain on brakes. i make use of engine braking everytime i drive on a stock clutch that has over 60k miles on it. no sign of clutch slipping yet lol.
what about if you just throw it in Neutral and brake? I know that is hard on brakes, but it wouldn't be hard on the clutch since you're not holding it in while braking right?
your clutch more by shifting gears than by engine braking since the clutch is already engaged when making use of engine braking.
Could you explain what you mean by this? don't you disengage the clutch to lower the gear and engage it again to start the engine braking? Sorry if i'm being dumb, haha. Thanks.
engine braking is not hard on the clutch at all since the clutch has to be engaged already to make use of engine braking. wouldn't recommend putting it in neutral and braking while doing over 40-45mph. never ride the clutch unless its a panic situation, thats where clutch wear occurs, when you are riding the clutch. hitting the clutch to drop a gear is not as bad as holding/riding the clutch while braking.
Ok so basically engine braking is harder on the clutch b/c you keep downshifting, but easier on brakes. I guess its either one or the other. I think it would be cheaper to replace brakes over an engine though...
its knowing how to effectively use engine braking. for me i'd approach a stop by dropping a gear ie let say i'm doing 40 and coming to a light i'd drop from 4th to 3rd by then I'm doing about 30, i further take adavntage of this and by the time i'm doing 25-20 mph i start braking. come to a smooth stop. and there it is
unless you got a long stop ahead of you, dropping it to neutral and braking from 45 is going to strain your brakes. youre not going to damage your engine by engine braking, Honda has designed all this when they were designing their engines. You might definitely blow something if your doing 60 and you dropped to 2nd gear. any way car is not going to let you go to 2nd while doing 60+mph. Honda Bulletproofing. Honda knows the people driving their cars are not always going to be smart or use common sense so Honda has built these little trips to keep your engine/car intact. quickest way to fry your brakes are to do a couple of 45-60mph panic stops. here is the thing you can still drive your car if your clutch fails(meaning you can still shift gears w/o clutching) depending on how much you know but i won't recommend driving w/o brakes. its no fun using the curb/sidewalk to brake b/c ur brakes failed!
What's the deal with engine braking....
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