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Originally Posted by torqueaddict
Here, I disagree a bit. Prepping for the next gear is definitely one use, and a big one, but engine braking to slow the car down is a common use for downshifting and is fine as long as the rev-match is timed right.
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It may be common, but it's poor practice to downshift specifically for the purpose of slowing down - that's what the brakes are for.
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For example, approaching a stop that's a little ways off gives me time to downshift and use engine braking. It doesn't have to be a skip gear downshift, just one gear to let the engine handle some of the braking.
Approaching a corner is another reason to downshift, engine brake before the corner, then accelerate out.
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I'm very familiar with both of these situations and encounter both of them virtually every time I drive anywhere at all. In neither case do I rely on engine braking for anything; my right foot is either on the brake pedal for slowing down or on the throttle for speed maintenance once I get slowed down to the necessary speed (or acceleration once that becomes possible). Very seldom is my right foot not on one pedal or the other, unless maybe idle rpm in whatever gear just happens to provide exactly the necessary vehicle speed. Yes, I do realize that I'm getting small amounts of engine braking 'help' - it's strictly incidental and you're going to get a little of that in any braking short of fairly hard regardless of whether any downshifting took place.
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Again, it doesn't have to be aggressive, and if done right, should be smooth with hardly any impact on the clutch.
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"Aggressive" is a word that should never need to be used to describe a non-emergency downshift. Done right, like you just said, should be the goal every single time.
Norm