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Originally Posted by Norm Peterson
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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Depends on who you ask. I've done it for 11 years on my last car and have had no ill effects as a result. 160k miles, same clutch, engine runs strong. If it's poor practice, I'll take the gamble.
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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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Maybe I wasn't clear. When downshifting to slow down, I use engine braking as assistance to regular braking. I don't take my foot completely off the brake or throttle depending on the situation. Though, there have been instances in a lower gear, where the engine did most of braking. Still, my foot was on the brake pedal.
It is impossible to drive a manual and not engine brake often. Let off the throttle even slightly in the lower gears (1-3) and the car engine brakes noticeably.
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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.
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For maximum acceleration, skipping a gear on a downshift isn't out of the norm. One can call that aggressive. They can also call it 'dumb' depending on the situation. Agreed on your last sentence though.