[Hawkshaw]

Do you gear down through every gear when approaching a stop or do you put it in neutral and just apply the brake?

Pros / cons of both?

[ksfrogman]

Depends on whether or not I just washed the brake dust off my wheels.

[shimshimhada]

Both, although no matter how lazy I am, I downshift to at least 3rd before kicking in the clutch pedal and braking. I only put it in neutral when I'm completely stopped.

Pro of downshifting is that you're always in the right gear to accelerate if need be. Con is more clutch wear I guess. Neutral coast is opposite.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Hawkshaw

Do you gear down through every gear when approaching a stop or do you put it in neutral and just apply the brake?

Pros / cons of both?

Unless you have a particular desire to change your brake pads often you should change down through the gears.

This is called engine braking and using this in conjunction with your brakes will slow your car more efficiently and with improved control.

You will also avoid unnecessarily heating up your brakes giving you a performance advantage.

[inTgr8r]

Brakes are cheaper than synchros.

[shimshimhada]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the brake-benefit. I see people in automatics braking way too early at an intersection.

[shimshimhada]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Brakes are cheaper than synchros.

What if you're double declutching like you should?

[thekewl1]

does gearing down have any affect on gas milage?

[NFS]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Brakes are cheaper than synchros.

Yes but so long as you actually use the clutch engine braking will NOT damage or put wear on your gearbox or clutch - they are designed for this.

This isn't really an 'optional' thing - the RIGHT way to drive a manual is to engine brake.

Not only to ensure that you don't fry your brakes - but also to make certain that you are always in an appropriate gear.

You don't need to go all the way down to 1st and nothing will explode if you miss a gear - but seriously - don't brake from 80mph to a standstill without changing down from 6th. You have to drop the clutch anyway or it will stall - so why not go a bit further and ride the gears down.

Even auto's are set up to take advantage of engine braking - so it can't be bad.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Hawkshaw

Do you gear down through every gear when approaching a stop or do you put it in neutral and just apply the brake?

Pros / cons of both?

I use the clutch pedal and brake, but I do leave the car in gear.
As my speed slows I adjust the gear. The reason for this is that I want to be in a viable gear in case I need to move out of there quickly, like if a car is barrelling down on me from behind.

To reiterate, I do not go down sequentially engaging every lower gear on my way to a complete stop. And, I do not coast with the gear lever in neutral, I coast to the stop with my foot on the clutch pedal and the gear lever in a proper gear.

[e902cool]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Even auto's are set up to take advantage of engine braking - so it can't be bad.

well said, when I drive any manual car, I goes down the gears most of the time.

[Hawkshaw]

Personally, I do gear down, and was doing it on the way to work this morning and thought I'd find out what other e90 6MT drivers were doing. Saves the brakes, but more importantly, reduces that pesky brake dust!!!

[mkoesel]

I definitely never put it in neutral while moving, but don't go down through every gear either. Almost never drop to fourth or fifth. Usually drop to third initally, but sometimes go all the way to second. It depends on my speed, how much stopping distance I have, and how close people are following behind.

[Insider]

Originally Posted by Hawkshaw

Do you gear down through every gear when approaching a stop or do you put it in neutral and just apply the brake?

Pros / cons of both?

Interesting that you can do this with the new automatic in the 335i as well. You pull back on both steering wheel paddles at the same time and it goes into neutral.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by RPM90

I use the clutch pedal and brake, but I do leave the car in gear.
As my speed slows I adjust the gear. The reason for this is that I want to be in a viable gear in case I need to move out of there quickly, like if a car is barrelling down on me from behind.

To reiterate, I do not go down sequentially engaging every lower gear on my way to a complete stop. And, I do not coast with the gear lever in neutral, I coast to the stop with my foot on the clutch pedal and the gear lever in a proper gear.

Yes..
This I agree with this ^^;
You should always be in a gear ready for action.

My previous point was that the emphasis should still be on using the brakes.
The original post was on coming to a general stop... eg at a traffic light.

JMO, but other comments about frying brakes are completely unfounded.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Yes..
This I agree with this ^^;
You should always be in a gear ready for action.

My previous point was that the emphasis should still be on using the brakes.
The original post was on coming to a general stop... eg at a traffic light.

JMO, but other comments about frying brakes are completely unfounded.

Yes, that was the question and I'm with you on this. I don't understand why someone would not use brakes to come to a stop, but rather rely on engine braking.
Engine braking is good when going down a mountain and you need to check your speed and not overheat your brakes and maybe lose them.
But, when coming to a stop light and a complete stop, USE the brakes.
That is what they are for. And, if you learn to use them properly they will last a good long time.

I prefer using the brakes for coming to stop rather than transferring forward motion into trans gear wear and driveline wear.

[Snowman811]

Interesting there's nobody who's posted heel-toe braking yet. I single clutch (rev-match 1st) always when slowing (double's no longer needed thanks to synchro). This is fine for relaxed or daily driving. In more spirited conditions, heel-toe is much better for faster downshifting and maintaining the car's balance when entering, apexing and accelerating throgh corners.

Either way, I always shift when decelerating. The type of downshifting changes depending...

[BK]

I think I drive like most MT drivers -- if I were going 80mph in 6th and needed to slow to a complete stop, I would push in the clutch and pull the handbrake as hard as I could.

Just kidding. I would definitely gear down, but how I geared down would depend mainly on how quickly I needed to stop. Also, I don't usually bother engaging 2nd gear as I'm stopping; 3rd is usually as low as I need to go.

[Nikki]

Neutral, my foot hardly reaches the pedal and it doesn't reach the floor so I have to "float" which is strenuous if I leave my foot on the clutch all of the time.

[cncmastr]

If you rev match properly, there should be no concern for premature clutch / engine / sychros / headlight / rear lip spoiler wear.

[shimshimhada]

Originally Posted by cncmastr

If you rev match properly, there should be no concern for premature clutch / engine / sychros / headlight / rear lip spoiler wear.

Your ZHP is hot.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by shimshimhada

Both, although no matter how lazy I am, I downshift to at least 3rd before kicking in the clutch pedal and braking. I only put it in neutral when I'm completely stopped.

Pro of downshifting is that you're always in the right gear to accelerate if need be.

Same here.