Braking with the gears what ridiculous practice

pault123

Reading this article on Eco driving

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7530652.stm

The gent admits

""For as long as I have driven, I've used the gears to slow down. But with eco-driving, the idea is to lift off the gas in a higher gear, and allow the car to lose momentum."

Can anyone who drops down from 6th to 5th to 4th to 3rd, to 2nd to 1st simply to come to a stop - instead of using a higher gear with engine braking and then neutral gear and foot brake explain why?!

The wear factor must be insane on the clutch, flywheel, gearbox by using the gears to slow the car.

oldagetraveller

Even before the "eco nazis" took over the country it was always advised to use brakes to slow down. The reasoning being that it's cheaper and easier to replace brake components than anything subjected to the wear and tear of using the gears to slow down, e.g. the clutch.
By driving defensively and looking ahead the brakes will not need to be used excessively either.
This doesn't, of course, do away with the obligation to be in the correct gear for speed and conditions.

Inactive

pault123 wrote: »

Can anyone who drops down from 6th to 5th to 4th to 3rd, to 2nd to 1st simply to come to a stop - instead of using a higher gear with engine braking and then neutral gear and foot brake explain why?!

The wear factor must be insane on the clutch, flywheel, gearbox by using the gears to slow the car.

Agreed, these silly articles never take a broader look at the whole picture, they simply look at the MPG on a given test.

Usual flawed BBC rubbish.:rolleyes:

Inactive

oldagetraveller wrote: »

Even before the "eco nazis" took over the country it was always advised to use brakes to slow down. The reasoning being that it's cheaper and easier to replace brake components than anything subjected to the wear and tear of using the gears to slow down, e.g. the clutch.
By driving defensively and looking ahead the brakes will not need to be used excessively either.
This doesn't, of course, do away with the obligation to be in the correct gear for speed and conditions.

I agree 100% with all of that..

AdrianHi

As my driving instructor told me 21 years ago:
"Gears are for going, brakes are for stopping."

Inactive

Spot on...;)

alanrowell

So people here would drive up to a red light and slam the brakes on at the last second as "it's not using the gears".

The sensible thing to do is read the road and slow down by not using the throttlel before reaching the red light

AdrianHi

alanrowell wrote: »

So people here would drive up to a red light and slam the brakes on at the last second as "it's not using the gears".

Don't know how you got that idea ???

alanrowell wrote: »

The sensible thing to do is read the road and slow down by not using the throttlel before reaching the red light

... which is exactly what I do, the point being a down shift in gear and bringing the clutch up is not being done to increasing braking force, a down shift while slowing is only done to avoid labouring the engine.

Inactive

alanrowell wrote: »

So people here would drive up to a red light and slam the brakes on at the last second as "it's not using the gears".

Where did you get that idea from?

Conor_3

pault123 wrote: »

Can anyone who drops down from 6th to 5th to 4th to 3rd, to 2nd to 1st simply to come to a stop - instead of using a higher gear with engine braking and then neutral gear and foot brake explain why?!

The wear factor must be insane on the clutch, flywheel, gearbox by using the gears to slow the car.

Because if you stay in the higher gear, anti-stall kicks in once you drop to around 1200RPM and you no longer slow - in fact it ends up fighting the brakes. In addition to that, coasting in neutral is dangerous - you'd fail your test if you did - and the engine is still using fuel to stop it from stalling so you use more fuel than you do using engine braking.

And no, the wear factor isn't insane on the clutch or the flywheel or gearbox at all, why would it be? If it were, you wouldn't have 44 tonne lorries going 500,000 miles on a single clutch because with a lorry, you DO have to use engine braking.

Conor_3

AdrianHi wrote: »

Don't know how you got that idea ???

... which is exactly what I do, the point being a down shift in gear and bringing the clutch up is not being done to increasing braking force, a down shift while slowing is only done to avoid labouring the engine.

It's got sod all to do with labouring the engine. How the hell do you labour an engine that's on overrun?
You're doing what the gent that you're lambasting does, albeit with fewer changes. And it actually DOES increase braking force.

Do you even have a clue !!!!!! you're on about?