When braking with the car in gear and coming to a stop, just wait for the RPMs to fall to about 1K. Then just pop it into neutral...no clutch needed as you speed-dictated RPMs will match idle.

 

I will go along with the following too close part of your argument. Tailgating is a major problem, especially in urban areas. Add to it someone who is downshifting and letting engine braking slow the car, so that no brake lights are showing, and that adds to the problem. That was the point I was making in response to the post that said people told him the brake lights weren't working.

 

dont leave it in neutral, when i was on a road trip to bc, on all the long roads down i thought i'd save the engine + gas to put it in neutral, after that trip my clutch or something was SCREWED. this was in an 89' probe

 

Speaking from motorbike experience, no brakelights coming on during a stop can potentially be a problem for those not paying attention behind you.

So...that means hitting the brakes enough to light up the brake lights at least a couple of times during the time you're engine breakin' is actually sufficent to let those know you're going to stop or do something in front of them.

Motorbikes (V-Twins particularlly) have a LOT of engine braking...and I have to 'force' myself to click on and off my brake lights when slowing to let people know I'm about to do something.

Heel and Toe is great, but if you personally feel you run the risk of buggering up your tranny, take it very slowly, and learn in a controlled area. Probably the easiest gears to learn how to heel-toe in the EVO is 3rd to 2nd.

Good Luck,

jcnel.

 

downshift...it brakes faster

 

Hi all, I have a question regarding "to down shift or not to downshift." Say you are in 3rd gear then the person in front of you start slowing down (god know's why) At this point do you brake and stay on the same gear Or do you downshift to 2nd then back to 3rd as they accelerate again.

 

That's not really a question you can give a generic answer to. How much are you slowing down? It all depends on how low your rpm's drop and how hard you want to accelerate when you're done slowing down.

If you're just tooling along at 3-4000 rpm in 3rd and have to brake gently for a moment before slowly easing back up to speed, then there's obviously no reason to downshift. But if you're accelerating in 3rd and have to suddenly jump on the brakes to where you're going to drop down below 2000 rpm or something then that's a situation where a heel-and-toe downshift to 2nd would make sense. Especially if you're going to want to get hard on the gas to bring your speed back up quickly.

Emre

 

wasn't there a gazillion page thread about this same thing before

 

driving manual for 4 years
i rev match for downshifting.
i also let the engine brake if its emergency.

usually i try to share the stopping engine/brakes.

my old car integra gsr i would do it all the time. the engine was meant to be revved. it had 90k miles with ZERO problems in the drivetrain. the clutch wore out though.

i do believe that the evo engine is alot stronger than a honda.

 

I have some practice driving a stick, but not alot. Let's say for the first copule months I have the Evo I don't know how to heel/toe, would it be best to put it in neutral and just use the brakes to stop, or downshift without rev matching?

 

Don't ever put in in neutral while moving. That's a bad habit that can get you in trouble one day. It will be very counterproductive when you start to develop better driving skills and you've developed this bad habit. It will be much harder to ever learn to heal-and-toe properly if you develop a habit like this.

But there's a more important reason not to do this: if the car is in neutral while moving and you then push it into gear...you're taking a huge risk. One day, you will get the wrong gear and damage your drivetrain. Maybe not with this car. Maybe not in the next 10 years...but you can count on it. One day it will happen!

If you don't know how to heel-and-toe just brake "normally." That means, leave the car in gear and brake. As the revs drop to the point where the engine will soon stall (say, below 1500 rpm), then just push in the clutch. Once you've stopped completely (the clutch is disengaged at this point) then shift to neutral.

When the car is at a complete stop, it's ok to be in neutral with the clutch out.

Emre

 

I agree that tailgating is a major problem and something to be considered if you are "engine braking" in traffic. Many drivers seem to "sleep walk" behind the wheel and just do whatever the car in front of them does. I have, on more than one occassion, had a driver in a less capable vehicle will follow me into a turn that they were not prepared for. In general, this is because I was afraid to slow too much and have them plow into me. I was taught to scan for trouble out all the windows in the car. Also, other drivers in general don't seem to like the feeling of lateral g's as much as I do.

I guess I should clarify that I don't mean driving the car at 9/10ths (or 10/10ths) like at the track. I just mean a good solid sideways push well within the limits of the Evo, but more than I would like to see in the minivan.

 

muscle memory makes me downshift all the way to 2nd gear except for hard rushed stops in traffic... feels weird when I don't.... guess its just cause I learned how to drive that way....

 

I joined the forum just for this thread

You should not coast in free gear and brake hard unless you have an LSD installed. This is why it is bad in MOST cars. It prevents locking of a wheel, for those who are learning to drive a manual, especially on fast curves where all the traction is on the outside front wheel during braking.

Heal-toe if done properly is very safe for your drivetrain, and beats the hell outta letting the clutch out slowly to match drivetrain speed from idle. But for those who are learning and don't know your gear ratios yet, dont skip gears downshifting until you know your rpm's well. Have seen accidental overrevving due to this.

Just a few words of warning. Be safe folks...