| Author | Message | ||
     Eric B. (Ebbnyc) New Member Username: Ebbnyc Post Number: 10 Registered: 05-2003 |
I've got in the habit of downshifting at stops in an attempt to give my brakes a break in the city... Better? Worse? No difference? Thanks for any feedback, Eric | ||
| Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco) Senior Member Username: Offroaddisco Post Number: 1475 Registered: 04-2002 |
Your choice... less than $200 for a set of brake pads or over $2000 for transmission and/or engine? just remember Go peddal to GO and stop peddal to STOP Just my 2 cents  | ||
| M. K. Watson (Lrover94) Senior Member Username: Lrover94 Post Number: 998 Registered: 02-2002 |
here's my penny, if you are using the ENGINE COMPRESSION to assist your braking by the CONSERATIVE application of a manual actuated transmission then you will be ok, just wears the clutch a bit more, but only a very little bit, you kill it more on take off than the landing. the same could be done with an automatic but i would not recommend it. if you have alot of green do what ever you want. mike w | ||
| Douglas McMillan (Mcmillan) Member Username: Mcmillan Post Number: 58 Registered: 06-2002 |
To correctly brake you should be down shifting at the same time as applying the brake. I have a 94 manual •••••• and that is what I do. This gives an even more controled stop. It is how the UK drivers are taught to drive and they all use manual trannys. Don't over use one or the other. | ||
| Peter Matusov (Pmatusov) Senior Member Username: Pmatusov Post Number: 979 Registered: 09-2002 |
Eric, with an automatic it doesn't make any sense to manually downshift in city driving (unless your brakes are already shot past any safe limit). It makes a lot of sense, however, while going downhill on highway grades - something that most people never do. Yes, you will incur a bit faster wear on transmission and engine (which is really hard to evaluate), but you'll buy a larger margin in safety. | ||
| Chris Browne (Chris_browne) Senior Member Username: Chris_browne Post Number: 270 Registered: 02-2003 |
Try this one..... Years ago I drove up Mt Washington in NH. On the way down, third low range was the perfect gear. Barely touched the brakes all the way down | ||
| William C. Leek (Onionman) Member Username: Onionman Post Number: 101 Registered: 07-2002 |
Chris, Same here at Glacier National Park - when coming down the west side on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, I use third gear in low range. Rarely need the brakes. It does make the tansmission/transfer case whine a bit. Second gear in high range also works, but I need the brakes a bit more. | ||
| Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) Senior Member Username: Deanbrown3d Post Number: 717 Registered: 02-2002 |
Eric, when I'm in traffic or going round the block here and there, I stay in 1st gear and hardly ever have to brake much. I let it go 2nd if I get above about 1800-2000 rpm. In addition, maybe once a week in bad traffic, I change into low-ratio for while, to keep the cobwebs off the t-case. And since I have a D2, I let the HDC take me down a steep hill about once a month, to keep the webs off that part too. Dean | ||
| Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco) Senior Member Username: Offroaddisco Post Number: 1478 Registered: 04-2002 |
Douglas, I know it's common in many parts to brake and downshift at the same time but the idea that it gives you more control is not 100% true. Ask anyone who's spent time on a race track about the dynamics of the vehicle and the shift in weight if you brake and downshift while maintaining power to the drive wheels in a turn. When you see people do that on the track they're keeping a foot on the clutch, one on the brake and one on the gas (I know that's 3 feet) and they try to match RPM's for the given speed to the drive wheels so that when they come out of the turn the rear wheels aren't slowing the car down at all. Granted our Disco's are hardly track vehicles but the idea is the same. Using the engine on long downward grades is an acceptable practice. This helps reduce brake fade and keep temperatures down. | ||
| Garth Petch (Garth) New Member Username: Garth Post Number: 13 Registered: 02-2003 |
Douglas, The correct way to drive a manual car is to be in the appropriate gear for the speed you're going, so going down through the gears as you brake ensures that you are in a position to accelerate immediately. The auto will change gears quicker than you can (the Disco's manual gearbox and shift is not one of the slickest around). Unless you're in a position where engine braking is safer than using the brakes, and given that engine braking on an auto is not as good as a manual, there's nothing to be gained by using an auto gearbox as a manual in normal situations. It's fun though Garth | ||
| M. K. Watson (Lrover94) Senior Member Username: Lrover94 Post Number: 999 Registered: 02-2002 |
Al, i thought they had the left on the clutch and the right foot braking and punching the go pedal to match the RPM to the road speed to keep from 1. tearing the drivetrain up and 2. keeping the ass end from passing the front end due to over braking the rear axle from high engine compression. but i could be wrong, NOT! :o) Mike W | ||
| Kenny Bissett (Jetson) New Member Username: Jetson Post Number: 30 Registered: 07-2003 |
When I came down from the top of Pikes Peak, almost every car had overheated brakes - my disco though - got the thumbs up from the guy with the temp gauge. He told me "nice job coming down". I used the engine and transmission to come down. I'm sure it was more wear and tear on the drivetrain, but at least I passed the brake check! Kenny | ||
| Al Oliveira (Offroaddisco) Senior Member Username: Offroaddisco Post Number: 1479 Registered: 04-2002 |
Mike, yeah... that too |
