Coasting to a stop vs down shifting to a stop in manual transmissions

When we are talking about city driving, we're not likely to be in a high gear between red lights. 20-40 mph seems reasonable, so anywhere between 2nd and 4th gear. Even in 4th gear you can coast down to a very low speed (10-15 mph), it doesn't make sense to select a lower gear and use engine braking when you get there UNLESS you think the light will go green and you want to be in the right gear to floor it.
 
I cannot imagine anyone actually downshifting to first to come to stop. I never thought much of it but mostly would downshift to 2 or 3 then use clutch and brakes. I never replaced a clutch on any vehicle driven till 200k-240k.
 
Just throwing out there that the vacuum from engine braking is actually good for the piston rings.

Once in a while is enough. Most of us probably get it in traffic in 2nd or 3rd gear anyway.
 
Nope, this is not good for the throwout bearing or the thrust bearing. And if you get rear ended you might pop off the clutch and start moving (as my mom warned me... dumb... it would happen with an automatic in drive too.) Goes along with keeping your wheels straight in a left turn lane until you start rolling, so if you're rear ended you won't go into oncoming traffic.
Yeah, I thought it was kind of bogus advice if you have a properly functioning vehicle. I only did this in my 94 Ranger because the M5OD was so ragged out it sometimes wouldn't go back into gear unless I turned the engine off, put it in gear, then started it again. I also had to shift into second when slowing to a stop just to get into first. That truck needed a transmission rebuild bad, but somehow got around in all 5 gears (5th/OD was really loud).
 
One of the lessons taught when downshifting in commercial driving is that you are not supposed to coast (neutral or clutch in) 3 times the length of your vehicle. It's been a while since I've driven stick in a commercial vehicle but I usually drop 2-3 gears when approaching a stop light then clutch in about 2 vehicles length to a complete stop.
 
Double-clutch, Heel, and Toe, yet never wore out a clutch. Bought a used Car in England and replaced the Clutch, pretty easy.
 
I've used nearly legit technique described in this thread so far, depending on the circumstances. (Explaining all those details would make this a very long post.) Downshifting to help brake generally makes sense only on large downhills. Coasting in gear to a routine stop, there's normally very little reason to press the clutch until engine speed is only slightly above its normal idle speed.
 
No shocker, manual purist/elitists/whatever are the biggest wanks in car culture right now IMHO. I too see this topic debated regularly on several VW car groups on FB that I am both a member of and moderator.

My background w/r to this topic: I have a stick in our family's fleet that my 18 yo now drives - it's my previous daily and I still drive it from time to time. Current daily is a VW with the DSG dual-clutch which is the finest auto I've ever owned. Love it. I'm 48. I've had 9 vehicles in my life and 5 have been sticks.

When I slow to a stop in my town/city driving, I typically have it in gear (likely 5th) and just slow/brake until the RPMs drop, depress the clutch to avoid the stall, "dummy" downshift to second (clutch still in - I think I always do this as a final "I may need to take off" move), then to a stop. Once stopped, if it's going to be a while, I put it in N. Occasionally I'll coast in N. Some of these folks will tell you all about their heel/toe and rev-match downshifting while coming to a stop at a light driving to the store...it's so funny, Johnny Race Car it seems. I see no reason to downshift through the gears slowing down at lights - you will know whether or not you will need power/to step on it and can adjust your downshifting accordingly. If this wets your whistle, by all means go for it.
 
manual purist/elitists/whatever are the biggest wanks in car culture right now IMHO
Very true - many will ridicule and insult anyone with an automatic too. Then some of them post videos of themselves driving and apparently they think it's normal to have a sore neck after every drive from their head swinging forward and backward with every, amateur gear shift shift they make as well as rev'ing to ~4000 rpms with each gear change. I've even seen some stall their car from poor clutch control. Sorry, but that's 100% inexcusable after owning that particular manual for longer than 3 days.
 
No shocker, manual purist/elitists/whatever are the biggest wanks in car culture right now IMHO.
I've seen a few of those types on Youtube..... You're 100% right.

Nine times out of ten, I can scroll back to their very earliest videos and find the video where they first bought their car, and lo and behold Dad had to drive it home for them because they didn't know how to drive it yet! And now they're God's gift to the automotive community and will tell you at every opportunity.
 
The only reason my YJ with the 2.5L gets 18-19 MPG instead of the 15-16 most people get is due to coasting. My driving style monitors lights blocks ahead, traffic ahead, and think ahead to where I want to be, and I coast accordingly. If someone is behind me, I won't do it as long, but still, it's in neutral and coasting. I also live in a town that is 40-50k people and not a big city, so it's not hard to do.

My favorite is when I don't even touch the brakes, just keep rolling.
 
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My Focus uses less gas coasting in N, than with engine braking, so I coast in N down hills or up to stops where I don't need any braking until the end. I'll rev match downshifts if I'm coming to a corner or down a very steep hill as it also feels dumb to burn up more brakes than I need to.
I dunno, just don't, slip the clutch a lot, rest your hand the stick or your foot on the clutch pedal, rush your shifts for no reason(you can feel the synchos do their job), rev match your downshifts, and your transmission and clutch should last the life of your car.
I spend some time on manual transmission buses from the communist era(owned by the drivers I believe) in the Polish country side 20 years ago and those guys were smooth and efficient and easy on the equipment. They had their driving to the routes optimized, and coasted down every hill that didn't need engine braking, almost never a complete stop that needed the clutch slipped, and probably some of those buses are still going! It wasn't fast but it was more like a ferry boat trip. It was a nice way to travel compared to Greyhound buses in Canada where the drivers use the brakes and gas like on/off switches and see if they can lift the inside front tire in the corners in the mountains...
 
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.......coasting is never a safe, one never knows when power will be needed.

I never got that kind of "argument". What's so dangerous when coasting towards traffic lights?
I never needed any "power" in 34 years of driving. Obviously an American phenomenon, since I
never ever read about this on a European forum.

On a side note, the title says "manual transmissions". Automatic transmissions are another topic.
 
I never got that kind of "argument". What's so dangerous when coasting towards traffic lights?
I never needed any "power" in 34 years of driving. Obviously an American phenomenon, since I
never ever read about this on a European forum.
You've never seen an unexpected falling tree or an avalanche shortly before an intersection? Sometimes you just have to get out of the way.
 
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