For instance, does it wear out the clutch a lot more?does it save the brakes from wearing out? basically, is it good practice to use the engine to brake? and i'm talking about doing it sensibly, changing down gear at the right time, rather than jamming it into third at 100mph
Having owned a few standard transmission cars including Corvettes I'd roll out of the throttle in high gear and let the engine compression slow the car down. Of course high gear wouldn't work in town but what ever gear relative to the speed your going will slow the car down till it's time to clutch, brake and slide the transmission gear selector in it's gate to start while you're moving or low gear when you're stopped. Not to boast but I always tried to be smooth allowing the synchronizers plenty of time to speed up the next lower gear set when I decided to shift down. It's very important to realize that sudden upshifts or downshifts tend to wear the syncro rings.
engine braking is good for controlling your speed going downhill, especially with a heavy load. otherwise don't bother as you actually use more fuel, and you don't really add any life to the brake pads. one more thing, these days cars and trucks don't do engine braking very well because they drivetrain has been designed for maximum fuel economy, and minimum drag. i see where you are confused about engine braking and fuel use. it is true that if you ease off the gas and coast up to a light, you do use less fuel because you spend less time and energy getting back to speed. accelerating a vehicle to speed from a dead stop does use more fuel than accelerating one from say 20mph to the speed limit. my point was if you gear down to take advantage of the braking you get in a lower gear, the engine will be reving higher, and will use more fuel.
Glad you're doing it sensibly :) When I was first riding motorcycles I changed changed down into first gear at about 50mph when a light turned red in front of me and I was stopping. but let go the clutch right away. Left some good rubber. Using the engine to brake is a good thing. 1) It makes your driving smoother and therefore safer (peope generally only rear-end you if you brake hard); 2) You start slowing down sooner, so you cruise up behind cars as they pull away from lights and so on, which improves fuel consumption and reduces engine wear because you're also accelerating less to keep up; 3) It does save on brake pads though this is not a huge factor. There are no significant drawbacks. If someone is tailgating, they may not immediately realize you're slowing because you're not using the brake lights, so touch on the brake pedal to let them know. As long as you don't drop the clutch in a ridiculous gear (like as you say 100 in 3rd) it won't hurt the clutch. You don't want to use the clutch to slow down; make sure you change gear smoothly and let the engine do the work. Another thoughtful driver on the road! Good to hear, in an age where people like to play DDR with the car pedals. ps to clarify a couple of things: 1) Once you remove your foot from the gas, your car is using practically zero fuel. Speed is irrelevant. So it definitely saves, not uses more fuel, and you can check any gas-saving tips list for that and for other fuel-efficiency tips. It increases my fuel economy by about 15% in town. 2) Manual cars and trucks brake much more effectively than automatics because of the more efficient transmission - the same reason they get better gas mileage and last longer.
8-10IK, if the pressure is kept up.
