Paddles for down shifting
#1
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Paddles for down shifting
I have been using my down shift paddle to down shift when slowing down for stop lights on a regular basis. It seems to work well and gives me the feeling of using a 5 speed shifter. I know it saves the brake pads, but is the RDX designed to do this on a regular basis without damage?
#5
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More or less, what you're doing is engine braking.
Usually, you want to avoid doing it, and use your normal brakes...especially if you have ample room. Use the brakes.
However, if you see that stopping isn't working well enough, and you don't want to totally mess up your passengers braking really hard (as that can get nasty), then usually if you shift down, it'll be okay.
There are times when i had 5 people in the car and my normal brakes in the Civic weren't going to do it, so i engined broke instead,and it works like a charge, and your passengers don't feel it, AND you don't nosedive your car and mess up the person behind you.
You can also down shift when you notice your RPM is at the very bottom of the band as you're coming to the light but you KNOW it will change to green as you get there, in which case, just downshift, so that when you do accelerate, you won't get yourself stuck in the wrong gear.
Usually, you want to avoid doing it, and use your normal brakes...especially if you have ample room. Use the brakes.
However, if you see that stopping isn't working well enough, and you don't want to totally mess up your passengers braking really hard (as that can get nasty), then usually if you shift down, it'll be okay.
There are times when i had 5 people in the car and my normal brakes in the Civic weren't going to do it, so i engined broke instead,and it works like a charge, and your passengers don't feel it, AND you don't nosedive your car and mess up the person behind you.
You can also down shift when you notice your RPM is at the very bottom of the band as you're coming to the light but you KNOW it will change to green as you get there, in which case, just downshift, so that when you do accelerate, you won't get yourself stuck in the wrong gear.
#6
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Engines are also quite expensive to replace. I read once that it takes 3000 HP to stop a 4000 pound car in an average stopping distance (this was in the 80s, so I'm guessing around 250 feet). The same car might have taken over a quarter mile (1320 feet) to accelerate to the same speed. In other words, brakes generate way several times the thust (in the opposite direction) than the engine generates in the forward direction. The energy to stop your car has to come from somewhere. When you use engine braking, almost all of the thrust (except for small frictional losses in the tires, bearings, and transmission) are exerted through your engine's crankshaft, connecting rods, piston, and rings... as well as the cylinder block and cylinder head. Do you think your engine was designed to handle outputs with bursts of 1000 ft-lbs of torque?
Get some EBC green or yellow stuff pads and cut your drivetrain a brake.
Note that I am not talking about leaving the tranny in a lower gear (in sportshift mode) trailing the throttle into a corner, or the automatic downshifts that the tranny produces when braking down a hill. Neither of these situations creates the large potentially destructive energy spikes I am talking about.
Joe
Get some EBC green or yellow stuff pads and cut your drivetrain a brake.
Note that I am not talking about leaving the tranny in a lower gear (in sportshift mode) trailing the throttle into a corner, or the automatic downshifts that the tranny produces when braking down a hill. Neither of these situations creates the large potentially destructive energy spikes I am talking about.
Joe
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Don't let these people scare you, it's fine. I do it all the time and it's a normal way to drive a manual transmission.
There's no more wear on the transmission from doing this than normal upshifting or when it automatically downshifts when you stomp on the throttle.
There's no more wear on the transmission from doing this than normal upshifting or when it automatically downshifts when you stomp on the throttle.
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#8
This is not a manual trans. If you use the manual trans logic, it is normal to downshift like you stated. But on the other hand, you are putting wear on the clutch. Looking from that persepctive, it would be cheaper and easier to replace brake pads than the clutch.
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Originally Posted by SinCity
This is not a manual trans. If you use the manual trans logic, it is normal to downshift like you stated. But on the other hand, you are putting wear on the clutch. Looking from that persepctive, it would be cheaper and easier to replace brake pads than the clutch.
It's also technically clutch-braking at that point and not engine braking.
#12
I used to downshift to slow down all the time in my 94 accord, I never once had a problem with the auto transmission. Even in the owner's manual (for the accord) it stated that by using 1,2,D3,D4 you could drive the car like a manual transmission except without the use of the clutch. Granted, the RDX isn't quite the same but on occasion I do downshift to slow down just not all the time.
#13
The main reason one downshifts in a manual car is so you can be in the correct gear for accelleration. The auto does it for you.
Why would you bother using the auto tranny for engine braking? It makes no sense.
Why would you bother using the auto tranny for engine braking? It makes no sense.
#14
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by sj993
I used to downshift to slow down all the time in my 94 accord, I never once had a problem with the auto transmission. Even in the owner's manual (for the accord) it stated that by using 1,2,D3,D4 you could drive the car like a manual transmission except without the use of the clutch. Granted, the RDX isn't quite the same but on occasion I do downshift to slow down just not all the time.
your automatic 94 accord manual stated you can drive the auto like a manual by shifting through the gears like that?
Please do scan and post this, I'd love to see it.
#16
I downshifted to engine brake my Integra GSR for 11 years and never had any clutch problems. And I didn't have to replace my brake pads until 90k miles. I sold the car to a mechanic and he was quite happy with the transmission.
I do the same with my RDX. The computer won't downshift unless your speed is in the correct range, so you'll never make a mistake like you can with a manual. An added benefit is that it keeps people from tailgating. After a few downshifts in traffic on the freeway with no brake lights, they tend to give you some space.
I do the same with my RDX. The computer won't downshift unless your speed is in the correct range, so you'll never make a mistake like you can with a manual. An added benefit is that it keeps people from tailgating. After a few downshifts in traffic on the freeway with no brake lights, they tend to give you some space.
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Originally Posted by Fishbulb
The main reason one downshifts in a manual car is so you can be in the correct gear for accelleration. The auto does it for you.
Why would you bother using the auto tranny for engine braking? It makes no sense.
Why would you bother using the auto tranny for engine braking? It makes no sense.
#18
haole kama'a-ina
Originally Posted by jimmyR
I have been using my down shift paddle to down shift when slowing down for stop lights on a regular basis. .....I know it saves the brake pads, but is the RDX designed to do this on a regular basis without damage?
Originally Posted by SinCity
...on the other hand, you are putting wear on the clutch. Looking from that persepctive, it would be cheaper and easier to replace brake pads than the clutch.
Originally Posted by scudzuki
Get some EBC green or yellow stuff pads and cut your drivetrain a brake.
Note that I am not talking about leaving the tranny in a lower gear (in sportshift mode) trailing the throttle into a corner, or the automatic downshifts that the tranny produces when braking down a hill. Neither of these situations creates the large potentially destructive energy spikes I am talking about.
Note that I am not talking about leaving the tranny in a lower gear (in sportshift mode) trailing the throttle into a corner, or the automatic downshifts that the tranny produces when braking down a hill. Neither of these situations creates the large potentially destructive energy spikes I am talking about.
Much of the initial spike is absorbed in the friction-wear surfaces in the trans (and there is not one clutch, there are five).
Good EBC brakes (highly recommend) are about $150.......a trans rebuild is thousands.
#20
Downshifting for light deceleration isn't going to harm anything. I find it convienient to do so when someone turns off a road and I'm following behind them as it saves me from having to use the brakes and I can simply downshift a gear slow down enough for the person in front of me to turn off and then accelerate. Also, I do enjoy shifting the gears as I find it gives me more driving enjoyment. In the 5 years of doing I have never had a problem in either my Accord or my Audi.
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well, the VW DSG is also a manual transmission with a clutch, so it needs to rev-match.
Our slushboxes have torque converters which remove any potential "shock" to either the engine or the transmission, so rev-matching is not necessary.
Our slushboxes have torque converters which remove any potential "shock" to either the engine or the transmission, so rev-matching is not necessary.
#23
haole kama'a-ina
Originally Posted by JGard
Our slushboxes have torque converters which remove any potential "shock" to either the engine or the transmission, so rev-matching is not necessary.
We're not talking about shock from brake torque launches here, but the OP question seemed to regard using downshifting to save the brakes.
Brakes are still the least expensive way to stop.
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Yar. Brake-stand type launches are the WORST thing you can do for your car. I have a friend who had an AT Subaru WRX and took it to the drag strip. It took a few trips to the strip, but eventually he destroyed his torque converter completely and had to get a new transmission. The car was less than two years old at that point.
That said, using the transmission to slow the car down is not doing nearly the same kind of damage as that.
That said, using the transmission to slow the car down is not doing nearly the same kind of damage as that.
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