[04CTSVFLA]

Whats everyones take on downshifting in our V's.

I almost alwaysdownshifted in my brother Porsche when I owned it for a short time, and almost always downshifted in my Honda as well....in the short time I have owned my V, I have been downshifting. I was wondering what yall do?

Im not talking of "shitty" downshifting (ie depressing clutch and slowly letting the clutch slow the car down)....

I AM talking about depressing the clutch....raising the RPMS with a little gas... and letting the GEAR and ENGINE slow you down.....not the clutch.

I hope Im clear. Thanks.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Sounds like what I try not to do.I don't try to slow down the car much with downshifting,I use the brakes for that.I mainly match rpms and gear for speed i'm going.Brake pads cheap-motor expensive.To each his own,probably doesn't hurt a damn thing doing it your way.

 

[AmesCTS-V]

We have awesome brakes so I use them.

 

[LV_V]

I downshift to a lower gear by RPM matching, say to 2nd, before I hit a corner I want to take hard. It allows the car to slow down a bit but also gives you tremendous power going into and coming out of the corner being in the same gear.

Coming to a light, on the other hand, I usually stay in the gear I am already in and use the brakes, then when the RPMs drop to about 1200 or so I hit the clutch (thats one thing I love about this car: you don't even have to look at the tach to know where its at :thumbsup: ).

 

[oceanhut]

Sounds like what I try not to do.I don't try to slow down the car much with downshifting,I use the brakes for that.I mainly match rpms and gear for speed i'm going.Brake pads cheap-motor expensive.To each his own,probably doesn't hurt a damn thing doing it your way.

Im sorta in the same boat with you. I know our clutches are strong....but I use it as little as possible. When approaching a red light, I'll stay in the gear I am in, and then pop it in neutral and hit the brakes at the last moment.

I usually only downshift when I need to accelerate more quickly.

 

[Luna.]

I generally try to avoid downshifting in such a manner.

 

[heavymetals]

Im sorta in the same boat with you. I know our clutches are strong....but I use it as little as possible. When approaching a red light, I'll stay in the gear I am in, and then pop it in neutral and hit the brakes at the last moment.

I usually only downshift when I need to accelerate more quickly.

Bout the same here!

 

[Koooop]

Brakes are cheaper than a clutch, but I like the sound of RPM matching a downshift to decelerate. I gotta V8 and I like to hear it!

 

[BadCad]

I always downshift so as to take street corners in 2nd gear, but I'll downshift to get there from 4th to 3rd if needed. Around town on surface streets I usually shift 1-2-4 and keep it there and use brakes to stop at lights; downshifting is usually not done conscientiously from high rpm's.

 

[DrivingAmericanNow]

I never use the downshift as a brake, but when I'm decellerating, I always downshift with a jab of the throttle to match RPMs in the lower gear. With the right timing, it's the smoothest way to shift, it keeps me solidly in the power range, and it sounds GREAT to anyone nearby.

Heck, I use the same downshift approach whenever I downshift.... especially on that 4th-to-3rd gearchange we all use to humiliate Mustangs on the highway. :tease:

 

[Vrocks]

I match the revs when I downshift. I always use the engine to help slow the car down.

 

[04CTSVFLA]

ok match revs.....thats what I do, but I do it through all the gears, or skip one (ie 4-2).

 

[04CTSVFLA]

i already got squeak from my brakes so.....its loud everytime I slowdown

 

[Vrocks]

i already got squeak from my brakes so.....its loud everytime I slowdown

Mine started to squeak around 20K miles and I thought the pads were shot. I was told they were fine and that they took some glaze off the rotors. The squeak is back after a couple thousand miles, I guess the pad material is different towards the middle / end of its life.

 

[LV_V]

I get the squeak from the brakes every now and then, especially if I've been driving over gravel or around lots of dust. After washing the V and getting the rotors and calipers clean it goes away completely.

 

[Dennisscars]

I "shitty" downshift and proud of it...(never heard it called that)

In all my years of driving a standard, I'd get twice the clutch life and twice the brake life of anybody in my fleet.

 

[ace996]

OK...I'll make it real simple...
Brakes are for slowing down...the engine is for speeding up. You should NEVER use the engine to slow your car down from speed, unless you have lost brake function and are trying to save your/someone's life. Now I'm not saying don't downshift, just don't downshift to slow the car. And please,please don't do that while in a turn...

I can get into the real mechanics if that's not enough, but I'd rather not.

 

[Dennisscars]

high speed downshifting in turn, very bad...

 

[V-Love]

And please,please don't do that while in a turn...

quote]
YOU CAN DIE THIS WAY!

 

[V-Love]

high speed downshifting in turn, very bad...

I have picture proof of that! I just cant post it.