I took a buddy of mine for a ride (he's a corvette driver) and he saw me downshift into 1st gear and he freaked out. He said that it's bad for the transmission...muttering something about "snycromesh" or some such thing. He said you're "supposed" to pop it from 2nd into neutral then coast to a stop?
Pardon my ignorance but am I hurting my car? What's the deal?
Thanks!

 

From what I know (could be wrong ), you shouldn't downshift into first to slow down. It puts unnecessary pressure on the tranny and you run the risk of over-revving. As for the 'syncromesh'; I think means that you are putting needless wear on the synchros by going through the gears.

I wouldn't say your 'hurting' your car .. just putting stress that can be avoided.

 

If you are just trying to slow down, use the brakes- after all, changing pads is cheaper than changing a tranny....on the other hand if you are downshifting to trying to maintain revs/ boost, that is a different story....

Sameer

 

^^^ what he said ^^^

go to first if your pullin your *** out of a nasty situation but if the light just turned red, use the brakes.

 

Your brakes are much stronger than the transmission for stopping, so there's really no reason NOT to use them. I'd say coast in whatever gear you're in if you're coming up to a red light and clutching just prior to stopping. Whatever you do, enjoy your car!

 

I don't touch the brakes until I am already downshifted to first. It puts no additional wear and tear on the car as does downshifting to 3rd, or 2nd or any other gear. Obviously, the abruptness is engine speed dependent. There are synco's in all forward gears, so this guys arguement would dictate that you never downshift...period....inyto any gear.

Brakes are ment to be used to STOP and NOT slow down.


Maybe you guys who suck down the oil would benefit from some regular high rpm engine braking.

 

I personally never would use 1st gear to slow the car down, it does not make any sense to do so. Brakes are meant to slow a car down and stop it.
There is no way engine braking can come close to slowing a car down versus downshifting it just not possible, on a race track you do downshift and rather quickly apply the correct amount of brake pedal. Downshifting into 1st is creating unnecesary wear and tear to your engine/driveline.

Bajo

 

I've seen people downshift to first while racing, and it freaked me out. I guess it depends on your car, though. My first and reverse gears don't have synchros, so I would have to double clutch to even get into first while moving. I usually downshift into second and then use the brakes to stop the rest of the way.

 

Downshifting into first coming to a complete stop makes little sense. You should only shift down from second if you are will be able to resume speed without stopping in traffic. The car will pull away cleanly in second from 5 to 10 mph with smoothly applied partial throttle. If the engine is lugging, it will tell you.

 

I agree with the majority here....use the brakes not 1st gear to stop. Replacing the brakes is much better then replacing the clutch or tranny down the road.

 

I agree with Synergy and Smistry007..

 

Yah, I agree with them also. I'll double-clutch (it's sooooo easy on this car!) my way down to third, or maybe second (just to hear the PSE brrrraaaap)... but not first. First is so short in the 997 that I don't think it makes sense.

Automobile Mag projected 75,000 mile brake pad life on their long-term 997 - for the fronts. They projected 100,000 for the rears. With brakes like this, there's no reason to stress the trans and engine, IMHO.

And I haven't used any oil in 1,200 initial miles, thanks...

Seriously - check out any _normal_ automatic transmissioned car - they never shift into first until you come to a full stop.

But, hey - what do I know?

-don

 

i rev-match, i don't double clutch.

once the car gets moving, i never shift it back into 1st unless i'm at a complete stop.

 

Is the issue not to do with spinning up the input shaft, rather than the engine revs? The synchros match the speed of the input shaft to the new gear, then you blip to match the speed of the engine to the speed of the input shaft (unless you double-clutch).

The ratio of gear ratios is greatest going from 2nd to 1st, so that shift places more of a stress on the synchros.

That said, the only time I downshift to 1st is if I'm coasting to a stop, and the light turns green while I'm going less than 10 mph.

 

Ditto.

I was taught to NEVER downshift into 1st gear unless you are still or damn near it. Downshifting is the most dangerous action you take (for your car's health) because there is NO rev limiter for downshifting. This when most people who blow up their engine, blow it up. Rev matching will increase the life of your clutch. Brakes should be used for slowing down, not gears. If you ever drive a Ferrari, Maserati or some other car with an auto clutch, you will notice that the computer rev-matches on downshifts, so it does NOT slow you down.