When you are driving on the street, do you brake using the clutch and brake most of the time, or do you shift into neutral, and then slow down with just the brake? I always shift into neutral first, and then slow down w/ the brake only, any time I have to come to a complete stop.(Stop sign, stoplight, etc...) I have seen others that never shift into neutral for the entire time of driving. One person in particular will press the clutch in just to slow down a few mph. Even at a long stoplight, he will sit there and hold the clutch in for the whole time. He claims that it's easier this way because then he doesn't have to press the clutch in again when the light turns. Am I wrong or is this method bad for the clutch?

 

think about it this way... you can either wear down your brake pads when u need to slow down, or you can wear down your clutch when u need to slow down. Now... which one would u replace first? (think about the $$ difference).

And to answer your opinionated question, I keep the car in gear and use the brakes until RPM is down to 2k or so which then i step on the clutch pedal and shift to neutral.


one more thing, it's bad to hold down the clutch for a long period time because it wears down the throw out bearings and spring, or so i heard.

 

I always go into neutral and use the breaks. I dont see any point of "jake-breaking" all it does is break your ****

 

never BRAKE with the clutch, always rev up enough to match the speed of going into a lower gear, in a lower gear you will slow down, engine braking, and really, the only time you SHOULD do this is going down a steep hill so your brake pads dont get too hot for when you REALLY need them.

 

the only time i use my clutch is when i need to shift gears, or when my car is about to stall or redline.... i never just ride the clutch

like for example, if i'm braking to stop at a red light, and i'm in 3rd gear, i usually wait till my RPMs drop to like 1000, and only then do i depress the clutch and go into neutral.

that way, not only my break pads are doing the braking, but my engine too.

 

i almost never brake or turn with the clutch out, i always push it in for all that, and leave it in neutral at lights.

 

I push the clutch in for most turns, just in case the RPM's would drop below 700 and stall my engine. I can also speed up quicker after the turn this way, not having to shift again. I just use neutral when I need to come to a complete stop. Neutral saves gas for me, and saves my clutch and its components.

 

I do that thousand rpm thing too. If I feel especially gentle w/ my car I'll just put it in neutral and brake as I would in an auto. And for those of you talking about turns, usually, I just downshift one gear and revmatch.

 

yeah i only downshift when i have no choice.. i try to use the clutch as little as possible.. Cuz I used to burn it like crazy when I was first learning to drive stick.

 

I always go into neutral when stopping...but rpm wise it varies...sometimes above 1k sometimes around it...not very wise to hold the clutch in while stopped...costs more $$ to replace than pads

 

The way I drive and teach people: Get your foot off the clutch. The only time you touch it is when you are in the process of changing gears. Drop it in neutral and use the brakes to stop.

My clutch has 113,000 miles and seems as good as new.

-jeremy

 

Most brake pads come w a lifetime warranty, well at least mine did. Plus installing them only takes a few hours every few years. Clutches on the other hand..are alot more. My clutch is slipping now at about 97K and now I gotta get it replaced and am not lookin forward to the labor charges.

 

Ok, when you're braking the ONLY time you need to put in the clutch is RIGHT BEFORE your car stops. The purpose is so you don't stall. Besides that it doesn't matter. Putting in your clutch while braking the entire time is burning your clutch and is basically like being in neutral so why not put it in neutral so you don't wear down the clutch. And when you go around a corner why not just down shift to second before the corner, since you should be going slow anyway, and then you don't have to ride the clutch around corners either. The whole point in learn to drive a stick shift well is to keep your car from burning clutches really fast.