How do you slow down????

[Unknownsoldier]

Just a wonder, how do people on here slow down? And how were you taught?

I was taught to brake then change gear once the desired speed was achieved, however it IMHO wastes fuel and unnecessarily wears your brakes, it also causes everyone behind you to brake as well. My friend was taught to 'slam' the anchors on then change gear, yet for his car that isn't correct, even though the instructor says it is, his car has no ABS or servo assisted brakes, just 'foot-power', braking to slow down is not practical whereas careful feathering of the accelerator, looking ahead and careful use of the gears is far superior for his car (and IMHO for every other car). I use the latter method and have never had a problem, my brakes last longer, don't overheat, and I have never worn out a gearbox or clutch, it is also better IMO in icy weather as you never attempt to brake the wheel, you just slow gradually and safely.

So who was taught how? Why are we taught it?

Tom

[FWH]

Unless driving "actively" I try not to touch the brakes.

[dave87]

I was taught the former, use the latter, stems from the bike where any shift in weight/grip could have you off in the winter - ergo it is better to be smooth.

Just a habit that my father (RoSPA Gold) is trying to dissuade me sighting "Gears are for going, Brakes are for slowing".

[Pottsy]

When you watch someone drive, you can normally tell how far ahead they are thinking. You can get a smooth and efficient drive just by looking ahead and adjusting your speed accordingly. I'm sure Bungle will pop on and offer his pro advice.

[Unknownsoldier]

Same here by my instructor and I disagree heavily with that sighting coming up to a roundabout as a good example, use the gear to approach smoothly, check what is coming then you should be in the correct gear to continue in one smooth motion.

I agree with the Bike aspect too, I find my grip on ice better than those who brake constantly as you say when you do weight and grip shifts.

Originally Posted by Pottsy

When you watch someone drive, you can normally tell how far ahead they are thinking. You can get a smooth and efficient drive just by looking ahead and adjusting your speed accordingly. I'm sure Bungle will pop on and offer his pro advice.

Definately, my GF was taught none of this, and was none too impressed when I gave her the police drivers handbook to read LOL. Pretty much to slow down is brake, to speed up is change gear accelerate, her driving is rather bumpy tbh, however she is still learning (even having passed her test, we all know that the 'driving' to pass your test, really doesn't work in the real world.....) She is afraid to rev her engine (not even knowing what RPM were), she knew nothing of skid prevention/rectification, nor how to use gears to reduce speed where necessary, seems she was taught none of it, even to the point of not knowing how to cope if your ABS fails. Not her fault surely the fault of the instructor/system???

Tom

[Pottsy]

It's tragic really - but then it all boils down to cost. A one hour mandatory session on a skid pan would be useful for a start, and I'm sure this thing about braking came from the original (good) idea that when you need to slow down you should use the brakes (which are designed for the job and are replaceable) rather than strain the clutch and gearbox. But the extension of this, where you obviate the requirement to slam on by simply looking and thinking well ahead (and keeping the correct distance from the car in front) has been omitted.

[ViBe]

I was taught to slow down using a combination of brakes and gears. Always pressing atleast a bit on the brake light if you are slowing down so to turn the brake lights on and alert anyone behind you that you are slowing down, but to use the gears and enginge to to the most of the work. Dont know what kind of effect this will have on the wear of the gearbox, only had the car for a year so far and my last car was an automatic.

[Pottsy]

It depends on how you change down. If you are keeping the engine at mid revs for maximum flexibility (like you should - read the coppers book) then using the clutch "normally" causes the clutch slip to accelerate the engine for each down change. This wears the clutch.

However, if you double de-clutch (with heel/toe if you are braking) then there is no wear on the clutch at all.

[Unknownsoldier]

Originally Posted by Pottsy

It's tragic really - but then it all boils down to cost. A one hour mandatory session on a skid pan would be useful for a start, and I'm sure this thing about braking came from the original (good) idea that when you need to slow down you should use the brakes (which are designed for the job and are replaceable) rather than strain the clutch and gearbox. But the extension of this, where you obviate the requirement to slam on by simply looking and thinking well ahead (and keeping the correct distance from the car in front) has been omitted.

Agreed observation (proper observation not just turn your head towards the mirrors so you look like your doing it ), seems to be left out now, and actually taking in what you see seems to have got lost..... as with my cousin where "mirror-signal-manouevre" was a command, and not a series of instructions requiring independent thought..... the guy coming past at the time got a shock. I educated myself in what skids etc. felt like and found a large (around 1/2 an acre) frozen empty car park and slung my car round it for half an hour, to get a feeling of how to rectify skids etc. so as I knew what to do should it happen.

Interesting the DI that I know all say use your brakes yet no one seems to follow this advice.....

Tom

[Unknownsoldier]

Originally Posted by Pottsy

It depends on how you change down. If you are keeping the engine at mid revs for maximum flexibility (like you should - read the coppers book) then using the clutch "normally" causes the clutch slip to accelerate the engine for each down change. This wears the clutch.

However, if you double de-clutch (with heel/toe if you are braking) then there is no wear on the clutch at all.

Something else that is negated to be mentioned nowadays heel to toe/double de-clutching. Also why is it not necessary to know how a car works now to drive one, surely you should understand the vehicle you are driving?

Tom

[dylang652]

My children (now 23 and 26) were tuaght to brake then change gear, and I have always argued against it!

My DI taught me to always be in the correct gear for the speed which means changing down as you decelerate, it also means that if you are approaching a junction/roundabout and a gap appears you are already in a postion to accelerate, i.e. not have to change gear before you can do it.

I have also found that Brake Pads last far longer if you avoid using them

Anyway, I have always regarded brakes as being there for emergencies/final stopping only!

[Unknownsoldier]

Originally Posted by dylang652

My children (now 23 and 26) were tuaght to brake then change gear, and I have always argued against it!

My DI taught me to always be in the correct gear for the speed which means changing down as you decelerate, it also means that if you are approaching a junction/roundabout and a gap appears you are already in a postion to accelerate, i.e. not have to change gear before you can do it.

I have also found that Brake Pads last far longer if you avoid using them

Anyway, I have always regarded brakes as being there for emergencies/final stopping only!

Exactly! Glad someone else agrees, my GF (and me for that fact) were taught to brake then change gear, rather than to constantly be in the correct gear for our speed, surely the wear and tear involved in this is evened out by the wear and tear of not being in the correct gear for your speed????

Tom

[NeoFlare]

I hit that big switch next to my Start button which deploys the parachute from the back license plate which then sends a beacon to my plane thats always flying behind me to then send a crane down to attach my civic to it to hoist me into the air thus rendering me from slowing down and avoiding all corners.

[Wheelchair]

I thought you'd put 'rear-end the car in front to stop!'

[NeoFlare]

Well it wasnt there in the poll to choose

My instructor taught me to brake, change gear to match speed and keep doing that till I was at proper speed and right gear to get through roundabout what ever, then sometimes tried to teach me, just slow down till your at junction and dont change gear till you know what gear and you have to go into or something like that.

[Woette]

I always try to use the gears a smuch as possible for slowing down. Especially with the winter conditions and my summer michelin tyres this is a must.
Offccourse as fwh said, when you want things to move a bit faster then you use the brakes, but as a passenger i find it very annoying to be in a car with a driver that constantly brakes hard and accelaretes hard, i gives me a very insecure feeling.

[J. Derek Riddell]

My driving school instructor (in @ MCMDXXIII) preached the "use the brake" technique, irrespective of situation \ context ...

My Father (ex-Army driver) would actually slap me on the head (same year) if I had to use the brakes because I didn't adequately anticipate the behaviour of the traffic in front ! ...

So, I rarely use (or try to rarely use) the brakes when driving on the 'open road' ... but ... the best thing he ever did ...

Was to teach me the "if in doubt, both feet out" technique ... that is, in an emergency, change down 2 gears and and brake at the same time ...

Astonishing "-G" forces can be attained ... and it saved me from potentially serious \ fatal situations at least twice in my life ...

[katsock]

Well ... going back 20 years (omig how old am I ) when I first started to learn to drive, my sister took me out once and never again. Our main dispute was over this very issue. I'd been taught to brake to a stop for a junction where I knew I was going to have to stop, and then select first after coming to a halt. She had been taught (10 years previous to me) to change down the gears gradually, while braking (the both feet out method from the message above?)

If I were not approaching a junction with a solid white line, red traffic lights, stop sign, or other indication that a complete stop was necessary, I was taught to brake to the desired speed and then select the appropriate gear (2nd advised) to be ready to either stop and select 1st or move off if the road was clear.

I suspect that nowadays this level of detail is considered too much and therefore there appears to be an increase of the 'scream up to the junction at top speed and then slam on the anchors to stop on a sixpence' approach.

Given that I actually only passed about 9 years ago (for a variety of reasons, only a minor one being that I had crap co-ordination as a 17-yo and another major one being that examiners of the time weren't exactly conducive to a calm and enjoyable drive), I can't remember what I was taught then - so can only assume that what I remembered or how I matured meant that my braking/slowing was fine enough not to excite comment.

Eventually seeing the wisdom of my sister's (and, latterly, Evo-boy's) method I try to use a mix of approaches (apart from the last one mentioned), dependent on road conditions and signage.

[Bungle]

Always the first method. Simply put, brakes are designed to take the huge forces and energy of slowing down a moving car and are there to be replaced as needed.

Clutches/gearboxes are a lot more expensive to repair, and believe me, using gears to slow you down puts huge wear on them.

[Woette]

Originally Posted by Bungle

Clutches/gearboxes are a lot more expensive to repair, and believe me, using gears to slow you down puts huge wear on them.

I am sure there will be some wear on the gearbox/clutch using the second method but if i read on this forum that the 2.2 can be remapped to a max of 198 BHP and still the clutch can take it, i seriously doubt the wear is as big as you mention and on the upside, the second method really saves you quite an amount of fuel so you win your money back in a certain way.
Wear on clutches is mostly down to getting off with a slipping clutch or just letting the clutch bang in when taking off.
That said, everyone has their own style