^^ what he said. i only downshift unless i know i need to get moving again. other than that what's the point? maybe i'm just lazy

 

not sure about this car, but by braking with the downshifting, you are able to slow down more quickly. you put resistance in more than one place. I downshift when I need to come to more swift stops.

 

Well if I remember correctly (been driving MT for 9 years but now have an AT Coupe) is that say you're coasting around 40 MPH in 3-4th gear and you're cming to a light, dropping it into 2nd would slow down the car automatically with less brakes. Sure you can throw it into neutral but I think you can conserve your brakes more by downshifting like that.

 

i don't engine or tranny brake... that's what the brakes are for... and they're cheaper to replace than either the engine or tranny...

 

i use my brakes too, but it sounds better when u're coming to a stop and u're downshifting....

 

A little bit on engine braking is ok, as this was taken into account in the engine design. But I would agree that you should be stopping with your brakes, since they are cheaper.

I will typically come to a stop in third, and just pop it into neutral.

Oh, and don't forget, first gear is for starting from a stop, so don't try to downshift into first!

 

I use all my gears w/ the exception of 1st to slow down in conjunction with the brakes...