manual Downshifting

[Mantis88LX]

will manual downshiftin damnage my tranny?

[95AccordEXR]

I wouldn;t say that it hurts the tranny (unless you're bouncing it off the rev limiter or something) but it certainly doesn;t help it. I don;t so it ALL the time or anything.

[hondaisthebest]

Do you mean on a auto tranny?
Like you are at d4 and you put at d3??
If so its depends at what speed you are. If
you are on the highway at 80mph and you switch to d3
i dont thinks your tranny while like that.
Anyways i always do that when i get out of the highway(40mph) and my tranny as over 300 000 miles.

[87accordlx]

i don't think so, just make sure your not at a high rpm when you do it, i downshift all the time in mine from4th to 3rd( mines a stick) at about 3000 rpm

[ACCORD EX]

downshiftin can be good and can fuck up your tranny if you shifted @ wrong rpms ! so it needs experience !

MIKE

[Jdub07]

If you drive an auto I wouldn't ever downshit...the car does this all on its own. If you drive stick (in my opinion) you aren't driving properly if you aren't downshiting. Reaction time is better, it's more fun and if done right I doubt it hurts much of anything.

[Mantis88LX]

mines auto

[TeKKnoTeKK]

Originally posted by Jdub07
If you drive stick (in my opinion) you aren't driving properly if you aren't downshiting.

But I feel bad for the guy that is behind you, that may leave quite a mess for them to clean up

[accordlx]

Downshifting is bad for both kinds of transmissions. It's bad for automatics because automatics were not made to downshift in our cars and it causes extreme hydraulic pressures inside the tranny.

Manual downshifting should not be done only if done properly. 90% of people do not downshift properly. Transmissions are made to speed cars up, not slow them down. (at least in our cars.) This is why we have brakes. Is it easier and cheaper to replace a set of brakes in your car or is it easier and cheaper to replace a transmission. You make the call.

[locknload68]

I'd say it'll put a lot of un-needed wear on your engine and it's mounts(unless you match RPMs).

When I'm coming to a stop in mine, I just leave it in the gear that it is in with my foot off the gas and then start pressing the brakes.

[Jdub07]

Originally posted by TeKKnoTeKK


But I feel bad for the guy that is behind you, that may leave quite a mess for them to clean up

My brake lights still work so the guy behind me I hope would be paying attention to that. I agree that using your transmission to slow to a complete stop is terrible for your tranny and could cause acidents. But to use it in conjunction with the brakes I see no problem in that. In my opinion useing only the brakes to stop, one would have to get new brakes quite frequently...and I agree with accordlx most people don't down shift correctly and a lot of people down shift through ALL gears which I feel is uneccessary. Everyones has different driving styles. I for one have the original tranny with 200,000+ miles on it and downshift about 85% of the time. I feel our hondas were the "Built Tough" cars!

hatchback

[TeKKnoTeKK]

Originally posted by Jdub07
If you drive stick (in my opinion) you aren't driving properly if you aren't downshiting.

Hmmm...guess you guys aren't seing the humor here! Infact, it would leave more than a mess, it may require some disinfectant :p

[Jdub07]

hey your right...poor fella

[A20A1]

I dunno I drop it in second gear @ 55 mph or so, and things are great... I have 2 B&M trans coolers and my little valve train mods

Oh I added some B&M trick shift fluid to the tans oil but not that much, the bottle is still half full.



I like downshifting next to nice cars... just to get a reaction.

[A20A1]

Oh and I highly suggest downshifting to decelerate... at 120 mph or more if you try and use just brakes it takes too long or if you stop too quickly you could lose control, and wear out the brakes.

[CoAsTeR]

I have had my brakes done a couple times now and the mechanic at the dealership said to me....

"Its better to downshift and let the motor/tranny do the braking than it is to just ride the brakes because the transmission is alot stronger and will last ALOT longer than your brakes ever will"

so as long as you dont stick it in the red on a downshift, I'm sure you're okay..... engine braking is alot cheaper than replacing pads every couple miles.. then again, I'm pretty hard on my brakes............

[A20A3Power]

i downshifted all the time....and thats why my first tranny went (the second tranny ever in that car...my friend who owned it blew it up the first time...)..since i learned how to drive altogether on a stick, i can say for myself that i downshift very well...i can sit back after quite a long time driving this car...and when i do downshift...can i always match revs to within 100-200 rpm of each other...sometimes right on the money....doing that....the tranny still takes abuse, but much less of it. The only tranny i used to not match revs on was my old Trooper..that clutch..from the factory was built tough, but then again...it never did past 60mph most of the time.
When i beat on the tranny...that is, racing it on a twisy road and what not, i got a little carried away(mostly i think the straight pipe and the muffler contributed to it because up top it sounded all racey like) and downshifted like it was a freaking Touring Car, and did little or no rev matching at all, to slow the car down a bit for the turns. On my favorite stretch of road..the tranny gave out finally...from all that abuse...so dont ever downshift unless u know what ur doing.....just put it in neutral and use the brakes...