Click and Clack are wrong....I think.

I was listening today and a woman called in with a question. She was being told that she was driving her car wrong. When she is going to be coming to a stop she puts the manual trans in neutral and coasts to a stop. Her friend said she should downshift through the gears. Tom and Ray agreed with her, but they said you should not do that if you are coasting from anything above about 30 mph. Why would that make a difference? The only thing I can think of is that, maybe some transmissions have a oil pump powered by the input shaft. Maybe they are thinking that oil volume would be low since the engine is at idle, but the rear bearings are spinning at road speed??

What do you guys think?

YOu should always be in gear to respond to an emergency situation in case you need to get back on the gas. The go go pedal doesn't work very well for vehicle speed control when you're in neutral.

Coming up to a red light I have never found myself needing to speed up in order to avoid something. I don't shift into neutral and then close my eyes, I am very aware of what's coming up. I love timing it so that I roll up on cars stopped at the light right as they start to move, never having to come to a complete stop myself.

I have found them to be grossly off-base on a number of occasions, to the point where I can't listen to the show without becoming infuriated anymore. I just end up looking like a fool in the Supra, screaming "IT'S THE GODDAMN MOTOR MOUNTS YOU IDIOTS" at my radio with the windows up...

In regards to the specific question posed by this thread, my grandmother always said the same thing...but brakes are a lot cheaper and easier than clutches, so I'll only downshift through the gears if I am trying to slow down FAST and then accelerate again.

Now, are we talking about going through and engaging the clutch in every gear as we're slowing down? That seems like a lot of additional clutch wear.

Nah, coast up to the light in what ever gear you are in. In traffic you will most like be in second or third anyway. After the stop, put the box in neutral, foot off the clutch. Saves wear on the TO bearing and crank thrust bearing, plus left leg.

Plenty of time to get into first gear when the light changes.

So Click & Clack were wrong.

I agree that the vehicle should remain in gear while decelerating. Proper application of heel-toe and double declutching will ensure that you are in a gear that will provide useful engine braking or acceleration, if needed.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Coming up to a red light I have never found myself needing to speed up in order to avoid something. I don't shift into neutral and then close my eyes, I am very aware of what's coming up. I love timing it so that I roll up on cars stopped at the light right as they start to move, never having to come to a complete stop myself.

THIS! I get an embarrassing amount of personal satisfaction from doing exactly what you're talking about.

And, I really have to stretch plausibility to think of scenarios where I'd need my piddling 1.5L motor to get me out of trouble where the brakes and steering wouldn't!

Unless I planned on not coming to a full stop I usually put it in neutral and coasted unless it was a heavy truck where getting into a gear was going to be difficult.

Use the brakes to stop. Not the clutch and transmission. Engine compression in most gears is more effective than a neutral coast.

They're always wrong, regardless. :D

Unless the situation calls for something else, I always throw it in neutral and let it roll when heading up to a light I know will be red or a stop sign. It takes about .75 seconds to throw it back in gear if I need to. Going down through the gears every single time just adds up more wear and tear on almost everything. As previously mentioned, it's nice when you can plan ahead and never have to bring the car to a full stop. Basic physics dictates an object in motion tends to stay in motion, etc, etc.

Wouldn't be the first time. Also, you do realize you are disagreeing with a rerun, right? They have been off the air since 2012.

Click and Clack are frequently wrong.

I find this an interesting topic.

When coming to a stop, I usually downshift and use the engine to slow down. I am so used to it that I don't feel comfortable without shifting through the gears even if I'm holding the clutch down.

On another note, I wish i was running the camera at the time, but not long ago, I think I would have been involved in a wreck not long ago if I wasn't downshifting to slow down. A car from the opposite direction hit a vehicle, swerving within inches of me. If I didn't slow down and turn, I would have been hit. I feel like hitting the brakes wouldn't allow me to move the same way. Just a knee jerk reaction, so I don't think I'll be changing any time soon.

The pie chart sums it up. I never could stand those guys and their constant cackling.

I should stop laughing on air...

I may be one of the few people who enjoyed the laughing. It just sounded like they were having a great time making the show. Sure, I've yelled at them too, but that's usually in the garage where very few people can see me yelling at the radio. Never stop laughing, it might be infectious.

My cars and bikes are always in gear when stopped at a light or stop sign. On the bike I downshift through each gear. In cars I leave it in gear and drop it down to first when I'm rolling slow enough. Everyone is trying to kill you out there.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

I think there is a fine balance.

Didn't even read the question. Of course they are wrong. They always are.

nicksta43 wrote: My cars and bikes are always in gear when stopped at a light or stop sign. On the bike I downshift through each gear. In cars I leave it in gear and drop it down to first when I'm rolling slow enough. Everyone is trying to kill you out there.

That way if you get bumped from behind, you slip off the clutch, lurch forward into cross traffic, and get T-boned by a passing truck right after your engine stalls from aforementioned idle clutch dump.

bgkast wrote: Wouldn't be the first time. Also, you do realize you are disagreeing with a rerun, right? They have been off the air since 2012.

Yeah, but I haven't heard every episode, so most are new to me. I'm just glad they are still on.

In reply to Knurled:

Nope