Correct Usage of Clutch While Braking?

[Highway Ranger]

Originally Posted by autosafari

I always start moving in 2nd gear now (may be because Manza is pulling well). Also started moving in 3rd gear sometimes.
Am I straining the engine/clutch too much?

Another practice is negotiating big humps in 3rd gear and applying clutch to maintain the rpm. Many times while doing this I have noticed that the car is not pulling enough and then found out that I forgot to down from 4th to 3rd gear.

Though Manza can move in second, please follow what drivetech4 says.

You go over speed humps on the third?

Here in Bangalore, most of the speed humps are such that we have to shift to first.

[autosafari]

Originally Posted by drivetech4

You should avoid that, what is the purpose of first gear then? It is giving the unnecessary load to the engine and clutch.

You will require to replace the clutch assembly soon.Damage to engine to some extent as well.

Oops!! I changed myself from today.

Originally Posted by Highway Ranger

Though Manza can move in second, please follow what drivetech4 says.

You go over speed humps on the third?

Here in Bangalore, most of the speed humps are such that we have to shift to first.

Speed humps are big here also. Since I am lazy in shifting gear, just apply the clutch and manage to negotiate and still maintain the required rpm.

As advised by you and drivetech, changing myself from now on.

[nickandre]

i kind of use the brakes and clutch the way my dad thought me to
whenever i come near a signal which is coming up i gradually take my foot of the gas and then press the brakes not harsh but gradually so it stops and we dont feel jerks. i have been told its good for the brake pads and doesnt strain it. i only press the clutch when rpms come closer to 1200 rpms. have tried pressing the clutch before the brakes and felt like the car was not in control.
my driving school guy was a nut case made me and every other student use engine braking irrespective of speed. saying using brakes causes damage to the engine use brakes during emergency only. Sheesh wasted a month there my dad thought me better in a week!
would love to know if this is fine or there are better ways

[ilango[speed thirst]]

The title is correct use of clutch while braking.

While braking in the emergency situation , just focus on how to steer away from object and let the right leg press the brakes as hard as needed.

its meant for that hope so .


while approaching a toll , say there is number of vehicles following you, drive in moderate speed , brake near the speed breaker , depress clutch when its near stalling , shift to 1 or 2 as needed , move over.

when approaching a empty toll [means no cars behind you], just put in neutral and slightly brake till the toll.


forget the clutch , brake when needed!!
and clutch when needed!

Simple. is int it ?



And some one said , i remember its freqdude ??? something from noida , ???

to depress and shift hard as much as possible to reverse from 5th @ 140 for emergency braking , with breaking the gear box when there is failure of brakes.

if you have this much time down shift and make the engine stall method.

emergency braking - while driving and brake failure , just switch off the ignition. will break the gearbox , but stops!

[racerdabba]

Originally Posted by freakdude

Very correctly presented buddy.

Let me add another way that can be a life saver. Suppose we are cruising at triple digit speeds and need to stop immediately, so, going the down-shifting way would need lots of time. In such circumstances engage the reverse gear and take foot off the clutch without giving any accelerator input. There would be a massive jerk and a thud and your car would stop almost immediately. Now, DO NOT TRY THIS for the sake of testing it as this is almost certain to break the gearbox (the thud, remember). Shifting to reverse while moving forward would require quite an effort but can be done due to the modern syncro-mesh designs of the gearbox. This method would kill your car's gearbox but would definitely be worth in a life-or-death situation.

freakdude.

Its really impressive how some people can post anything here and get away with it. However much u try, u just cannot engage reverse when u are travelling forward. Not in any way. its not because of some law of physics, but the way gearboxes are engineered. u may yank out the gear lever, but u wont mesh the gears together. the gears are cut in a way that they wont mesh unless stationary. plus reverse doesn't have synchromesh.
The simple fact is that it needs tremendous amount of force and timing to bend the gear shafts just enough to engage them forcefully. Not possible by a human.
I hoped the experts will pull this point, but they didn't. I myself am a Mechanical engg., but i speak as a mechanic who has opened up more cars and engines just for the heck of it. Anyways, if u think this in case of a life-death situation, u'll end up dead.

Originally Posted by freakdude

Would not like to elaborate for obvious reason.
It all happened during a nasty turn taking out a hair pin bend in manali. Me and friends were in Qualis and it was the cab driver who did this and later explained the method to us. As expected gear box broke and all oil spilled on road. God bless him.

freakdude.

Wow, and u made a story about it. unbelievable.
Anybody can try it, at 5,10,15 kmph and u wont be able to engage it. try it.

[freakdude]

Just bring over your car and i'll love to prove it to you. The least expected from a fellow member is to be polite, I guess you skipped your lessons.

[mukeshus]

@ Racerdabba: It's possible to engage reverse when doing 60-70 kmph.
I had witnessed it myself when my mom was driving the car it was in 2001, the car won't move backwards but the reverse horn was making noise.
I wasn't driving that time.

[Highway Ranger]

@ Mukeshus

Can you please elaborate?

You say that the car was moving at 60/70 kmph and Did your mother engage the reverse gear or just move the gear shaft to reverse position with the clutch still pressed. The reason I am asking this is that you have not mentioned what happened to the car - mainly did it stop?

And when you say the car won't move backwards, are you saying the car continued to move forward?

[racerdabba]

As Mukeshus said, the car will keep on moving forward. And even if u let off the clutch, all u will get is a grinding sound. Sometimes u must have felt that reverse is engaged, reverse lyts/music sound and as u let off the clutch, a grinding noise greets u. The reverse lyts, horn are activated by a switch which is activated the moment u put the lever in reverse agte. It doesnt mean the gears are meshed though.

Freakdude- i have tried it many a times with busted GBs which had to be opened up anyway. Unless u drive a rally car with straight cut gears, its just not possible. If u really that confident of proving urself, make a vid of it. I dnt want ppl to blv wat i said. I just said because the info was wrong.

[mukeshus]

Originally Posted by Highway Ranger

@ Mukeshus

Can you please elaborate?

You say that the car was moving at 60/70 kmph and Did your mother engage the reverse gear or just move the gear shaft to reverse position with the clutch still pressed. The reason I am asking this is that you have not mentioned what happened to the car - mainly did it stop?

And when you say the car won't move backwards, are you saying the car continued to move forward?

It was way back in 2001 with our zen,when we saw an hump on Mysore Road, my mom was driving.
She was in 5th gear, while downshifting to 4th she acidentally moved back to reverse gear.
The car was still moving forward, all i could hear was the grinding noise for a moment with reverse sound.
But the gear was not all slotted, when we neared hump, she could slot it to 2nd and we moved forward.

[Highway Ranger]

Thanks for clearing that.

What it means is that the reverse gear was not engaged. The moment your mother heard the grinding noise she would have realized the mistake and corrected it.

I strongly believe it is not possible to engage the reverse gear while moving and trying to do so will breaks the components in the gearbox, possibly leading the the drive shaft to be disconnected from the engine and letting the car move without any control.

[sethumurugan]

Originally Posted by cooldhaya

Very good thread but to be frank i never use engine braking while stopping the car. Say for example if i am approaching a toll booth or a signal which i see before hand , i just put the car to neutral and apply the brakes softly to bring the car to a smooth halt. I know this is not the correct procedure but i got used to this!

I do the same way. In signal If I know I had to wait for more than 50 seconds [ I f I could see the coounter long away, I will even switch of the car when I near the signal]

I was hoping that Fuel consumption might be reduced. Dont know whether it is wierd or not. I was having that kind of thoughts.

[dhruvpandit]

i have doubt about clutch.

suppose, i am driving on a flyover, and i am on the peak of that flyover, now its time to down. is it good to press the clutch and not giving any acc. , car will slide easily from flyover, but is it good for clutch / engine / FE ??

[Highway Ranger]

Originally Posted by sethumurugan

I do the same way. In signal If I know I had to wait for more than 50 seconds [ I f I could see the coounter long away, I will even switch of the car when I near the signal]

Never switch of the engine till you stop at the signal.

If your car has booster brakes and power steering, these will not work, if you face any emergency like someone darting across the road or some such incident.

[sethumurugan]

Originally Posted by Highway Ranger

Never switch of the engine till you stop at the signal.

If your car has booster brakes and power steering, these will not work, if you face any emergency like someone darting across the road or some such incident.

K. I understand. I do not have booster break but yes power windows. I had faced similar kind of problems [ not able to use power windows when suddenly engine gets switched off while taking u-turn or something in a small lane.

But I did not thought in the way you had thought especially in signals.\

Iam sure in future i will not do that.

Thanks