engine braking won't that much wear on the car like you mentioned. I haven't heard of anyone braking their gearbox, driveshafts or rear axles from engine braking alone; unless they don't know how to do it correctly. Slipping the clutch will put alot more wear on the car though. maybe thats what youre referring to?

I mean, i guess it puts strain on the gearbox.

Just like starting your car in the morning puts strain on your engine.

Weird take

@Bodalenko
I don't know what you are thinking when talking about this or your driving style, but a little blip toe-heel every downshift , saves a lot of stress to the clutch , since you match better the revs between flywheel and transmission and the clutch slips less between gears

Of course it wastes a bit more fuel compared to doing nothing and let the rpm drop when you release the accelerator and then engage the clutch without any rev matching by your side. But fuel consumption has too many variables and depends on many things

I'll keep my driving style and I never even have replaced a clutch in my life yet, you can keep your driving style of letting the clutch slips super hard to brake the car and downshift

Downshifting without rev matching puts stress on the gearbox so don’t kid yourself that engine braking is ok however that depends on the rev difference of the downshift.

Yeah i guess FR-S2GT86 is gonna have to clarify how he engine brakes because the only times i've smelled clutch is when i have to reverse uphill and slip it just a bit too much. That's on me but the reverse gear ratio is a bit too tall in this car sometimes.

remove the spring on the clutch pedal and you will gain a heap of sensitivity to the grab point and you'll drive better and clutch will slip a lot less

This. The driving experience was vastly improved after I removed that.

I thought I explained it pretty well but I'll elaborate.

Whenever I'm slowing down with the intent of coming to a stop, I'm downshifting and letting the clutch act as a third brake. I'm not rev matching when doing this. I specifically did NOT want the Race ROM auto-blip feature because it will interfere with my intent on using the engine to brake.

This DOES cause extra wear and tear on the clutch components, and to some extent the transmission and rear differential, and I am fully aware if it.

One other thing that may be causing the burnt clutch smell is that the concrete of my garage is about two inches higher than the gravel driveway, which is at the top of a slight hill, so when pulling the car into the garage, I have to come in at a slight angle and slip the clutch a bit in order to get up onto the concrete slab without doing a Ferris Bueller out the back wall of the garage.

That's probably the most slippage that I ever put the clutch through whenever it's driven, and the usual time that the smell is most noticable.

And I don't ride the clutch, ever, during normal driving.

I've gotten into the habit lately of dropping from Map #4, which in my tune is full power, down to Map #2 which Zach and I worked to have much less engine output and throttle response, to make it a bit easier to get into the garage now.

Map #2 has been created and is mainly set aside for when my old lady decides that it's time for her to re-learn how to drive a manual transmission. Map #3 increases the engine output and throttle response a bit more than Map #2 to allow her to gradually get more comfortable with driving it until she's ready for full power on Map #4.

Map #1 is Map #2 with the addition of lower rev limits and a low top speed of 80 mph, otherwise known as valet mode.

I may try that at some point.