Manual Downshifting to 1st Gear

[jdubious]

My car won't really downshift into first until its warmed up. Then there is a low speed sweet spot where it pops right in. Personally I like to have it in 1st gear right before I come to a complete stop in case the light suddenly changes or something. Teach yourself to downshift smoothly through the gears, it will become second nature. Don't rely on just brakes or downshifting, use a combination of both. The trick is to come to a stop as smoothly as possible. If you can master that there is no need to worry about wearing out parts prematurely, you can get your better mileage and keep your options open at all times.

If you are wearing out your clutch noticeably faster by downshifting....you aren't doing it right. If you constantly drive your car hard expect to replace parts of all kinds.

in 21 years of driving i've never owned an automatic nor have i ever worn out a clutch. I've done plenty of stupid shit in my early years and have had a couple of vehicles with over 200k. Personally, I think the clutch wear argument is as invalid as the brake wear one.

[ZXTT95]

Originally Posted by root

Actually I think our automatic Yaris does this. I've been wondering if theres inclinometers and some magic going on as sometimes ill notice on a decline and I just tap the brakes it'll downshift. Need to tap the brakes though, if I just coast it'll go along at current gear.

My MDX does something like this, and it certainly seems like engine braking to me. With MT, however, I would in almost all cases rely on brakes only.