How do you downshift?

[Pete99004]

If properly done, feather the fuel and drop the trans into neutral, lift the RPM's slightly and drop the trans into lower gear. No brakes or clutch required until your at your destination. Hope this helps.

Pete99004

 

[hostler]

When slowing down to a stop I'll use the brakes or compression to slow the vehicle, then I'll down shift one or usually two gears as I'm slowing. Down shifting doesn't burn up enough clutch to be a factor if you also use a little brake to reduce your speed, share the load, brake and down shift, brake and down shift, just like in a big truck.

 

[31FordA]

I owned quite a few manual transmission cars but my real education came when I joined the fire service. We had an International Harvester fire engine, a brand mentioned above. If you missed a shift either going up or down best advice was to stop and just start over! Another consideration is that you will probably have to downshift while climbing a steep hill so best to be practiced at it. Also, if you have to downshift on an icy road if not done properly you may be in the ditch waiting on a tow truck in short order.

I was in Ireland in 2019 and rented a 5 speed manual transmission diesel auto, apparently my Scottish frugality is accepted there. After a couple of days my daughter wanted to drive so she gave it a go, she was probably tired of me scaring her. She did a great job despite her limited experience with a manual transmixer even on the "wrong" side of the road. She was not keen on driving the narrow rural roads though when an oncoming dreadnought lorry or bus would force us into the hedgerows. If you rent a car in Ireland inspect if carefully for "brush burn" as they call it there, a decided absence of paint on the left side of the vehicle. We were in New Zealand the year before and she volunteered to do some driving there also. I was quite content to sit in back and enjoy the scenery and take a bit of a snooze occasionally, it seemed to bother her and her spouse if I enjoyed an occasional nod off while driving.

Put me in mind of the old story; I hope to pass away quietly in my sleep like my Grandfather, unlike the others screaming and yelling in the car he was driving at the time.

On our first trip to Ireland in 2000 I rented a Ford Mondeo with a manual transmission. When we picked it up we did a walk around with the agent from Dan Dooley Rent-A-Car, and my Dad and I started pointing out all the dings and scrapes. The agent finally exclaimed “Ah yes, very good, if ye just brig it back with all the parts attached you’ll be fine”. As we left Dad and I were wondering how people could beat a car up so much, we stopped wondering when we got on the rural roads. When we brought it back the agent walked out, glanced at it briefly, and announced “looks like it’s all there, very good”. Those Mondeo’s were good cars, they were sold over here as the Contour.

Dad never let me drive the whole trip. Every time I asked to drive he told me I was stuck being navigator because with my eyesight I could read the maps without a magnifying glass.

 

[snubbyfan]

I'd usually down shift a coupla gears then hold the clutch in and brake to a stop.

 

[Rustyt1953]