just a quick question

i got a 2010 honda fit s AT

i never owned a stick shift car of my own before, but i do know how to drive one. I normally just downshift to second gear and come to a stop stop; my question is, is it safe to downshift to first gear for engine breaking when you are around 15-20mph?

I tried it a couple times and it doesn't jerk or anything, it stops pretty smoothly; i'm just asking because i don't want to screw up the tranny

thanks

 

I think you are going to get various opinions. Mine is don't bother. Engine breaking is overrated and 1st gear is not the place to do it anyway. I mean, how much stress are you putting on your brakes at 15 mph anyway?

I pesrsonally don't shift down to engine brake. I will let the gear I am in (say third, for example) slow the car down as much as it will but I don't shift down specifically to slow the car. Once I am down tp about 10-15mph (or if the revs get too low) I just lay the clutch down and shift to whatever gear I think I'll need next (neutral for a stop, 2nd to continue at a slow pace, etc).

Edit: I just re-read your post and now I'm not sure if you drive a MT or not. My comments are for a MT.

 

The op has an AT... so, why bother?

Let the car down shift for you... It will do it.

Forcing it won't help, because you have the torque converter absorbing much of the force anyway.

Forcing engine braking is only worth it on an MT.

 

In the AT, if it lets you, it's safe. Period. The 'nanny' PCM will never let you stall or overrev.

 

I've never tried it on my GE8, but it should let you. Just don't be in 2nd year near the redline when you do.

 

I agree with the second post about the risk vs reward. You will ruin your engine/tranny which would cost you bigger bucks than the very small amount of money you're saving off your brakes. If someone did the math engine braking might squeak out a few thousand miles which would equal pennies in cost compared to how much quicker you are putting wear and tear on the rest of the engine and tranny and torque converter thingy ( I always buy MT) and those will not cost pennies to replace and youre gonna be replacing them a lot quicker than the amount of time you saved on your brakes.

 

^^^ Brake pads are a hekuva lot easier and cheaper to replace than transmissions. Leave it in Drive and let the auto do it's job by itself.

 

For the love of vtec! The transmission is not going to wear out from downshifting/engine braking. Also you can't downshift from redline in 2nd gear to 1st gear. the pcm will not allow it, it will just flash the gear number at you and stay in the higher gear. THE PCM WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DAMAGE THE TRANSMISSION. (for sport models w/ paddle shifter anwyay. I don't know if the base model has any shift logic programmed in)

 

How would you even shift in a base model AT?

 

listen to lyon...jesus.........

some people with their advices......

 

This topic got heated rather quickly.

I personally don't engine brake in my MT... But that's only because I never learned to, too lazy.

I tried messing with it... I can't do it in lower gears.

 

Ditto. So long as this is the A/T Sport you'll be fine.

A Base A/T is a different story, they don't have the same type of valve body as the Sport and you can put unneeded wear on the transmission once you upshift back into 2 or any other forward gear selection.

 

Bingo.

Though some of the more serious performance oriented DSG cars will do it regardless if it is a good idea. Like the kind with little manettino steering wheel switches that say exciting things like "race"

I would be curious to learn more about this!

Downshifting first and second even when the TCU will allow probably creates a good deal of heat, base or sport.

 

I picked up an emergency towing accessory that works well as a theft deterrent.... The thing weighs 65 pounds and is half Border Collie and half Australian Blue Healer...He's not as hyper as Ringo or as agile but he is stout and very entertaining....This cross mix is referred to as a Cow dog and my wife even likes him .... He listens well enough that she plans on taking him for an off lead walk in the morning... IF he wasn't neutered he wouldn't be manageable but he catches on to commands very well is ok indoors and stays close in the woods..... I think we may be able hunt wild boar.

 

thanks for the advice everyone i normally don't redline my car so downshifting at redline isn't an issue with me. I usually use downshifting to stroll towards a redlight so i can just take off once it turns green. When i leave it in D and let it downshift on its own, it does not slow down fast enough and im forced to brake towards the red light anyway.

I live near LA so there are a ton of stop signs and traffic lights; I try to use downshifting to keep my car moving instead of braking and gassing all the time.

Thanks again for all the advice!

 

Same here, I first got wind of this from my service tech at Honda. I'll ask him more about this whenever I see him.

 

There should be no need to downshift into first unless you are rolling in traffic at a few miles per hour in second and need to gun it, but I have a manual - which gets rev matched 90% of the time, and downshifted every time I start braking for a corner.

 

agree with everyone here. engine/tranny is expensive fix and or replace. brake pads are cheap. don't bother with engine braking and just use the brakes instead. not sure how this topic is even debatable.

 

Geez!! It is called an Automatic for a reason. If you want to downshift all the time get a Manual.

 

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.