Proper Way of Using Engine Brake...

[Ibaloi]

Like wiretap_MD, I have been engine braking practically everyday (I live in and around Baguio), tap on the brakes, shift to a lower gear and let the gears do the work, specially on descents. My clutch disk hasn't been replaced since I bought my vehicle years ago, so I can attest that it is perfectly safe to use engine braking as often as you want. Now if only I can install an exhaust brake, it would be better!

[rsnald]

i read about this engine braking thing noon pa, and I've been using it both for highway driving and descending steep descents, I only use the brake if necessary. sa diesel mas malakas ang engine brake effect kesa sa gas ( I think). Mas malaki kasi ang cylinder sizes so I guess mas malakas yung stopping force since you have to compress a bigger volume of air/fuel and mas mataas yung compression ratio. ewan lang kung valid yung explanation na yon :confused:

pinakamatindi kong nakitang mag-engine brake, yung boss ko when I was with him one time in his Nissan Safari. We were going southbound via SLEX, shet, di sya masyado gumagamit ng preno, from 110kph ibabagsak nya speed to 60-80 using engine brake lang. di naman masyado umiingay engine nya. from what I heard, di pa naman sya nasiraan ng clutch so I guess it safe to do. Nung sinubukan ko gayahin sa xwind ko in city driving, di pwede. masyado maingay 4JA1 engine pag nag downshift saka lumakas fuel consumption ko.

[fierari]

kung mejo hataw ka mag drive sa city driving kailangan ang engine brake circuit racing ba. kung titipid sa gas tapos anticipated ko yung mga stop neutral lang gamit ko konting preno. laki ng natitipid ko.

[Wolverine]

If I may add my 2 cents..... Firstly, I presume when you are asking about engine braking, you are actually describing downshifting into a lower gear. If so, here are the facts:
1. Down shifting does not add any wear on the clutch because the clutch is not engaged when you have already down shifted. In fact, there is hardly any wear on the clutch at all as you down shift because you are not loading the clutch since your foot will not be depressing the accelerator (different story if you are circuit racing and doing a heel/toe manuever.

2. As long as your engine speed (RPM) is not excessive. Which means it is not beyond redline, you will not wear out or hurt your connecting rods or any internal components. Maliban nalang kung magkamali ka ng downshift from 5th into 2nd at high speed. (Walang gamot sa katangahan pag ganyan).

3. It is always advisable to use the engine brake more than your footbrake on general road conditions because the vehicle is always more controllable when you are decreasing speed through your gears rather than through your brakes. It is a known fact that it is harder to steer a vehicle into the proper direction when the brakes are being applied.

4. The concept of placing the vehicle in neutral as you decelerate gains you very little in fuel efficiency but has the potential of diminishing your absolute control on the vehicle's speed and orientation. Find your gas savings elsewhere! Remember that as you downshift (e.g. before reaching an intersection) even if you are in gear, you wont be stepping on the gas so what consumption are you trying to improve?

Having said all of this, perhaps you will consider the use of the engine brake on more occassions. As it should be the case anyway. Hope this helps.

[Wolverine]

By the way, A/T's do not have the same immediacy of engine brake as a manual because it courses through a torque converter. In the situation of an A/T, talagang mas madalas gamitin ang preno dahil hindi naman kasing effective ang engine break even if you shift to 2 or low. There is a noticeable lag before the gear engages and this may not be quick enough for the situation at hand.

[kimpOy]

in one way or the other we use engine braking even turning and shifting into low gear, you feel the braking effect.

in going steep hill, it's just a helper para di masyado mas stress out ang brake pads.

[pajerokid]

Originally posted by wiretap_md
Engine braking means downshifting to a gear lower, not merely removing your foot from the accelerator pedal. In effect, you use the revs of the lower gear to which you downshifted to help you slow down your vehicle.

Ah, I see. I dont engine brake then. :D

[Bubbles]

With the size of my car, I have to engine brake. from 100 to 10 minsan engine brake lang ako. I've driven my GenI home from tagatay Na sira ang brakes. Engine brake then hand brake to stop completely.

[Paulo]

HeLLo,

May I kindly know what are the proper application of "Engine Brake?"

Ano ba ang tama?

Kindly share your knowledge...

[coiter]

From what i've read and experienced, engine braking is done only during extreme and/or lengthy downhill drives and/or situations where braking may not be enough to stop/slow down the vehicle or even be more dangerous. It's meant to assist the brakes during downhill drives and prevent the latter from overheating which could lead to loss of stopping power. In cases like driving on a wet road and entering a sharp curve at speed, and w/o the benefit of abs, engine braking helps in slowing down your vehicle w/o the risk of wheel lock. It's not meant to stop or slow down the vehicle on a regular basis since it increases the wear and tear of the clutch and fuel consumption. hope this helps.

[Karding]

you wont wear your clutch if you 'rev-match' when doing the engine brake. Riding the clutch for too long when performing an engine brake is the common mistake drivers make. By doing this, drivers tend to use the clutch as a brake and or at the same time with the brake pedal. REV-MATCH and you wont have to ride the clutch longer and performing REV-MATCH will make it easier for your engine and, tranny.

And yes, fuel consumption will be affected (if you do it often)

Quikie info on REV-MATCH:

the simplest thing to do is just blip the throttle
basically say your in 4th and you wonna shift to 3rd
clutch in, step on the gas half way ish (after a while you'll get a feel for it) and release the clutch
that way when you downshift it'll be easier on the tranny plus the ride will be smoother.

When going to lower gear, clutch in, throttle to appropriate 'rev-match' according to which gear you are going into, release clutch.

You usually do this when you're about to do a turn or something, or when significantly decreasing speed - rev-match is used to keep the ride smooth and apply less strain on the transmission, engine, blah blah blah. (so it don't jerk so much, get it?)

[bmdj]

Di ba siya makakasira kung palagi kang nag eengine brake? (".)

[Karding]

nakaka sira ng alin? kaya nga mag rev-match ka para smoother ang tranny engagement pati engine smoother.

[pissword]

pero pag d mo sya ma rev-match and everytime mag engine break ka tataas around 3K rpm or so, gas engine... d ba nakakasira?? or wala ba ibang effect ito?

hehe try ko kasi downhill from tagaytay eh medyo mabilis ata takbo ko kaya pag downshift ko umakyat and mararamdaman mo tlaga un pagbagal..tnx

[Karding]

Originally posted by pissword
pero pag d mo sya ma rev-match and everytime mag engine break ka tataas around 3K rpm or so, gas engine... d ba nakakasira?? or wala ba ibang effect ito?

hehe try ko kasi downhill from tagaytay eh medyo mabilis ata takbo ko kaya pag downshift ko umakyat and mararamdaman mo tlaga un pagbagal..tnx

kung d mo sya ma rev-match, wag ka na mag engine brake dahil masisira lang makina or tranny mo. Too much strain kung hindi ka mag rev-match, pansin mo lakas ng kadyot ng auto kapag mabilis ka then engine brake tapos di ka nag REV-MATCH? kung mag engine brake ka naman na gagamitin mo ang clutch to go easy, masusunog at mangangamoy ang clutch mo.

Another misconception, isa kong tropa mahilig mag down shift kapag hihinto pero hindi naman nya binibitawan ang clutch at ang kambyo nya from 5th, punta ng 4th then 3rd then 2nd, simultaneous yon. Tinanong ko sya kung bakit nya ginagawa yun, sabi nya engine brake daw. Paano ka kakong mag engine brake eh d mo binibitawan ang clutch?! Ginagamit nya ang clutch at the same time with the brake pedal. Kako, hindi ganyan ang engine brake, rev-match saka ka mag down shift. yun ang tamang rev-match...

[pissword]

haha..kakatawa naman yan katropa mo. ay ako po binibitawan ko un clutch kaya bumabagal tlaga un sasakyan and kaya umaangat naman un rpm ko.. hehe d ko kasi matancha un speed ko sa rpm ko eh.. and madalas ko nagagawa kasi engine break muna bago ako mag break tlaga.. dapat ba sabay iyon para mas smooth at the same time eh rev match?) papractice ko nalang po yan sir karding at least now alam ko masama pag ganun nangyari. tnx

[wrecker]

ako i usually use it pag pababa sa mga multi-level parking and downhill driving

[pissword]

yeap ganun din yun gawa ko..pero d ganun kabagal ang engine break sa gas dba? compare sa diesel, mabilis pa din bumaba un sa gas engines eh hehe.. hirap lang tlaga ako pag un tumatakbo medyo mabilis then engine brake d ko kaya smooth.

[Karding]

ok lang kung tataas ang RPM, ganun talaga yun. Wag lang biglang bigla **wrenggg weng weng wenggg**

konting praktis talaga, nakapagpraktis naman ako masyado sa pag downshift kahit na hindi pababa. Mas maganda hatak ng car from 5th to 3rd at kailangan talagang rev-match para pasok ang kambyo. maganda rin when coming out of the turns, rev-match and downshift.


ganito ang rev-match ko:
clutch-in, shift to neutral at the same time blip throttle, then downshift. all these happens simultaneously and fast. sometimes kailangan ng dalawang blip sa throttle to get to your ideal higher RPM.

blip throttle ang kailangan mong makasanayan and know the ideal rev-speed.

mahirap yata yung sa multi-level na pababa mag engine brake. di yata maiiwasan na medyo mababad sa clutch para smoother ang engagement. kse kung mag blip ka pa, baka mabangga mo na nasa harapan :hihihi:

[kinyo]

i remember seeing pics on the net ... about some honda owner running high speed on 5th gear and mistakenly downshifted to 2nd gear instead on 4th, which of course is effectively an engine brake to the extreme ... ayun, nawasak ang makina nya

i believe engine braking should not be a habit during normal driving ... it only wears out parts unnecessarily ... there are only few cases that it is useful, e.g., downhill ... but on downhill, i still reduce speed using brakes then downshift and slowly release clutch while rev matching, after which the car have already slowed down to safe speed and gravity takes over to keep the car moving while the engine provides the resistance to keep the car at fairly steady speed ... i take care not to exceed 3000 rpm to prevent stress on engine so i still briefly apply brakes whenever necessary on a long downhill stretch ... on a curve, i simply brake early so there is no need to use engine brake ... i don't drive fast in an unfamiliar road where a curve could appear unexpectedly, more so when the road is wet ...

but for people who love to race, it sure does pay to know how/when to use engine brakes ... there are situations that engine brake is the only way to perform a certain stunt ... i'm not a race driver but i think they use engine brake routinely while in a race.