When I'm driving?

tomandtam2001

It could be dangerous if you suddenly needed to accelerate for some unforseen reason. Your car would be in too low a gear and you could blow your engine if you let the clutch out.

In a standard you should always use downshifting as part of your braking method. It will reduce the wear on your brakes and keep your drive wheels in a control situation. It is especially useful on ice as well. By downshifting you reduce the risk of locking up your wheels.

Britbloke

When you have the clutch depressed there is no connection between the engine and the wheels, this upsets the balance of the car and, as someone quite rightly explained above, can be very dangerous. Clutch down with the car moving should always be kept to a minimum.

However, it is also bad practice to use the gears to help slow the car down. This is a long outdated method with doesn't apply to modern cars which have extremely efficient brakes which are a lot cheaper to replace than a worn gearbox.

The correct method for slowing is to keep the clutch 'up' until you have reached the speed requiring a lower gear. Depress the clutch, make the gear change (to whichever gear is needed) and raise the clutch again.

If you are slowing to a stop at, say a junction or roundabout, simply remain in 5th, or whatever gear you are in, with the clutch up until you have slowed right down, just before you stop, depress the clutch and select 1st ready to move off when it's clear.

Hope that helps. For what it's worth, your mistake is a common one!

crazeygrazey

The Highway Code answers this fully. "Coasting", as it is called, removes the control balance that the engine provides to the wheels and if, for example, you needed to do a violent manoeuvre whilst coasting you could lose control of it a lot more easily and even turn the car over.

http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk

brandon

Well that last answer was a little nasty for no reason. The driving instructor was mostly correct you are probably better off to brake the car ,but only until you learn to downshift properly. You should not coast as all off the answers to that effect are correct, you are not in complete control. To downshift is fine and economical if it is from the highest gear to the next gear down...IE: 5Th to 4Th to 3rd etc.
Your transmission and engine have an operating range when the shifting is the most efficient, it's rise and fall if you will, for up shifting and downshifting, it is gaged by your R.P.M.
for example if you are in first and you take your R.P.M. to say 2500 and you have a 700 R,P.M. fall your next gear would mesh at 1800 R.P.M. and vice versa. So downshifting is fine if done correctly. I am a truck driver and have been for the last 20 years and we use it all the time, it makes use of your engine and brakes at the same time to reduce the wear on both systems. I hope this helps.

Ian L

Basically you are not driving the car along the road
It is neither being pulled by the engine nor slowed by the brakes. Consequently you will find it more difficult to control as it is just rolling along the road under its own momentum and the effects of gravity ( hence why you would fail your driving test - you are not driving, only steering).
You are not far off the correct technique - apply the brake to slow the car then do your gear change just as you are approaching your new speed.

The Tank

It's dangerous because "coasting" is considered to be not in control. You have removed a safe means of engine-braking and also prevented yourself from accelerating quickly if trouble comes your way.

You have a potential problem with your method in that if your left foot slipped the engine would suddenly be subject to decelerating forces which would almost certainly cause the car to slow down rapidly or even stall and stop suddenly. This would be without the benefit of giving following vehicles your brake lights. Rear end shunt will happen. (Don't say "he should have kept his distance", nobody leaves enough distance to account for sudden stops without brake light warnings).

The other issue is that you are using the clutch in a way for which it was not designed. This is certainly considerably accelerating wear on the clutch plate and thrust bearing. I would definately not buy a used car from you.

Brad

very dangerous, as you're not in full control

Pat B

First of all why would you go from 5th to 2nd and hold the clutch. You are wearing out the clutch very quickly this way. The only time you should down shift like that is encase a car stops short in front of you and you drop it from 5th to 2ndlet go of the clutch and hit the breaks. If you are about to stop and just want the car to coast hit the clutch put it in neutral and let go of it pressing the breaks slowly. Some people here say that you should always down shift because you will save your breaks. Would you rather pay for new brake pads or new clutch. Down shifting puts stress on the engine it wears out the clutch quicker and you waste more fuel because you are reving the engine higher when you down shift. You should down shift only when necessary like icy roads emergency stops or of your breaks fail. This is just my opinion.

...

If you are in 5th, you could start breaking progressively, then clutch in to change to second, then clutch straight back up and if you have been braking well enough you should be slow enough for the car to cope with 2nd so there would be no need to coast.

When you coast, no gears are engaged and the steering doesnt respond as well as it should. If you are going down hill you will pick up speed too fast, and if you had to break in an emergency, the breaks would not be as responsive.

Best to keep it in gear where possible!

anthony c

yeah it is a bit dangerous mate the reason why it is that when your car is in agear its the gears what keeps control of the car and when you said that you are in 5th and you put the cluch in and put the gear in to 2nd well if your foot happend to slip you car would happen to bounce forward and proberly stall and you might hit a car in front why dont you just try and come down in your gears its easyer and if you need to get away abit quicker you will be in the right gear . the way to do this is from 5th and you are comeing up to a set of lights in front drop down to 4th then 3rd ,2nd and by the time you got to 2nd the lights have changed and you are away doing this saves you money on your brake pads just have a go doing that

carlos.santana79

because basically, as my driving instructor told me, "the examiner for your driving test, for that time, is GOD. do anytihng he doesnt like, and hel fail you."

and apparently they dont like it when you coast

Rolsy

I don't see how it can be dangerous. you still have access to the brakes!

geoff_2934

It's great for saving petrol! (unfortunately, mines an auto, so can't do it!)

Nige

can't you accept that it's just wrong? you would have failed your test, thats the way it is, and you think you know better than the people who taught you. You were only taught to pass a test, in 20 years time (if you survive that long) you may have learnt to drive but some how I doubt it - you already know more than everybody else I don't see anybody being able to change your mind - PRATT

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