What is the best way to brake?

Question

What is the best way to brake in car, with or without the engine assistance? Is it true, that engine braking consumes additional fuel comparing to cluthcing and braking from certain speed to 0mp/h with foot brakes only? I heard engine braking provides you additional oil distribution around the whole engine. Is that all true? How to brake most efficient with fuel saving and not tearing pads+discs too much?

PS-does too much engine braking influence stressing the timing belt?

Answer 1

OK, so various answers but some confusing ones. Many modern engines, petrol or diesel are set up to use zero fuel when engine braking. On both my last cars when coming downhill in gear, the consumption falls to zero. This is a common feature these days. Braking with engine in neutral uses enough fuel to keep the engine idling. You should always be using the clutch with care and my clutches last many years even though I change up and down all 6 speeds to get economy when accelerating, crusing and decelerating. It is also true that when engine braking there is an effect which draws oil up the cylinder wall underneath the piston. This was said in instructions for running in old cars, not to keep a constant speed but every now and again to lift off the accelerator. Only explanation I can come up with for this is that under engine braking there is much lower pressures in the upper cylinder than when normal fuel firing.

All in all the best way to avoid wear and tear is to avoid braking as much as possible. Already said above, look ahead and slow down in same gear when there is something ahead. Every time you use brakes to heat up the pads and disks you are wasting the fuel you used to get up to that speed and dissipating the energy as heat.

Answer 2

First, the timing belt has nothing to do with braking.
Second, when you take your foot off the gas, the amount of gas going to the engine goes way down. If you let the engine slow the car, then the force from the wheels is compressing the air and some fuel in the cylinders and that compression is what is braking. The point of stress in not the timing belt but the manual clutch or clutches in the automatic transmission since the stress is being applied backwards to drive stress.
That said, I normally drive to maintain safe distance and slow down with engine braking, avoiding the brakes if I can. Get good mileage, long brake life and smooth driving.

Answer 3

It depends on the car ... read the owner's manual.

There are new kinds of hybrid electric cars where forward motion is converted to energy storage when braking, then returned to the wheels when accelerating, so you end up using much less gasoline, and less wear and tear on breaks.

I drive one of the old fashioned cars.
I normally gently apply the breaks, ease off, gently more ... reason is I want to give plenty warning to the tailgating maniacs behind me that I am slowing down.

In a serious emergency when I have to slow down very rapidly, more so than I think the brakes can do, I can mess up the engine by downshifting, or turning off the ignition. For example, if I was going around a curve or over a hill on a limited access highway where the speed limit & speed of traffic is like 50 mph, then I happen on a pile up and I am going too fast to brake to a halt

there is a judgement call ... do I wreck my engine to avoid me crashing into those people there ... well it depends on how close behind me are the tail gating mainiacs

this is one of the reasons I am a slow driver on those limited access roads that have lots of hills and curves, so I do not have to make that judgement call

Answer 4

Engine braking will wear your clutch faster. Clutches are more expensive (as well as difficult) to replace than brakes. Coasting to a stop with the car in neutral would seem to consume the least gas to me considering you'd be pretty much idling rather than having the engine revs go up. I generally only use the engine to brake when I'm driving aggressively but thats just me. As for your other questions I honestly don't know but they sound a lot like myths.

Answer 5

The best way is too plan well ahead of a situation and brake early for junctions and roundabout.
Engine braking will not wear out your engine excessively and should be used, helps save the pads and disks.

Answer 6

Engine braking or opening the clutch simply engages the engine at higher revs, using the force of the compressions of the cylinders. This is good to use as long as not braking from the red line...that is overdoing it! ;)

Answer 7

Open driver door and let your foot drag on road, Make sure your wearing durable steel toe boots, or thick heeled footwear. :)