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Depends on how you drive. I never engine braked on my manual. Brakes are easy to replace. Clutches are not.

eptcyka 1y ago
You need not burn your clutch to engine break.
hassaanr 1y ago
engine braking does not have any effect on the clutch, other than while downshifting, which if you're blipping/rev-matching has practically no effect
- isoprophlex 1y ago
  Exactly, if your clutch suffers abuse when you are shifting gears (unless you're trying to aggressively accelerate of course) you need to rethink what you're doing. Not saying it's smart but when predictably decelerating on the highway I sometimes shift gears by rev matching and changing without even touching the clutch, for the fun of it.
  - stouset 1y ago
    Same on a motorcycle. My current bike has a quickshifter (for both up and down shifting) but even without one you can shift up and down without ever touching the clutch just by pushing on the shift pedal while blipping the throttle off-and-on (for an upshift) or on-and-off (for a downshift). That’s all the quickshifter is really doing anyway, it’s just quicker at it than you are. I’d wager bordering on 100% of my clutch use is when coming to a complete stop.
MindSpunk 1y ago
You don't engine brake with the clutch, you engine brake by downshifting and using the higher engine RPM in lower gears to brake the car via wasted compression.
- dotancohen 1y ago
  And that downshifting involves a clutch operation, moving the engine into a higher RPM. That most certainly wears down the clutch, talking as someone who's replaced quite a few of them.
  - throwawaysoxjje 1y ago
    Are you really shifting so much that your clutch slip in the middle of the shift effects clutch lifetime?
  - beau_g 1y ago
    I've seen an interesting A-B test with this seeing the difference in clutch wear between the Ferrari F1 transmission in the 599 and 612 and the DuoSelect transmission which is essentially the same box in the Quattroporte. The shifting strategy and technique is more of a controlled variable here because the shifting is automatic though it's a somewhat traditional manual gearbox with hydraulic actuation. The QP is a bit heavier but the Ferraris make a lot more power. From what I saw the cars that fared far worse were the Quattroportes, and those that ate the most clutches by far were the ones putting around the city, especially in San Francisco, Marin, Los Altos Hills, etc. where people are slowly creeping into parking spots on hills. On the Ferraris that are weekend warriors that get driven hard the clutches could go 30k+ miles no problem, Quattroportes would come in with smoked clutches in a few thousand miles sometimes.
    - jve 1y ago
      Sorry, ain't native: Which car use downshifting to help braking? Cannot wire in my brains whether this example is pro-downshift braking or not.
      - masklinn 1y ago
        I think their point is that you eat clutch when you slip it e.g. when you’re getting in and out if parking on hills, or in city stop and go traffic. When the clutch is fully engaged there’s little wear even hard-driving, and doing a straight in-and-out does not bother clutches much. Hence Quattroportes eating clutches like nobody’s business while the harder-ridden higher-power Ferraris don’t. As such downshifting would not wear clutches much. And anecdotally I’ve never suffered from or heard of engine braking causing clutch issues.
01100011 1y ago
Yep, years ago I had a friend with a VW Beetle and he'd never use the brakes unless he had to. I thought it was cool and carried the story with me. One day I mentioned it to a mechanic friend and that was his exact response. I've never changed a clutch, but I've changed plenty of brakes and yeah, not hard or expensive.
isoprophlex 1y ago
You don't need to touch your clutch to do engine breaking. If you wear out your clutch by shifting gears you're doing something wrong
michaelcampbell 1y ago
You engine brake every time you lift off the throttle and don't depress the clutch. I know what you mean here of course, but I suspect your driving habits are saving you less than you think.

You need not burn your clutch to engine break.

engine braking does not have any effect on the clutch, other than while downshifting, which if you're blipping/rev-matching has practically no effect

isoprophlex 1y ago
Exactly, if your clutch suffers abuse when you are shifting gears (unless you're trying to aggressively accelerate of course) you need to rethink what you're doing. Not saying it's smart but when predictably decelerating on the highway I sometimes shift gears by rev matching and changing without even touching the clutch, for the fun of it.
- stouset 1y ago
  Same on a motorcycle. My current bike has a quickshifter (for both up and down shifting) but even without one you can shift up and down without ever touching the clutch just by pushing on the shift pedal while blipping the throttle off-and-on (for an upshift) or on-and-off (for a downshift). That’s all the quickshifter is really doing anyway, it’s just quicker at it than you are. I’d wager bordering on 100% of my clutch use is when coming to a complete stop.

MindSpunk 1y ago

You don't engine brake with the clutch, you engine brake by downshifting and using the higher engine RPM in lower gears to brake the car via wasted compression.

dotancohen 1y ago
And that downshifting involves a clutch operation, moving the engine into a higher RPM. That most certainly wears down the clutch, talking as someone who's replaced quite a few of them.
- throwawaysoxjje 1y ago
  Are you really shifting so much that your clutch slip in the middle of the shift effects clutch lifetime?
- beau_g 1y ago
  I've seen an interesting A-B test with this seeing the difference in clutch wear between the Ferrari F1 transmission in the 599 and 612 and the DuoSelect transmission which is essentially the same box in the Quattroporte. The shifting strategy and technique is more of a controlled variable here because the shifting is automatic though it's a somewhat traditional manual gearbox with hydraulic actuation. The QP is a bit heavier but the Ferraris make a lot more power. From what I saw the cars that fared far worse were the Quattroportes, and those that ate the most clutches by far were the ones putting around the city, especially in San Francisco, Marin, Los Altos Hills, etc. where people are slowly creeping into parking spots on hills. On the Ferraris that are weekend warriors that get driven hard the clutches could go 30k+ miles no problem, Quattroportes would come in with smoked clutches in a few thousand miles sometimes.
  - jve 1y ago
    Sorry, ain't native: Which car use downshifting to help braking? Cannot wire in my brains whether this example is pro-downshift braking or not.
    - masklinn 1y ago
      I think their point is that you eat clutch when you slip it e.g. when you’re getting in and out if parking on hills, or in city stop and go traffic. When the clutch is fully engaged there’s little wear even hard-driving, and doing a straight in-and-out does not bother clutches much. Hence Quattroportes eating clutches like nobody’s business while the harder-ridden higher-power Ferraris don’t. As such downshifting would not wear clutches much. And anecdotally I’ve never suffered from or heard of engine braking causing clutch issues.

01100011 1y ago

Yep, years ago I had a friend with a VW Beetle and he'd never use the brakes unless he had to. I thought it was cool and carried the story with me. One day I mentioned it to a mechanic friend and that was his exact response. I've never changed a clutch, but I've changed plenty of brakes and yeah, not hard or expensive.

isoprophlex 1y ago

You don't need to touch your clutch to do engine breaking. If you wear out your clutch by shifting gears you're doing something wrong

michaelcampbell 1y ago

You engine brake every time you lift off the throttle and don't depress the clutch. I know what you mean here of course, but I suspect your driving habits are saving you less than you think.