Engine Braking When Slowing in BumperToBumper Traffic

General Discussion
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I drive my manual transmission vehicle in rush hour traffic that is bumper to bumper. The traffic flows around 20-25 mph but it frequently slows as vehicles up front change lanes which affects the flow.

To save wear and tear on the braking system, I take advantage of my gear stick manual transmission for engine braking to slow down.

With shorter daylight hours now, rush hour driving is in the dark both ways. Engine braking doesn’t activate my three tail brake lights to notify drivers behind me to slow or prepare to stop.

I notice when I engine brake for slowing from 20 mph to 10 mph that drivers behind me sometimes come closer to my rear before realizing they need to brake. Maybe they wonder why my braking lights are not working, doubt they are familiar with engine braking ability.

Even when I wouldn’t be at fault if I get bumped by the driver behind me, having to deal with body shop and insurance would be a hassle.

Do drivers with manual transmissions who engine brake tap their brake pedal slightly to signal to drivers behind to slow down/watch out?

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Unlikely, nor do people with automatic transmissions that downshift tap their brakes to let drivers behind them know they are slowing down.
However, in bumper to bumper traffic, it might be wise to use your brakes in combination with downshifting to avoid being rear ended.

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Are you writing this message on your phone while driving?

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Brakes pads are far cheaper than new engine bearings and a clutch.

And those following you don’t know you are slowing, as you point out.

So, Stop doing this.

BTW, I drove manual transmission cars for 40 years.

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Mustangman beat me to it… I also drive a manual transmission…

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+1 to the previous comments.
I also drove stick shift cars for quite a few years, and while I did use engine braking on long downgrades in order to keep from overheating the brakes, I would never consider doing it in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

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An alternative technique for you…

Choose second or 3rd gear and idle along in traffic. Refuse to do the accelerate-brake-accelerate that everyone else does. Try and pick a gear that matches the flow. If a gap opens, ok, if a gap closes up, brake. If you anticipate the herd mentality, you will learn to pick the proper gear and speed.

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I would…but my vehicle of choice is an SUV. The choice is very limited. Last vehicle I owned with a manual was my 1998 Nissan Pathfinder.

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The list of SUVs with manuals has slipped to 3 in 2023. Subaru Crosstrek, Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler.

Probably none are on your list of possible candidates @MikeInNH !

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Just use your brakes. Its a lot cheaper to change brakes periodically then it will be get body work (and possibly neck surgery) after someone drives into your trunk.

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I don’t. In stop & go traffic I use @Mustangman’s method as described above, try to keep it in gear. If that doesn’t work for the situation then I don’t hesitate to step on the brake pedal and shift to neutral as necessary. I don’t avoid the brake pedal to prevent wear on the brake pads. No need, b/c replacing the brake pads is easy & inexpensive. I do it b/c it provides me better control of the car, for safety sake, in case I need to quickly accelerate to get out of the way.

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I do not do much stop and go driving and since I am retired, I usually avoid the times that it might occur… However, there are those occasions when I am in a Queue Line in my car waiting for my turn, like when you are in an amusement park waiting for your turn to get on a ride…

We use the Satellite Pharmacy at our local Air Force Base. The base has two pharmacies, one in the hospital for filling prescriptions issued by the doctors in the hospital and a Satellite Pharmacy near the hospital that refills prescription and and cuts new prescriptions issued by off-bae doctors.

There are two methods to pick up your prescriptions, walk in the front door and wait at the counter, and a drive-up windows. I prefer to use the walk in method. I’ve never like sitting my car, stopping and going, and stopping and going, as the line moves slowly up to the window.

But during the Pandemic (I am assuming the time line to be late 2019 until it was officially ended in January 2023), the Walk In option was ended and the Drive In option was the only way to pick up your prescription…

Let me tell you, the lines were long and they closed off a street and large parking lot and used those plastic barricades to create a waving line of traffic like the one you see in an amusement park. It was not uncommon to see 50 or more cars in line.

When I was in this line, I would often just shut the engine off and listen to the radio and let several cars move up before I would start the car and move up… There would ten, twenty, or more cars ahead of me and the cars behind me would start blowing their horns for me to move up the vacated 3 or 4 spots… Some of them even yelled that I was holding up the line.

What idiots, I am ashamed to say these were active duty service members in defense of this country and veterans who may have risked their lives their past service.

So, the advice to slowly creep, continuously moving, may be the best suggestion, it does reduce the clutch action and it’s easier on your leg…

So just relax and know that you will not get there any faster than the car ahead of you…

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I was once taught that one should tap one’s brake slightly when one starts engine breaking.

But I too have a question:

I was also once taught that one should use engine breaking on long downhill runs, especially in mountainous terrain - that one would otherwise completely burn out one’s brakes, creating a lethal situation. But the last time I read a driver education book from the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (this was a long time ago), it claimed that current manual transmissions aren’t built tough enough for that, and that one should never use engine braking.

What’s the truth?

BTW, I admit this time around I got an automatic transmission Toyota Venza (I wish I didn’t - I think I have more control in snow and ice with manual - and Venzas have other bad issues, like poor cargo capacity and terrible visibility). But it has a transmission setting that lets me downshift. It seems like that is probably there to do engine braking, so it must be OK.

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That’s a surprising claim. I’ve never heard that before, at least as applies to manual transmissions. I have heard a claim that engine breaking is considered to be less safe than pressing on the brake pedal. Presumably b/c the brake pedal applies force to all four wheels, while the engine to only two wheels. I seem to recall hearing advice before to not use engine braking w/automatic transmissions, b/c automatic trans are not designed for that for long periods of time. Maybe that is what you are remembering?

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Brakes not engine braking for me. I’ve been driving stick for 55 years. I don’t let my foot off the brake at a light unless the next driver is dead stopped behind me.

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The person who wrote that was ignorant. The advice is wrong.

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Also wrong. So much old dad’s tales in the automotive world.

Automatics with torque convertor clutches enginen brake pretty effectively. If it can, the engineers that designed it will test for that. If it fails testing, it will be redesigned.

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Absolutely true. I can attest to that. Granted a much older design but this mechanism has remained pretty much the same- I have a custom, semi-automatic transmission that is designed to freewheel in all but the final gear. The effect is very noticeable between “coasting” and “engagement”. You can feel this same effect in a modern transmission. One of my later Corvettes used to be the most noticeable. Exiting the expressway, the car almost felt like it sped up as I let off the gas and it coasted. After a bit, the clutches would kick in and the engine braking was quite noticeable.

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Similarly, the version of the NJ Drivers Manual that was in existence in the '60s stated that “if the oil pressure light on your instrument panel lights up, you must add oil to the engine”.

Sure, that is a distinct possibility, but the manual failed to mention the necessity of checking the oil level before adding. It also failed to mention that a mechanical issue could be the cause of a lit-up oil pressure light.

Sure enough, when it came time to take the written test, one of the True/False questions was:
When your oil pressure warning light is lit, you should add oil to the engine.

Knowing the answer that they wanted, I chose “true”, even though it was not a thoroughly accurate one.

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That may be partially why traffic jams are not as bad in Europe. Most of the cars are manual over there.