Is it necessary to depress the clutch when braking with a manual transmission?
2 Answers
Depressing the clutch when braking with a manual transmission is safer. The specific explanations are as follows: 1. Depressing the clutch while braking prevents the car from rolling backward. Some beginners often forget to engage the handbrake or fail to pull it tightly enough, leading to rolling when starting the car. 2. Depressing the brake when starting enhances the overall braking capability of the vehicle. When facing steep slopes, parking must be done using a combination of the handbrake and gear. There is a high risk of rolling accidents if the handbrake is not engaged in time, but depressing the brake minimizes this risk. Below is relevant information: 1. The engine's power is transmitted to the gearbox through the clutch, and the gearbox changes the engine's speed (shifting gears) before transmitting it to the wheels. Therefore, the engine and wheels always rotate synchronously at a certain ratio. 2. The engine has a minimum speed limit, which is the idle speed. Below this speed, the engine is prone to stalling. Therefore, the theoretical minimum speed for each gear is the speed at which the engine idles. When the vehicle speed in a certain gear falls below this speed, the engine is likely to stall. Thus, when decelerating, as long as the current speed is higher than the idle speed of the current gear, there is no need to depress the clutch.
When I used to drive a manual transmission car, I always found it tricky whether to press the clutch when braking. Actually, it depends on the situation. On highways or during emergency braking, I recommend stomping the brake pedal fully first without immediately pressing the clutch, because engine braking helps the car decelerate faster and reduces the risk of skidding. Only when the speed drops very low, almost coming to a stop, should you press the clutch to prevent stalling the engine. In urban traffic jams, be more flexible - pressing the clutch while braking before traffic lights makes stopping smoother. Safety comes first - don't get distracted by clutch operation during emergencies, focus on braking priority. You can practice this feeling more in daily driving to find your own rhythm.
