Re: gear shifting question?

[Shawn C Meze <skerocdriver@juno.com>]

On Mon, 01 Mar 1999 23:30:59 -0500 Slink <slink1@jps.net> writes:

>I would like to know whether it is sin in vw cars to down shift.  I was
>told that it was bad for 16v and 8v car because of the time belt being
>rubber and that would cause problems if the belt broke.  My question 
>is whether it is best to shift out of gear or down shift in cases of
>merging into slow traffic and braking.


it adds alot more wear and tear on the tranny syncros and gears to
downshift. Most people just put it in neutral and brake to a stop. 
I don't. I drive the car like I race it, only im not in the throttle
aggressively. Meaning, I heel/toe my downshifts and I downshift all the
time. Lots of late braking ect. its Autox practice in a way for me. it
trains me to drive a certain way all the time without thinking about it
when I do race. 
Anyways, if you are concerned about the timming belt breaking, REPLACE
IT! When in doubt, change it. 
I believe that who ever told you that downshifting either 8V or 16v cars
was bad for timming belts is simply dead wrong. Drive the car how you
like, when you like. 


              Shawn Meze
86' Jetta GLi           82' Scirocco GTi
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and
best looking Scirocco in all of San Diego!
http://www.Geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1308/index.htm

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