TornadoRed said:
Engine braking is not particularly effective with TDI engines
Indeed - you get a lot less than with a petrol engine. It wasn't what I was expecting at all - I expected the higher compression ratio would give good engine braking, but it seems that the lack of a throttle more than offsets that.
SPDMarine said:
he cringes every time his RPMs go over 2000
That's the advice of somebody who
really doesn't understand his engine, and thinks he's driving an old fashioned tractor. Please ignore him, for the sake of your engine! Follow his advice, and your engine will give you no end of problems and ultimately have a short and unhappy life. Modern diesel engines are designed to be high revving - once the engine is warmed up you should have no qualms about taking it all the way to the red line, although the useful power drops off rapidly after 4000 rpm.
Seriously, these engines really do like to be exercised. I notice that mine drives much better after it's been driven hard with a heavy load in the car.
On the subject of whether you should use engine braking - the answer is "sometimes", although the answer has got nothing to do with what's good/bad for the engine. When slowing down, you shouldn't go down through the gears because it's not necessary. The brakes are more than capable of slowing the car by themselves, so let them do their job. Leave the car in gear, with the clutch engaged, and only declutch when the revs get too low. Going through the gears forces you to keep taking your hand off the wheel, which compromises your control of the car (albeit only slightly).
However, when going down a hill it's very good driving practice to be in a low enough gear so that the car isn't constantly trying to run away from you - it's simply about keeping the car under control with minimal intervention from the driver. A good rule of thumb is that you should go
down a hill in the same gear that you would go
up the hill - I'm not talking about revving the hell out of it! Having said that, the TDI often doesn't quite give enough engine braking to keep the speed fully under control down a hill, so small dabs of the brakes will often be necessary.