Why is engine braking safer than normal braking on slippery roads?
In: Engineering
I hate this argument. And it has come up often in my 37 years of driving. I have done more driving in snow and ice than the normal person. Putting that oit there so I can say if people disagree with my opion I will kindly ask don’t bother trying to change my mind. Here it goes.
Engine braking is basically the engine fighting with drive wheels on how fast each wants to turn. So the engine is tryimg to get the wheels to turn slower than they want to if they were free. Like if you were in nuetral. It is the resistance to roll that slows the car. That resistance is aplied from wheel to pavement. Kind of like the opposite of acceleration. And in like acceration if the surface of the road is slick you will break traction. Break traction in a front wheel drive and you have lost your ability to steer. You also have made it harder to break. And for those that argue it is ok to engine break in a RWD. First is my arguement that you have already compromised your breaking ability. Also think about this how many times has a RWD car all of a suden just broke traction and started fishtailing when the person was not breaking. So why would you want to purposely engine break and risk breaking traction. Third sometimes in a rear wheel drive car if you need to accelerate ro regain control of a car. Hard to do if you have already broke traction with engine breaking.
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