Why is engine braking safer than normal braking on slippery roads?
In: Engineering
Engine braking is LESS safe on slippery roads, at least in cars that don’t have permanent all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.
If you use engine braking in a RWD or FWD car, it’s only the two driven wheels that have to do all the braking while the other two are doing nothing. That means you’re not using all of the available traction, leading to worse braking performance, and it’s potentially dangerous because the drive wheels will have less grip available to transmit cornerning forces. With FWD that means added understeer, and with RWD that means a higher tendency to oversteer.
The safest way to slow down when a road is very slippery is to use the brakes (carefully), because you’re not just using two wheels to slow down, you’re making use of the grip of all four wheels. Not only will the car stop much better, it will also be easier to control.
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