Quote:
Originally posted by stingc
The brakes have more capacity than the tires, so you don't add anything by braking and downshifting together.
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Everything you said was true (and great info) except this line. Brakes do not always have more capacity than the tires, especially if your tires are very good, and your brakes are stock and/or not 100%.
The real question is one of economics and skill. Does downshifting reduce wear on the brakes? Sure, but if you don't do it right (revmatching, etc) it increases wear on transmission parts, especially synchros. It's a lot more expensive / time consuming to replace bad synchros than it is to swap out brake pads - synchros can take all day while brakes usually don't take more than 15 minutes per wheel.