Accord VTI-L 5spd Manual jerks when slowing?

[adamc11]

Hi,

This is my first post on this forum so hello.

I'm looking at purchasing a 1999 Honda Accord VTI-L Manual.

I took it for a test drive and noticed that if i accelerate and then take my foot off the accelerator whilst leaving the car in gear, it jerks back and forward slightly as it slows down rather than slowing down smoothly. Is this normal?

Apart from that the car seems okay. My friend owned a 1998 VTI Auto which was a good car but i'm looking at a manual so that i don't have transmission issues (which Accords are notorious for).

Thanks for the help,
Adam

[adamc11]

Well answering my own question...

Yes it is normal. I drove another one and it did the same thing.

Adam

[butter]

Hi adamc11,

Interesting you brought this up because i've been learning about cars too and i can somewhat answer your question further. But someone please correct me because i know i may be wrong!

But this is what i've tried to understand from doing research on how cars work. I believe this is the retardation of the engine causing the car to slow down? Um, i think the term is called Engine Braking? But that is more in terms of gearing down to use the retardation of the engine to slow the car down.

Thats a basic reason why i believe that happens. Which is normal, but not so much in an automatic transmission as i believe the gears should gear down to prevent that from happening.

Dont laugh at me if im wrong but i couldn't really understand what i learnt. Something to do with like the combustion or something where its using the engine speed to slow down the car in the decreasing revs. Um - NO IDEA actually! ><"

BAHAHAHA. But i know for sure that engine braking supposedly is better for fuel economy, less gas emissions, easier on the brakes and also illegal to do :)

[pres]

Thats not normal if in high speed for manual but it might be in low gear sometime, Auto will never happen in any cases..

[butter]

In automatic, it happens for me but only if i select D1 / D2 / D3. Also depends on the speed I'm going at. The engine braking is more powerful at high rev's when you lift off the throttle. But it never happens in D4 (normal drive), unless i lift off just before it automatically gears up.

Can anyone teach me a little bit more about why this happens exactly? Engine braking that is. Thanks in advance.