i used to be brake-happy, (i was a boyracer) now i drive like truck drivers which means i tend to use engine braking more , this involves downshifting. This is since i have outgrowned the need to be 'better drivers than the next' mentality which alot of people/public drivers tend to show - this includes those driving big stationwagons, or those young people getting the not-so-flash but close-enough-to-be-sports cars-in-looks-bit-it-arent < THEY drive like they HAVE to prove than somehow the 'current car' they driving is not what they own. lie have you ever noticed joke bumper stickers "my other car is a porsche" - sure its a joke, but comedy always comes out from real conflicts or real ridicule, in this case driver's wishes to pretend they're superior drivers and if not, they pretend they have superior car even it is their own shitbox.
i'm so done with all that crap, i just drive quite conservatively that you wouldnt think i was once a C going on to B grade motocrosser (i was ok but never THAT good, shit bike, poor fitness ,whatever, even 'bad day on thr track' LOL, all the same excuses 'mentality' im a better rider than the next....)
but before you all accuse me of being a hypocrite, let me say this one, i was one riding (owned) a 200cc enduro bike, in '92-'93 session i was beating alot of local riders to a point they rumoured it the pit saying i was riding a 490 (motocrosser /enduro of that particular bike were the same),but nope they find out its only a 200 -they would realise when they come right up to share a beer and exchange the day's riding story...LOL it was hilirious i loved those comments. i never changed the baffle which is inside the stinger at the of the expansion chamber (2 stroke exhaust pipe so it was LOUD and had a really distinctive ring-ding tune to it), it rattled although there was nothng was wrong with it, it is just how loud that particular model was.
anyways im a 'power driver' i dont accelerate/brake so much i try to smooth way up and smooth way down, so that its smooth and quiet and safe and most of all i make my gas go alot further, and indeed the brake pads replacement worry can be alot further down the track, god forbid, truck drivers actually gets fired if they dont make brake pads last long enough , now when you count how many wheels , and how big they are...its hardly suprising
cheers