[quote=spdrun]Yeah, the point was to put the car in a position to control speed without flashing the brake lights. I did say “gradually slow down” not “put it in 3rd and dump the clutch at 70” :)[/quote]
You said down shift 2 gears. That, in my mind is the intention of drastically slowing down using the engine vs the brake. You don’t have to dump the clutch to engine brake. Again, it might be different with a diesel.

However, engine braking will give you no more control than you tapping on the brake. At least with tapping on the brake, the person behind you can see you slowing down, vs engine braking.