I'm certainly not an expert with cars and my field of knowledge/education is way different than engineering/auto mechanics, so I believe this is the best place to ask my question because google has not been helpful. I would appreciate an experts' opinion and/or explanation on this matter.
I have a manual 2020 Volvo XC40. The way I drive is controlled, calm and try to be efficient. While driving one day with a passenger, he noticed that I downshift to first gear when I'm expecting a full-stop way ahead of time and said that this will damage my transmission/vehicle in the long run.
To further explain what I do, when I'm driving e.g. 40km/h with 4th gear and I see a traffic light ahead of me turn red while I'm e.g. ~100m far, I disengage the clutch, let the vehicle run in neutral with all the acquired speed I have and shift into 1st gear without disengaging the clutch! That way I'm prepared to go if the light turns green while I still haven't stopped or have stopped a split second before.
I am not engine breaking from 4th to 1st, I never engage the clutch at high speeds and I only engage it into 1st gear when I'm at speeds lower than ~12km/h. (That's my car's ratio to switch into 2nd)
From my limited knowledge, I cannot understand how this would damage the engine/transmission, since I don't engage the clutch from a high gear into 1st, I keep it disengaged. The vehicle doesn't engine-break from 4th (~40-50km/h) to 1st which I'm sure would do a lot of wear-tear and damage, so I never thought I was hurting the vehicle.
Thank you!
Edit: I mixed up the clutch engage/disengage term... Edited for clarity.
