Does anyone down-shift to slow down?
 

Does anyone else down-shift when going down a hill, (like one does with an MT), for example, going from 4th to 3rd gear on a rapid descent? I've not heard others do this with with an AT.

Will it result in any long term tranny damage?

bye bye clutch

^are you sure?

to OP. are you peddling the brakes and matching the rev. while downshifting?

Why? The TCU will not allow you to f-up the tranny. Downshifting one gear is not a problem.

Your brakes were made to slow your car down, and brake pads & rotors are a sh!tload cheaper to replace than your transmission. Also your brakes cause these red lights on the back of your car to turn on, signaling to other drivers that they might want to slow down too... your transmission does nothing of the sort. Please use your brakes for everyone's benefit.

The question was actually a technical and not a logistical one: Will down-shifting when going down a mountain, as opposed to using your brakes, hurt your tranny? I understand the formula for the brakes turning on the brake lights-- that's not rocket science.

I've always used manual transmissions and down-shifted (a common practice for those of >half a century old) and had no tranny or clutch damage; however, on an automatic, can you do the same w/o damaging the tranny?????

man just use your cruise control and youll just keep the same speed. the computer does the hard work for you haha....ive done this in my g..my work truck which is a sorry chevy ...itll work

OK guys, this is not an IQ question, although it seems to be growing into one as evidenced by some of the responses. L me try again: Down-shifting to slow down-- will it damage the tranny?? Simple, straightforward and self evident question!

Clutch on AUTO????????


Ever heard of torque converter

http://www.howstuffworks.com/torque-converter2.htm


There is no harm in slowing car down with a AT trany.


They only down side is that you will be waisting gas like crazy.

Your MPG will drop big time.

Does not worth it.

You're going to keep getting the same useless responses. My original reply still stands; you will not hurt the tranny to downshift, so long as you don't try to downshift several gears into a high RPM. Downshifting from 4 to 3 while going downhill is perfectly fine. In fact, thats what the manumatic was designed to do.........you'll notice the little "+" and "-" symbols to change gears UP and DOWN?

Torque converter is one part of it, clutch is something entirely different.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/automa...nsmission4.htm

i use it when i see a cop coming up behind me and i just need to slow down a bit. Or sometimes i just want to hear the engine roar. But like joker says, it wastes gas like crazy, and doesnt really hurt on an AT

it won't hurt the tranny. Have you ever try pedal to the metal in full auto mode while drving? the car will lower one gear itself and into a higher rpm. It is the same logic if you downshift a gear while slowing down the car. It won't hurt at all, I always do that while driving fast into a corner (downshift + brake and turn in and on to the gas again:) ).

I hear you man! :) People telling you to use your brakes & jumping down your throat about it....they need to lighten up (no pun intended). Downshifting to slow down doesn't mean the person is going to rear-end you because he doesn't see your "red lights" ;).

I don't think it will hurt the tranny....as someone above said, that's what manumatic is for. I always use manumatic when getting off the highway to slow down....get into the right lane, let off gas, let speed drop, downshift....I typically use it from 5th gear down to 3rd and after that I use my brakes to slow down & come to a stop, since my '04 doesn't rev match and doesn't shift that smoothly from 3rd thru 1st.

Wasting gas like crazy? Uh, no. If the revs are over 2k and you are fully coasting (foot off the gas pedal), the car uses ZERO fuel.

+1, if I want to slow down like 5mph, I downshifting:driving: