Edited by daveyjp on 24/11/2015 at 20:04

I think there's a difference Avant, car brakes have never been more effective and now with the internet we have never had such a cheap supply of quality friction parts, also a complete novice can swap a set of pads and discs in an hour or two they are in effect the sacrificial part of the system.

There's a world of difference when you talk about robust proper 4x4 transmissions designed to engine brake the vehicle in off road and heavy towing conditions, and lorry transmissions which are designed, and always have been, to use auxilliary braking on top of natural engine braking, using maximum safe engine revs in the lowest possible gear, for full retard and continuous use.

Cars are not designed to be used like this, no reasonable person would expect it and i'd be extremely surprised if the designers of modern car boxes have factored such use in.

I've always used engine braking and never had a transmission fail.

There's a reason why some descents have signs saying select low gear now. Autos don't always select the correct gear so i would use the manual option in those circumstances.

+1

Driven properly, it doesn't even increase brake brake wear - I've just sold a 2 tonne SUV at 55,000 miles with original front/rear pads under 50% worn.

The economy mode on my new Touareg "coasts" when lifting off the throttle - it slows down much less than a conventional car so needs mor braking to come to a stop.

While the car is idling in D and stopped, the automatic transmission is sort of in a 'ready-and-waiting' mode, with the torque converter partially engaged.

Depends on the car - many modern ones have an "automatic neutral select" feature when stationary with footbrake applied.

“I'm going to show my age now. I learned to drive in the 1960s when it was quite possible for brakes to fade or fail, and I was taught to engage a low gear when going down a reasonably steep hill.” Avant

“I've always used engine braking and never had a transmission fail.

There's a reason why some descents have signs saying select low gear now. Autos don't always select the correct gear so i would use the manual option in those circumstances”. Xtrailman

“I have had autos for 30yrs and expect front pads to last 50,000m and discs to last 100,000m.” JohnF

I was taught to use the gears to hold a steady speed when going downhill. Now that I’ve a TC automatic I still use the technique. One of the BRs in a previous thread said that the gear chosen to hold the car down the hill is the same as that going up the same hill. I don’t quite do that, going up Blaze Hill near Bollington, Cheshire, I use 2nd gear, but going down I use 1st.

The car is now 9 years old and has done just over 100,000 miles I used the dealer for servicing for the first three years and then went to an indi. My indi serviceman has the ultimate say in how my car is serviced and he has changed the pads and discs at least once. He’s changed the transmission fluid twice and I asked the dealer to change it at 17,000 miles. My indi serviceman says that the dealer ‘might’ have changed it but there’s no evidence of that. It’s true that brakes are not as prone to ‘fade’ as the once were but now, with the new version of braking system the discs wear too, which was not the case with the original asbestos shoes.

"sealed for life" is a misnomer - they simply mean "no scheduled maintenance"

Fair comment. i.e. if it works, don't mend it! I wonder how many tiny dust/grit particles are now circulating in his overserviced box?

Normal service resumed, i just agreed with you on another thread, still reckon half your posts are tongue in cheek, this being one.

Thanks for the replies to this topic.

No one appears to know for sure if using the low ratios to slow down contributes fundamentally to wear in the gearbox. On balance, therefore, I think I shall carry on doing what I do - engage low ratios to go down dangerous hills, but use the brakes the rest of the time. I don't race up to lights and brake at the last minute or anything like that. Most of my driving is in a hilly town and I'm aware of having to keep slowing the car downhill to remain within the speed limit.

I too was taught to drive, using the gears to slow down, but I changed strategy when I had my previous (manual) car. That was because a friend, doing mainly short trips, insisted on using the gears in that way and ended up with braking issues - lack of use caused the brake discs to corrode.

Reading between the lines in the replies here, I can see that the controls available on TC gearboxes can vary in complexity. Mine are the most basic, so I think I'll be giving those lessons a miss!

I'm afraid I can feel a bit dismissive when people claim that they're getting very long mileages out of discs and pads. Perhaps they are, but the results can't really be compared with others unless the vehicles concerned are doing exactly the same trips.

Some of the answers have drifted into what to do when you're waiting at traffic lights. I wanted to ask about that in a separate topic, so I've started it here:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=112033