Visited some family in Colorado last Thanksgiving and to get there I have to go through some mountain roads with large incline/ declines. I had a couple cars riding my ass when there was only 1 lane available/ no turnouts, but even when they would pass me, their brake lights would be constantly on. Am I the retarded one here or are they for wearing out their brakes for 13 miles downhill and riding my ass. This is what I was taught to do when going downhill for large portions of road but it honestly seems like Im doing something wrong here.
>>28743536The answer to your question almost entirely depends on how good your and their brakes are
>>28743536Youre fine anon, if yoyre going at a good speed and not fading out the brake pads you're fine, its the normies thay are the problem, they're speeding down a hill in their economical car thay wants to be in overdrive all the time, which when going downhill is like driving off the edge of a cliff.
>>28743536They're driving autos and can't engine brake.
>>287435392005 Honda Odyssey. The rest seemed like relatively new cars and trucks so I can only assume they have better capabilities for going downhill. Also why do I have to wait 120 to make a reply in my own thread after waiting 5 minutes to make a post. bullshit
In Colorado this weekend there were a total of 50 (FIFTY!) cars involved in 2 (JUST TWO) separate pileups on I70 so I wouldn't take any driving technique insight from anyone you see on the road here.
>>28743536Nobody knows how to drive, even if they're from somewhere. That being said, modern brakes are so good and cars are so disposable to the average person, them riding their brakes down the mountain won't matter to them anyway. If you're driving an older car/car you intend to keep in good mechanical condition for awhile, you're doing the right thing. Last time I was in the Sierra Nevadas in my Focus SVT, I didn't ride my brakes down Donner Pass because I didn't want to cook the pads and rotors I just replaced in my 20yo car. You did the right thing. Everyone else just doesn't give a shit.
>>28743551>Autos can't engine brakeYes they can. The problem is the car always wants to be in the highest gear which is also the worst gear for eng I ne braking. The people behind OP need to use the manual mode but I doubt they know it exists.
>>28743551>autos >can't engine brakeI love shitting on autotragics as much as the next guy, but telling untruths isn't necessary.You do know pretty much all autos, even CVTs, have a little gear selector mode. And if they don't have that they have lower gear selections. My sister's car even has P-R-N-D-3-2-L selectors Instead of the regular P-R-N-D-L layout. Those are all made for situations like this.
>>28743574I've literally never met a single person who uses that.
>>28743580>retard only knows other retards
>>28743547This. Went through monument pass twice a couple months back and had dickheads riding my ass the entire way up and down. I was doing the speed limit and above and just enjoying the views while they seethed. Fuck em. It wouldn't have mattered if you were going 20 over you'd still end up with some prick riding your ass. Everyone is in such a hurry to get on with their important lives these days. Funny thing is when they die only 3 people will care if even that, but damn they think they're important!
>>28743586Simmer down there pal.
>>28743588Checked and sadly true. Yesterday my buddy got rear-ended by a mom with her kids in the damn car because she was going way too fast right as the snow storm hit us. Luckily, no injuries or serious damage, but this lady thought it more important to put the lives of others and her children at risk following some holiday shopping in the middle of the first real snow storm of the year to save what? Minutes? Seconds? Newer Corolla Cross too, so it's not like she was in some clapped out pos she shouldn't care about. Idgi
>>28743551>>28743580They can and I used it constantly on that road trip. If it weren't for my dad or /o/ Id be none the wiser because an automatic will still work regardless if you manually switch gears. I just don't think it phases them until their brakes start making a weird noises after a bit. My aunt made the same trip a few years ago and fucked up her brakes because she commuted from A to B on flatland in the Midwest her entire life. She had zero clue until my brother in law told her what engine braking was in her auto. >>28743564>total of 50 (FIFTY!) cars involved in 2 (JUST TWO) pileupsActually insane>>28743565>modern brakes are so good and cars are so disposable to the average person, them riding their brakes down the mountain won't matter to them anyway.Idk, in some situations it makes sense that people don't know or realize like the one above mentioned with my aunt. But I feel it inexcusable with locals just busting up their shit no? They have to realize at some point right?
>>28743536Most people are extremely fucking retarded. Majority of normies do not know what engine braking is, they probably would say you're breaking the car if they were in your passenger seat.
>>28743625Kek its so annoying how extreme normies think rpm=fast of bad, they'll literally yell it you to slow down if you're staying in 1st gear at low speeds just because they hear an engine, and of course car companies build cars around that.
>go down a long hill every morning>3rd gear whole way, put the a/c cmpressor on near the bottom where it gets steep>maintain the speed limit perfectly without touching the brake pedal>every other fuck rides their brakes the whole way downOnly down side is my engine is only just getting to operating temp when I reach the top of the hill, by the bottom the gauge is heading for the cold mark again.
>>28743875Damm anon yoy got the beast cooling system, if I'm going up a stupid incline with ac on a 94 degree day, it can go a little over the half on my gauge, still doesnt boil but it gets hot, engine braking is so based through, you'd be surprised how regular of a brake pads setup yoy can go fast on in the canyons if you're just in the right gear, leaving it in D will just smoke em up in no time without any engine drag helping you slow it down.
>>28743875You ever feel the need to go into second during particularly steep points? I'm asking because I attempt to use my brakes as little as possible when I know im going down for a few miles so sometimes I put it in 2 to go 35 to 25mph, but I feel it lurches a bit so I refrain from doing it even though I know its possible.
>>28743880In this situation you gotta use your brakes to slow down just enough that it doesn't slam into the lower gear. On my car that means getting under ~1k rpm before dropping into a lower gear.
>>28743577My dumbass crown Victoria has PRN(D)D1 which is annoying when I need 2nd gear for engine braking
>>28743551are you retarded
>>28743551>They're driving autos and can't engine brake.Yes they can. One, most modern automatics have the ability to select gears. So, you can downshift and force the car to use a lower gear. Two, even on older automatics without this feature, most of them since the 80s and 90s usually have a button labeled "overdrive on/off". Overdrive is essentially 4th or 5th gear, whichever gear is the highest. I drive a crown victoria. So if I'm in the mountains and going down a hill, I press the button to turn Overdrive Off. A little light comes on the dash telling me that O/D is off. What this means is that the car removes the ability to shift into the "overdrive gear" which for a panther is the 4th gear, since it's a 4 speed transmission. Turning the O/D off thus forces the car to downshift to 3rd car for the top gear, and is essentially a form of engine braking
>>28745144If you're in a crown vic you don't need to switch to 2nd gear for engine breaking. Just press the button to turn overdrive off as I explain here: >>28746456
>>28743625this is unfortunately the case. it's not that none of their cars were capable of engine braking, it's that they all pay $700/mo or more for an appliance that they don't even know how to use. when I first met my wife, she said the dealer showed her how the stick in her leased shitbox could go into "plus minus mode" but never to actually use it because there's never a reason to and she could break something
>>28743536This is really dependent on the car model. Hybrids for example will show brake lights while engaging regen braking, which doesn't engage the mechanical brakes, and my Ford with a DCT has a very soft brake pedal that does fuck all for the first inch or so of travel but put the lights on to show other drivers that I'm about to brake, and when breaking through the "driver desires braking" threshold the trans downshifts to assist the mechanical brakes.
>>28746477This isn't true for all hybrids/EVs, some don't even illuminate the brakes at all even if you're using one pedal driving.
>>28743577They can, but due to the nature of automatics, the engine breaking force is much weaker. Feels like engine breaking with a slipping clutch. Now, if that auto is DCT, then you do get full engine breaking.
>>28743536You're fine. It's simply a matter of people not knowing fully how to operate an automatic transmission. They know literally nothing about it aside from switch it from P to F to start driving, switch it from F to P when you're done driving, and put it in R if you have to go backwards. A large portion of auto trans users have zero clue about any other functionality the transmission has.
>>28747107>Feels like engine breaking with a slipping clutchIt essentially IS engine braking with a slipping clutch, the slipping clutch being the decoupled torque converter.
>>28747183The fuck is F?
So what's the downside to engine braking in an automatic? Extra wear on the clutch packs + degradation of fluid via heat?
>>28747192Sorry... D lolHaven't driven something with an automatic in like 5 years.
>>28743580>>28743586there are very, very few normies that use a gear selector with an auto. the only people I know who use it are ones who are used to driving manuals and want that level of control, boiracers, and the occasional aggressive stock car driver and track/conefag. I only know one older dude that uses it for descents on his caravan, and he would otherwise never touch manual mode>>28747192F is for Forward, obviously
>>28747261>F is for Forward, obviouslyWould be useful after a day of driving forklifts. Instead I just activate the wipers and go nowhere.
>>28743536You realize DOT 5.1 brake fluid is a thing and carbon ceramic brakes and accessible for most shit boxes. They probably didnt have either, but you could have for a few hundred dollars if you wrenched at all.
