Down-Shifting while going downhill

[scottty6]

Has anyone had any experinence with the Edge down-shifting while going downhill (coasting). My Edge would shift into 4th while I was coasting down a 6% grade. I can only assume the car was thinking for me and trying to use engine compression to slow the car.

[Dingo]

Good assumption.

[akirby]

Very good assumption that is also documented in the owner's manual.

[RJG]

I try to avoid using my transmission like that. That's what brakes are for. And brakes are relatively cheap to fix when they wear out. Transmission not so cheap. Don't understand why Ford would program that in. Maybe when towing, brakes need some help.

 

Maybe 50-60 years ago, when car brakes didn't work well, you used the transmission to help you slow down. Not now.

Edited August 7, 2012 by RJG

[ladybird4]

Towing or not i would never use my brakes when going downhill on a log stretch of road. People that do this

are the ones i drive behind and smell there brakes all the way down the mountain. Sorry if i offend you but i

have never heard of anyone being advised to use there breaks instead of downshifting.

[c_bova]

50-60 years ago cars transmissions weren't built like they are today, I'm pretty sure they can take it.

[akirby]

I try to avoid using my transmission like that. That's what brakes are for. And brakes are relatively cheap to fix when they wear out. Transmission not so cheap. Don't understand why Ford would program that in. Maybe when towing, brakes need some help.

 

Maybe 50-60 years ago, when car brakes didn't work well, you used the transmission to help you slow down. Not now.

 

Using a lower gear when going downhill will not hurt the transmission at all. And riding the brakes down a long hill generates a lot of heat which is not good and if used long enough can actually cause loss of braking which is why they advise you to downshift in the mountains when going downhill.

[Waldo]

I try to avoid using my transmission like that. That's what brakes are for. And brakes are relatively cheap to fix when they wear out. Transmission not so cheap. Don't understand why Ford would program that in. Maybe when towing, brakes need some help.

 

Maybe 50-60 years ago, when car brakes didn't work well, you used the transmission to help you slow down. Not now.

 

How does the transmission get more wear in 4th gear than 6th?

[timf]

I've found the Edge to be very effective at using engine braking going downhill when cruise control is active. It doesn't seem to do this as much or at all when cruise is turned off.

[CARR142]

I use this feature to manually reduce the speed by lowering the set speed of cruise control to slow the vehicle down before I use the brakes, when possible.

 

although,

The active cruise control instructions states that "the brakes are applied to reduce vehicle speed"

Edited August 9, 2012 by CARR142

[RJG]

I live in Florida. No need for trans braking. But understand your points. Still think using transmission for braking mostly old school. Realize there are exceptions. I would probably lock out O/D coming off a Rocky Mtn.

Edited August 7, 2012 by RJG

[akirby]

If the cruise is set it will downshift to keep the speed at the set point. Without cruise on i don't think it will downshift when going downhill unless you touch the brakes.

[scottty6]

Thanks for all the good info. I did find in the manual after posting to the forum. I guess I just have to get used to the car making descisions for me. I'm used to the "old school" transmissions.

[akirby]

and will cost a hell of a lot less to fix if it breaks than totaling your car because the brakes wouldn't perform due to brake fade.

 

I don't have a comment - I just wanted to congratulate you for the proper use of "break" and "brake" in the same post.

[akirby]

Very good akirby! Thank you for noticing. I have to admit sometimes having troubles using the two words correctly in the same sentence. :whew: Kind of like a tongue-twister in text form.

 

It's my #1 pet peeve - using the wrong word.

 

"break" instead of "brake" - it's not a typo, it's the WRONG word.

 

My new favorite pet peeve is "would of" instead of "would've" or "would have".

[JOEHIO]

please, my wife is a teacher, and she is always correcting my grammer, she could give me a break (or is that brake) already !

[akirby]

please, my wife is a teacher, and she is always correcting my grammer, she could give me a break (or is that brake) already !

 

Grammer?

[richy]

 

 

Grammer?

 

LMFAO, Poor Joe!!

[RJG]

My point above is.....when I first started driving in late 50's I was taught to use the gears to slow down and not bakes....mainly because brakes were not so good then. And transmissions were mostly manual.

 

Now we have superb brakes in most cars, which are still relatively cheap to fix when they wear. Transmissions are very expensive to fix. So I don't see the point in down shifting every time you go off an off ramp or just want to slow down. Most experts agree with this.

 

And sure.....if coming off a long steep hill or mountain, it's still smart to control speed with trans...agree. It won't hurt anything. Just don't see point in using our transmissions like you are a road racer or something.

[Waldo]

I don't think anyone was talking about downshifting to come to a stop from freeway speed. We're talking about how the "Experts" at Ford have decided that downshifting to maintain speed on a hill is a good thing, which you now seem to agree with.

[akirby]

So I don't see the point in down shifting every time you go off an off ramp or just want to slow down. Most experts agree with this.

 

When does a Ford vehicle downshift when you slow down or are on an off ramp?

[RJG]

When does a Ford vehicle downshift when you slow down or are on an off ramp?

 

I admit to over reacting to original post. It comes from some posts I have seen on here about how the M position on our shifter with + and - buttons can be used like you're driving a manual trans for down shifting everytime time you want to slow down. My reaction was that's a little over use of the feature. So sorry....next time I'll read and study the post a little better.

[akirby]

I admit to over reacting to original post. It comes from some posts I have seen on here about how the M position on our shifter with + and - buttons can be used like you're driving a manual trans for down shifting everytime time you want to slow down. My reaction was that's a little over use of the feature. So sorry....next time I'll read and study the post a little better.

 

That is overkill and not at all necessary, but I'm sure there are a few folks who do it just for fun. As stated though it will only do it automatically when you have cruise control activated and it's used to keep the vehicle at the set speed going downhill or if you're going downhill and you tap the brakes - it assumes you want to slow down and will downshift to assist.

[blankster]

There is a feature in the vehicle to delay the charging of the battery via the alternator to when the vehicle is "coasting". That might be what you feel. I noticed the same on mine and thought there was a trans problem but I was directed to an article regarding this feature. It is meant to same fuel and reduce load on the engine.