Advice needed re downshifting

[d***@home.com]

My husband maintains that I am putting unnecessary wear on the breaks by using only them
when going down hills rather than downshifting in our automatic transmission mini-van.

I've never driven a standard transmission vehicle and have no idea when to shift from
which gear to which. Furthermore I'm afraid that if I tried, I'd end up ruining the
transmission somehow. It would definitely put an end to his downshifting nagging but a
rather expensive way to do it!

Who is right? Should I downshift on hills rather than break? To which gear at which speed?

[Leo Lichtman]

<***@home.com> wrote: My husband maintains that I am putting unnecessary
wear on the breaks by using only them

when going down hills rather than downshifting (clip)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah? He is putting unnecessary wear on the engine. Which costs more, a
brake* job or an engine?
____________________
*BTW, note spelling :-)

[Fred]

Post by d***@home.com
unnecessary wear on the breaks by using only them

when going down hills rather than downshifting (clip)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah? He is putting unnecessary wear on the engine. Which costs
more, a brake* job or an engine?
____________________
*BTW, note spelling :-)

I think it would take a long time to wear out an engine this way.
With a standard, just downshift one gear at a time till you get the
desired effect. There should be a tachometer to show you the RPM if
you're interested in that sort of thing. Actually the wear problem
will be on the transmission more than the engine. If you go right
into first gear at high speeds it could be dangerous and you might
loose control of the vehicle. Front wheel drives can be dangerous
this way, especially if you have slippery road conditions. If you're
going to do it, get used to it under safe conditions at lower speeds
first. I don't know what your skills are or what kind of a car
you're driving.
Mordern cars are made to be braked and the braking is balanced so as
to keep the car under control. You may even have ABS that keeps the
wheels from locking up and allows the car to be steered even at
maximum braking.
On second thought, forget downshifting and use your brakes! If the
idea seems uncomfortable to you, then it's not something you want to
try in traffic.