New downhill driving technique for auto's

Downhill driving technique for auto's

I read this in the latest Australian 4WD Monthly magazine on downhill descents for autos. This technique was given by Martian Dury who is a driving instructor for Land Rover England. Now I was not expecting anything new but what he said I had never tried or heard of in over 20 years of driving autos offroad.
The technique is to be locked into low range 1st and while still on the flat at the top of the hill, drive forward with the tacho reading 1500 revs. Now holding that accelerator position, place your left foot on the brake and slow the revs down to 800. As you progress down the hill you must not move the accelerator at all but change the force with your left foot braking to keep the revs at 800 until the bottom of the hill. If you should get some lockup you just ease you brake but do not change the right foot position.
The procedure works because you have a lot more torque at 1500 revs where you locked your foot into than at idle. This extra torque keeps the wheels turning to stop lockup while the braking keeps the speed under control. They say that some vehicles of small capacity will not be able to hold the 800 rpm so you have to find what is best for your vehicle.
I have not tried this yet but I think it has merit and look forward to trying it or hearing from someone once they have. Obviously you would try it on an easy hill first to get used to it and it will be harder for those that do not practice left foot braking all the time like they teach in advance driving schools which is why I learnt it a number of years ago.

hum that does make sence

Gojeep said:

Obviously you would try it on an easy hill first to get used to it and it will be harder for those that do not practice left foot braking all the time like they teach in advance driving schools which is why I learnt it a number of years ago.

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Since he wants the accelerator peddle to remain stationary and modulate the pressure on the brake peddle, a simple hand throttle cable with a locking screw would allow you to set the throttle and use the right foot on the brake as usual.

Of course, with an AW-4 you'd probably have to install the toggle switch to disable the 1-2 upshift to preclude an unwanted gear change at in inopportune moment.

I've always used gas and brake at the same time with autos on teep decents. I've never worried about what the RPMs and such were, but it works better than just brakes or just engine compression thats for sure.

I use something similar to that for going uphill on snowy roads with open diffs, the brakes stop the spinning wheel and one with traction provides some power to the road. I generally use the hand brake for this. Gotten me up a couple of hills in an olds 77 starfire I had back in the 70's. I've also used the hand brake to straighten me out on downhills, rear brakes act kinda like an anchor/rudder.

basalt51 said:

I've always used gas and brake at the same time with autos on teep decents. I've never worried about what the RPMs and such were, but it works better than just brakes or just engine compression thats for sure.

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I'm going to guess that our engines we can get away with more variation on the gas becuase he have good low end torque. Maybe the LR ECU has some coding for this type of thing too. Just a WAG.

My only concern with the technique is brake overheat on a really steep, long descent. I guess it is a judgement call.

I'm completely new to wheeling with an auto so this will be a good addition to my bag o' tricks.

Is there an equivalent to starting in gear with a stick on a botched hill climb? Only thing I can think of with a auto is get the truck gathered up and once ready to get underway take your feet off the pedals and feed a little bit of gas in when required.

r@m

The funny thing is that my sons 89YJ's auto tranny brakes have a hard time stopping him in 4LO low without alot of effort, the 4.2 has alot of torque at 900rpm.. Well off to connecticut to go look at a TJ...

RichP said:

The funny thing is that my sons 89YJ's auto tranny brakes have a hard time stopping him in 4LO low without alot of effort, the 4.2 has alot of torque at 900rpm.. Well off to connecticut to go look at a TJ...

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Thats actaully the main reason I ended up with my ford 9" rear. I couldn't stop on steep climbs if I rolled back at all. Just so happens the best disc conversion I found happened to have a 9" attached


I do know that some Land Rovers have a special downhill engine braking mode, so I'm not sure if this techinique is intended for those vehicles.

basalt51 said:

Thats actaully the main reason I ended up with my ford 9" rear. I couldn't stop on steep climbs if I rolled back at all. Just so happens the best disc conversion I found happened to have a 9" attached


I do know that some Land Rovers have a special downhill engine braking mode, so I'm not sure if this techinique is intended for those vehicles.

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Many Land Rovers and also the BMW X5 ( it was developed while they owned the company ) have what they call Hill Descent Control. HDC uses the ABS braking system to keep the speed at 7 kmh and on this years models 5 kph. It does not use the throttle at the same time on the setup though.
I am looking forward to trying the technicque next time I have the oppotunity. :roll:

when you drive an auto offroad, its a two-footed affair.

I resisted changing my style, but it must be done....

not just downhills but....

in the rock garden, I can be on both pedals at the same time, holding gas down slightly, and releasing brake and feathering through obstacles.

It is cumbersome at first until gain coordination, at which point you wonder how you ever drove with one foot.

screw hand controls on auto.....you need two hands on the wheel, and its too easy to bump your throttle control. use two feet.