Quote:
Originally Posted by Thymeclock
But I don't understand why you are downshifting an automatic. I can understand how it will provide braking (and save your brakes to some small degree) but how will it save gas? If the downshifted engine is braking the car more, it will be coasting less.  |
I do use a lot of NICE-on coasting, especially to lights. The times i tend to downshift is when i have to come to a complete stop at the bottom of a hill, or if a light changes unexpectedly and i have to slow down pretty quickly. With downshifting you should check your mirrors to make sure no one is tailgating you. I sometimes throw on the flashers for a second to let the person behind me know that i'm dropping speed. I will also use the brakes in conjunction with downshifting if there are cars behind. The thing i like about downshifting over NICE-on coasting is fuel cutoff (reading 9999 on sgII), but of course you do slow a lot faster than you would doing NICE-on coasting.