Quote:
Originally Posted by 320touring
This sounds a good idea, but how complex would the controlling of it be?
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For a manual it will take all the computing power that can be fitted between the steering wheel and the front seat. In some cases not much I grant you.
For an auto or semi-auto it may be trickier but not impossible I would have thought. We can detect if the car is slowing, we can detect if it is going downhill (although long, shallow descents may be harder). We can also time how long. So after say 3 seconds of decelerating, 0 throttle and speed >35-45 (for example), slip into 6th, then 5th etc.
Making it non-intrusive and smooth may be harder.
When I was being taught to drive I was told about going up and down through the gears. Quite often now unless going for overrun DFCO I don't go down the gears as I used to - brakes are cheaper than clutches, and with an effective synchro on each gear it takes no time at all to slip into gear to set off again.
EDIT - this teaching of going down the gears was in the days of SU carbs, so no DFCO.