[ShinyMew]

There is a hill I commute up and over in my automatic car about one hundred times per year. It takes about 30 seconds to travel up, so it is quite long. My current tactic is to accelerate before the bottom very hard (about 80-90% throttle) to reach the highest gear (which kicks in at about 70km/h). By the time I've hit the slope of the hill I'm at about 90km/h and thereafter gradually lessen the pressure I place on the throttle to avoid it shifting down. If maintain that 80-90% throttle, the car still loses speed up the hill and it drops a gear to try compensate. Half the time, I am able to avoid it shifting down, and the other half the time, once it has fallen below about 65km/h and 20% throttle, it shifts).

Surely easing off the throttle (load) whilst travelling up the hill and losing speed, rather than maintaining 80%, in order to prevent it shifting down, is better?