Don't mean to pick fault but I seem to recall it being said the brakes
were
cheap compared to transmissions and one is usually better off to use
the
brakes and spare the transmission. Do you think that applies in a case
like
this or given the mountain, is it better to save the brakes just in
case you
really need them?
Long downgrades are _exactly_ the right place to use the transmission
rather than the brakes. Otherwise, no. I believe it is mentioned
in the owners manual. (Does anybody ever read these things besides
me? Certainly not my wife!) It is the constant shifting that is
bad for a transmission, not being in a different gear. Using the
engine's braking ability is by far the least wear-and-tear way to
control speed down the hill, things like exhaust brakes were invented
to make this an even more effective technique.
-- Jim
