Mountain Net Fastar Manual

[Rode Neagle]

Debatabletopic, but the physics never change. Braking(slowing) of any object by friction generates heat. And life of any component degrades after being applied with enough heat and friction. Brake pads are made to be replaced because the surface needs to be refreshed and cut by micro level to keep its peak performance. Even though, transmissions are built to last quite long time under normal operation, no one can determine exactly what is "normal operation" but the physics tells you that it will definitely shorten the life span.

So, if I were you, I wouldn't make it a habit. Engine braking is absolutely valid when you are going down long hill like mountains to avoid over heating the brakes which makes them to degrade much faster. But like it's been said above, brake pads are much cheaper to replace. I just don't see enough reason to use engine braking on the street. Transmission break down is one of the things that I absolutely want to avoid dealing with. It will cost a lot to fix it. In fact, most transmission WILL eventually fail at some point whether you like it or not; it's just matter of time. By engine braking, you might be expediting the consequence.

Being obsessive/compulsive about manually downshifting your CVT transmission to routinely slow down your car is about as smart as resting your hand on a manual gearshift or riding your brakes all the time.

I don't think anyone will say it's going to damage the transmission. Better explanation would be that you will wear transmission little bit faster. If you think about it, engine braking at certain RPM would be the same load on transmission and engine as if you are to accelerate at the same RPM. So unless you are going crazy, you are not going to do any DAMAGE per say, but you are indeed putting more strain to the transmission by decelerating car by engine braking and not brakes.

My logic is that I want to avoid any unnecessary strain on the transmission. Everybody want their tires and brakes to last as much as possible, but why would you pay the price with more strain on the transmission when transmission is much more expensive? Transmissions wear out under normal operation, otherwise, no one would visit transmission shop unless you are a race driver.(Okay, drivers who really believe that the transmission oils last lifetime like manual says are exceptions..) They wear just like brake pads do, it's just that they last quite more than brakes pads with proper maintenance. So I just choose to save transmission and use brakes whenever....braking.

If your car is leased and you are not keeping the car more than 5 years.. why not?? do engine braking, go full throttle whenever possible, and do what ever you want to do. car will be just fine. but if you want to keep your car for long time without trouble.. I would be very gentle with our transmission and just don't take any chances.

Funny the expert said it was okay when i do it so i guess Im in the clear. I drive with 1 hand and often only a couple fingers so 2 hands on the wheel does not apply to my driving style. All im saying is i have never seen it cause problems and know people who drive like that and have never reported an issue.

the fun thing is we can tell you why coasting in neutral with a CVT is bad, or why driving around in a car with a manual transmission while resting your hand on the gear shift can be problematic, or obsessively downshifting to engine brake vs using your brakes to slow down is increasing wear and tear on your transmission...

On an automatic gearbox then it may put a lot of things into rotation that don't get proper oil feed and also it may have selected an improper gear ratio causing parts inside to exceed the rpms they are designed for. So neutral on an auto (No matter if it's stepped or CVT) is more risky than doing the engine braking.

The torque imposed when doing an engine braking is lower than when accelerating. Just make a test yourself and see - you get a lot more acceleration when you push the throttle than retarding when you downshift.

the biggest reason not to but any transmission in neutral while coasting is that you will actually be burning more fuel. All modern cars use a fuel cut strategy when you take your foot off the gas and let the car coast. the ECM will immediately cut fuel to the injectors and let the transmission turn the engine mechanically...down to about 1200rpm (varies by car)before turning the injectors back on...

also most all automatics will prevent over revving when downshifting as they are electronically controlled and will prevent downshifting if the resulting gear will over speed the engine mechanically... been that way for a few decades now....

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