Ice/Snow Driving & Engine Braking

I grew up driving stick so engine braking comes naturally to me, but wondering how it plays with the traction controls while driving RWD or 4HI. I am not referring to driving on lower gear to manage downhill speed, but rather downshifting (using s-mode) to slow the car down.

 

It can be a bit abrupt at times so I usually rev match (yes it's possible) to avoid the harsh shift. I'm in a mostly dry climate so I'm not sure how the harsh downshift would affect driving on snow.

 

You could do that but there is another thread on here that talks about why you should not be using the S mode to shift your vehicle around. It should be used for when towing to keep it from going into 5th gear. Also not using your parking brake when parking and using your transmission for parking is not good. Wish I could find it but I spent 15 minutes trying to find it.

 

humm ok Ill do some digging into the s-mode for braking

 

Dunno what grant is talking about, but when we had snowpocalypse we drove all of our fire apparatus in that mode to get around safely, including my 4runner.

 

It was a Car Care Nut video. Don’t remember which one but he advised not using sequential mode on a regular basis. I trust his opinion but after watching the video, I was left wondering when we could use it.

 

The manual doesn't say not to shift it on the fly. Obviously S mode is not the same as driving a manual. But, any gear can be selected, depending on speed and the amount of braking force needed.

I did see something where Scotty Kilmer said it would wreck your transmission. But, I wouldn't worry about what a Youtuber says. I've seen some so-called experts talking out of their asses on there.

 

That guy is a mechanic, not an engineer. I would use S mode as the manual states.

 

I use S mode a lot.

 

I tested out the current year TRD Pro Tacoma/4Runner with Toyota. Them and the off road pros they highers to take us on the trail had using S to lock it in a lower gear, I can confirm you can use S.

 

It's not going to immediately break the transmission, but apparently it puts more wear on the clutches. Just like using the clutch to brake in a manual instead of revmatching while downshifting.

Just think about which part of the vehicle you want to put more wear on while you're driving: the brake pads or the transmission clutches.

I use S on steep grades, both to lock it in a lower gear going uphill, and to keep speed under control coming downhill (start in or brake to drop into a lower gear, not shifting to slow down).

Just my thoughts on it.