Driving mountain passes. Over or under?

[Bletchleyite]

I would suggest that this is unlikely with modern cars. The internal friction of the drivetrain has come down so much that the effect of engine braking is much reduced.

It doesn't come from the internal friction of the drivetrain, rather it comes from the compression of air in the cylinders (you are basically just doing the "suck, squeeze" bit and not the "bang, blow" bit). As a result diesels tend to have more engine braking than petrols - but yes, I can confirm it does still work, at least with my 1.5TDCi Ford Kuga.

Doesn't tend to work with an auto, I'll give you. Should work again with hybrids as they can use regen to generate the resistance and charge the battery too.

 

[cactustwirly]

It doesn't come from the internal friction of the drivetrain, rather it comes from the compression of air in the cylinders (you are basically just doing the "suck, squeeze" bit and not the "bang, blow" bit). As a result diesels tend to have more engine braking than petrols - but yes, I can confirm it does still work, at least with my 1.5TDCi Ford Kuga.

Doesn't tend to work with an auto, I'll give you. Should work again with hybrids as they can use regen to generate the resistance and charge the battery too.

The engine braking on my 1.8 petrol is very weak, I only use it to drop from 40 to 30 for example. I use the physical brakes in literally every other circumstance.

 

[Jamesrob637]

It doesn't come from the internal friction of the drivetrain, rather it comes from the compression of air in the cylinders (you are basically just doing the "suck, squeeze" bit and not the "bang, blow" bit). As a result diesels tend to have more engine braking than petrols - but yes, I can confirm it does still work, at least with my 1.5TDCi Ford Kuga.

Doesn't tend to work with an auto, I'll give you. Should work again with hybrids as they can use regen to generate the resistance and charge the battery too.

Geared braking in my DSG Golf is fantastic and scares the old biddies outside the grocers when I drop to 1st at 29 and the RPM rises to 5500!