Hacker News Reader

What do people do about long hills and mountains in an automatic? I've not driven an automatic that doesn't have a manual mode in mountains. Maybe it's not that big a deal to ride the brakes the whole way down? Do modern CVTs have some sort of manual override?

View on HN

Modern automatics are smart enough to downshift when coasting down a steep hill. I've driven a Duramax with the Allison up and down mountains. Absolutely amazing. You just slightly touch the brake pedal, and it downshifts and the exhaust brake enables.

You can downshift most automatics manually or to a “low” gear for downhill. Not sure how many drivers are aware of it or are comfortable using it though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com