Illinois is, in fact, flat

[Max Rockatansky]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Also found this to be stupefyingly true.  My father taught me to shift down.  It's not even that mysterious of a procedure.

Mine did too when he was teaching me how to drive the S10.  Although I don't recall shifting to lower gears to be part of drivers education in the late 1990s in Michigan. 

[JayhawkCO]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

I don't remember the last time I wasn't on a 4WD road going downhill at such a grade where I needed to go 40 mph or less, to be fair.

[Max Rockatansky]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

I don't remember the last time I wasn't on a 4WD road going downhill at such a grade where I needed to go 40 mph or less, to be fair.

I've found the Rockies to not really be all that steep for sustained periods of time.  The downhill slopes are fairly gentle or are often at least engineered that way on modern highways.  Off the top of my head the one normal highway I used lower gears on with regularity was westbound US 160 coming down Wolf Creek Pass. 

[SEWIGuy]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Also found this to be stupefyingly true.  My father taught me to shift down.  It's not even that mysterious of a procedure.

Right. But I just don't think it's all that necessary. As I said, I have driven all over the country and never driven in anything but "D."

[Max Rockatansky]

Amusingly the only time I've ever lost my brakes was on an Interstate.  In 2017 I was on eastbound I-80 in my 2014 Sonic descending from Donner Summit in third gear.  I touched the brake while coming up to a truck and it became unresponsive.  I had to slow down by gradually shifting to 1st.  I actually didn't come to a full stop until I was on southbound CA 89 for about a mile. 

That car was complete dog shit and was out of its element once I left Florida.  Despite copious use of lower gears I warped my front rotors twice.  It was the last car I owned with rear drums.

The strange thing was that I took that Sonic on a bunch of paved roads that have lower gear signage (like Mineral King Road and Kaiser Pass Road) with no apparent issues.  The two times the rotors warped was when I was descending on CA 180 west of CA 63 and on CA 190 descending Towne Pass.  I was using 2nd and 3rd gear on Towne Pass, but at least that is somewhat infamous steep grade.  CA 180 was/is a far gentler gradient and can hold faster speeds.  That car also used to flag check engine lights and knock at high elevation. 

[Rothman]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Also found this to be stupefyingly true.  My father taught me to shift down.  It's not even that mysterious of a procedure.

Right. But I just don't think it's all that necessary. As I said, I have driven all over the country and never driven in anything but "D."

It's never absolutely necessary, but is a good way of delaying your next brake job.

I mean, people are indeed free to ride their brakes...

[SSOWorld]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Straight into the shop to replace them...

[Max Rockatansky]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Straight into the shop to replace them...

I dunno, I'm kind of amazed sometimes at the high number of jalopies that are allowed to roam on California roadways.  As long as a vehicle passes emissions no authority seems to give fuck all about the condition it may be in. 

[SSOWorld]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Straight into the shop to replace them...

I dunno, I'm kind of amazed sometimes at the high number of jalopies that are allowed to roam on California roadways.  As long as a vehicle passes emissions no authority seems to give fuck all about the condition it may be in. 

put them on a NASCAR track

[Max Rockatansky]

In fairness to the drivers of Illinois I haven't encountered many normals on the west coast that know how to engage lower gears on automatic transmissions either.  Normals prefer to ride their brakes down steep grades. 

Straight into the shop to replace them...

I dunno, I'm kind of amazed sometimes at the high number of jalopies that are allowed to roam on California roadways.  As long as a vehicle passes emissions no authority seems to give fuck all about the condition it may be in. 

put them on a NASCAR track

Interestingly the emissions put out by NASCAR racecars comes up now and then as a point of contention.  It wasn't until fairly recently that the organizing body went away from leaded fuel and carburation.

[kphoger]

I don't know that I've ever driven an automatic in "normal" first or second gear. I've certainly used 4-Lo though in my Xterra/Jeep.

I have.  I learned my lesson on a long, steep downhill dirt road into a canyon in far western Colorado.  I was barely able to come to a stop because the brakes were burning up so badly.  I let them cool awhile, then made sure to use 2nd and 3rd gears from there on down the descent.  I'm not sure I've ever used 1st gear in that scenario, though.

[Max Rockatansky]

Have we ever had a thread about signage tells drivers to use specific gears?  Mineral King Road has signage for 1st and 2nd gears.

[SSOWorld]

I see "Use Lower Gear" often enough. It's rare that it's not accompanied by "Trucks"

[Max Rockatansky]

The lower gears signs are fairly common.  Specific gears not so much I've found.