Hill descent control v manual engine braking

I have used the downhill assist (DAC) on our cruiser (auto 200 series) a few times and find it absolutely brilliant. The following photos were on a wet steep downhill track in Tasmania and the track was a mixture of sandy loam and large rocks, with a few curves. Again the DAC worked perfectly. Kevin

Unless you are an absolute professional, let the smarts do it.

G/Day Nigel, I reckon it depends whether its dry or wet decent, ...If its steep enough and wet enough and the vehicle weight takes over, No! Technical Gismo or gearing of any description will help, only the bloke above can help where you land, if he's watching, lol . Dry and steep , providing its not to loose then some tech things do assist.


Cheers Axle.

I've got 2 cars, one with low range and no gizmos and the other with no low range and every gizmo they have ever invented. Both are autos. The low range car is excellent at idling in 1st low down the steepest of inclines with no need to use the brake. The other has the Hill Descent control that feels like an army of little robots grabbing frantically at every wheel individually attempting to limit the cars speed to around 7 kph down the slope while also attempting to keep the car travelling straight by not allowing skids. The brakes can get very hot on a long slope. I prefer the low range car in that situation but they both have gone to the same destinations with a minimum of fuss.

I don't know about other vehicles. The Disco II hill descent control would only work in low/1st gear, or to put it another way you could only use bot situations if you wanted HDC.

My RRS is an auto and also has HDC. However the auto locks up the torque converter when in low range going down hill. I have found selecting 1st or 2nd going downhill is more comfortable as HDC (variable speed) gets a bit noisey, rattly and jerky. However on very steep, slippery hills I have both on - generally the gearbox hold the car and HDC does not get activated.

Garry