D3 engine braking

[Dirty3]

I'm in the market for a D3/4 and wanted to know how engine braking is on the 2.7TDV6 compared to a TD5 (Auto). This is without hill decent (is that an option to turn off on D3?) on.
Thanks.

[camel_landy]

You don't state if you're talking about on-road in hi-range of off-road in lo.

If anything the TDV6 is much better than the TD5 as you have 'Command Shift' on the auto. In other words, you can manually stick it in a lower gear if you want the extra engine breaking.

I know you can hold it in gear on the TD5 but it's a lot easier to use on the TDV6.

Best thing is to try & take one for a test drive...

M

[Tote]

We had a driver training day a few weeks ago and I got to ride in a D2 for the first time since I sold mine a couple of years ago. HDC is a generation ahead of the D2 in controlling downhill speed, although I rarely use it. It can be turned off by pressing the button, even though it on by default when selecting some programs.
I find that in first or second low range I have excellent engine braking offroad without the intrusion of the brakes being applied with HDC.
The best bit is that if you feel that the vehicle is going too fast or you cant select a lower gear all you do is hit the HDC control and the vehicle is safely slowed down to a crawl even on the steepest slope.

Regards,
tote

[chuck]

I went away on the weekend up to the back of the Thompson Dam.
It is very very steep up there and I found the engine braking in low first to be excellent, way better than in my old TD5.

With HDC I reckon I was coming down some of the steepest hills I have ever been at about 2 - 3 km/h.

Regards

Chuck

[Dirty3]

Thanks for the info guys. Chuck, I know where your talking about in the Thomson Dam area. It's bloody steep there.

I've taken a D4 for a test drive but only on road, so a little hard to assess the ability. I was mostly interested in off road situations to clear that up. I know in the TD5 I resist the HDC as much as posible except for really steep stuff, but I find light feathering on the brakes to be really effective. I just wondered if the TDV6 took the edge off it a little more. I found in the TD5 putting the AirCon on, slowed revs slightly (maybe this is an urban myth) and reduced speed ever so slightly, but in tough steep conditions, every bit helps.

The more I read, the more I want a D4.....just the $ might put me into a D3. Cheers.

[rmp]

The crawl ratio on a 6-speed TDV6 is excellent compared to the 4-speed TD5. The TDV6 is also higher compression. Therefore, TDV6 engine braking is much better. I don't know if the torq conv locks up when engine braking, but either way it's pretty good.

HDC is IMHO a waste of time for any trained driver. All you need to do is operate the brakes with your foot as usual.

[ADMIRAL]

I am new to the D4,( 2.7lt ) but apart from comparison to other auto 4WD's, I find the D4 has even more obvious engine braking than most auto sedans driven. Even in traffic slowing for a light change, there is noticable braking as the auto shifts down in drive. Using the manual command shift, the whole process is more pronounced. In this regard the ZF auto behaves more like a manual gearbox.


I think you will be pleasantly surprised.