For the automatic fans

**rangieman** · 25th September 2006, 09:35 PM

I was out on sunday in the vic high country with a few mates five cars all manual transmissions except for a Tdi disco that was a auto
i was trip leader so when there was any drama i stopped and waited as expected ,

i came down a very slippery step hill in low low and informed all behind of the condition and to come down in the lowest gear and avoid the brakes
a paj driver that thought he knew it all came down in low second and built speed up hit the brakes a slid in to bank
here comes the disco with winch to save him , mr disco winch,s mr paj back on to the track ,the paj drives down low low a little bit of sliding nothing major

now for mr disco,s turn to come down.
man all i can say what a very scary thing to watch this driver was in for the ride there was nothing he could have done
he said he came down locked in the low first it started to build up speed and he touched the brakes it had abs, he released the brakes but it had built up speed and was slipping as well
now this man has several series landies all manuals he has sworn to never take that Auto out bush again
back to a manual for him he said

i know the argument for autos is strong for some and those who drive them choice , but what i saw was a very scary

**gruntfuttock** · 25th September 2006, 10:24 PM

Would have been good on Video (For training purposes only of course

)

**tempestv8** · 25th September 2006, 10:46 PM

He obviously didn't know about "driving through the brakes" technique.

**Pedro_The_Swift** · 26th September 2006, 04:11 AM

for all the other auto owners out there---

"Please Explain"

**Grizzly_Adams** · 26th September 2006, 05:33 AM

"Left-foot-braking".

You lock it in gear (low-first in this case) and then keep your right foot gently on the accelerator so you always have power to the wheels.

Then moderate your speed with your left foot on the brake.

The auto gearbox will slip to stop you from stalling - but the slip will be no-where near as much as normal driving in city traffic so you aren't going to damage anything.

The touch on the accelerator will keep power to the wheels which will keep them turning even whilst you are braking.

With that technique and a bit of practice you can creep down a hill slower than most manuals.

To be honest though I do not know what effect the ABS would have on the above-mentioned technique. In the situation you described ABS sounds like an absolute nightmare and would concern me more

**dobbo** · 26th September 2006, 05:42 AM

The D2 must have lower gearing,
but on the one occation is has been too fast I just pressed the magic HD button and all problems were solved. Alternatively just select 1 low range and activate manual mode via the Mode button.

Beautiful

**amtravic1** · 26th September 2006, 06:03 AM

Going down hill, as well up as up relies on good tyres for traction. What tyres did the disco have?
As a person who has ridden trailbikes for over 30 years there is a well known saying. That is "when in doubt power it out". This also applies to 4wding. Yes, it can be very scary actually accellerating to get back on line but it works. The other tip is to use a small rut/groove in the track to act like a tram line and track down it. You need to be able to "read" the track to stay in control.

Ian

**TuffRR** · 26th September 2006, 06:21 AM

Sounds like the guy doesn't actually know proper 4wding techniques. Perhaps recommend he attends a club driver training event (assuming he is a member of a club).

**camel_landy** · 26th September 2006, 06:24 AM

Ahhh... Autos & steep decents.

Can be a little unnerving the first time you do it! Basically, it takes a little more speed to get the torque converter to wind up and get the engine to do the braking.

This is where HDC comes into its own. Failing that, cadence braking will help but you have to be careful & ready to give it a little bit of gas should the wheels lock.

Mind you, you should still be OK with the auto, it's just that the extra speed takes a little getting used to.

M

**dmdigital** · 26th September 2006, 06:36 AM

So far I've found "driving through the brakes" works well and on a slippery slop I would much rather this than having HDC lock a wheel with the brake. Also haven't found ABS an issue with this method as you should be going slow enogh for it to not be an issue. One of the things to remember is that the auto's L1 is a lot higher than L1 in a manual (something like 2.8:1 rather than 3.2:1 from memory) so you will naturally have a faster descent without braking.

Still it would have made a great "how not to do it" video!

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