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Originally Posted by BenzBoy8
Here's the question:
Am I saving wear and tear on my brakes and possibly helping fuel efficiency, or am I putting dangerous, useless wear and tear on my A/T? If there is no clear answer to that one, perhaps you could just answer this - do you think it is a BAD thing, or would you guess it is mostly harmless?
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You are saving wear and tear on your brake pads, however you are not helping fuel efficiency.
That being said, on downshifts, you are wearing the clutches in the transmission in lieu of the brake pads. The brake pads cost about $50. to replace. The transmission costs upwards of $1500.
On upshifts, you can hold the transmission in the lower gears for an extended period if you feel the need to do this. There is very little
additional wear caused by a delayed upshift.
Around town, I frequently hold the SDL in third gear all the time, provided that the speed stays below 35 mph. This prevents the upshift to fourth, which is practically useless because of the next upcoming traffic light. It's probably not as practical with gears above 2.88, however.