Is it bad to "Down Shift" a lot?

Nope, it isn't. The computer knows exactly what is going on with every system when it decides to downshift. You do not. When a vehicle is downshifting as you are coming to a stop you don't even feel the transmission stopping you because the brakes are a large majority of the stopping power (never driven an auto Tacoma, but this is how it is in every auto I have ever driven). When you decide to make it engine brake the transmission is a large majority of the stopping power. There is a big difference.

 

I think it's time to unsub

 

It's not an rpm thing, when engine breaking the engine goes into DFCO, deceleration fuel cut off, and you aren't using any fuel.

 

K whatever

 

Yep

 

When you decide to engine break the engine is a large majority of the stopping power, not the transmission, it isn't heating the transmission.

 

Apparently you've never driven an "auto anything" equipped with paddle shifters. Kind of throws a wrench into your "computer knows" and "excess heat" etc theory. I wonder if the engineers at Corvette, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota (my Camry SE has paddle shifters), Porsche, etc missed that chapter in engineering school?

 

If downshifts are being done without rev matching, they are causing wear on something in the transmission. With an M/T, it's the clutch you're wearing. In an auto, I'm guessing it's also clutches, maybe less so because of the torque converter.

 

A lot of that on this thread

Correct

 

I think OP just needs a manual transmission for the fun of it.

I've driven cars with paddle shifters or "sport mode" shifters and it just feels odd. The lack of a clutch is one thing, but not being able to directly hit a certain gear just feels disconnected. I know the new dual clutch systems can perform better than the best driver in terms of shifting speed, but sometimes its all about that feel.

On the Tacoma auto trans -- aside from P and R (and maybe N), the rest of the positions are purely electronic. Shift all you want all day long but the reality is there is a computer in there deciding for you.

I'd be more concerned about all this manual shifting on the auto causing the mechanism to feel sloppy over time.

 

Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with downshifting an automatic.

I was driving my brother's 1978 mazda glc, maybe in 1986 or 7. I was a pretty inexperienced driver at that point. It was a cool little car, had wood steering wheel and shift knob.

I was coasting down a long hill in neutral to save gas. Got to the bottom, pushed clutch to get back in 4th and stuck it in 2ND instead and let out the clutch. Chest, meet steering wheel.

To it's credit, the little mazda took it like a champ. My brother would have beat me senseless had he ever found out.

 

You have the ability to select gears in lots of cars that are automatic, that doesn't mean anything.

 

Aww, you guys can sit here and rail on people but when someone makes a logical argument against you it is time to pick up the ball and go home?

 

Well no you didn't. Your assumption that the braking is taken on mostly by the transmission is wrong and not logical.

It's called "engine braking" for a logical reason.

 

Duh.....yeah....that was the point from the very first post.

 

I don't see why not. The transmission is what converts power either direction.

What we need is someone with a scangauge to take their Tacoma out to an incline and engine brake down it. If a video of that shows no increase in transmission temp I would declare my argument wrong.

 

You need someone to prove your guess right, the rest of use will know you are wrong. The negative engine braking load is less than the positive load to accelerate so why would it create greater heat?

 

The rest of you have no idea unless you have done exactly that. As far as the negative load I would say that depends on how hard you accelerate and engine brake. Your tranny won't last as long if you put the petal to the floor at every start either. Downshifting to a stop requires pretty hard engine braking unless you are doing it over a ridiculous distance.

 

And this is where normal people decide to stop arguing with you. You can't add anything more than "you have to prove my guess wrong", even though it's a fairly obvious bad guess.

Ignored

 

Ok I'll put it this way. The engineers were not thinking about component longevity when they designed the ability to select gears. You need that ability for towing or if you are on a slick hill etc. They certainly weren't thinking about it when they put paddle shifters in, that was purely for enhancing the driving experience, nothing else. I am positive they didn't put them in thinking "Well this way people can use their transmission as brakes!"