I drive a small automatic car. For the most part, it struggles a bit with steep uphills, and picks up speed when going downhill. That’s to be expected.
But then I noticed some downhills actually slow it down. I’ve noticed during a two-hour motorway trip I often do to visit family, there are some specific downhills, not all, just some, where my car always slows down and I have no idea why.
Ideas?
This is very likely the reason. Not all downhills will induce it, but the automatic is down-shifting to slow your acceleration. There are various ways for your car to know but manufacturers want the driver in control, not the environment. Depending on the car and speed you may not hear it, but when it slows down does it sound like the engine is revving higher?
It also helps keep brakes cool, important for mountain driving.
One of my cars hardly does any automatic engine braking. My other vehicle will keep or decrease speed down long hills/mountains. No noticeable change in engine noise at all. Makes long trips through the mountains much easier, especially because it’s a heavy vehicle and overheated brakes is a very real concern.
What happens when the brakes get too hot? Do they gently stop working or can they just explode or something?
Brakes are assholes, when they overheat they can fail basically suddenly. You do get a warning in lower effectiveness or one side braking more than the other, but if you’re not familiar with that feeling, you may not realise it. Also modern cars are made so that everything just feels the same all the time.
You can see it in car races such as in F1. Braking braking, suddenly boom, car is in the barrier.
Yes, they’ll work again after cooling down unless they’re shit and got deformed, or you crashed.
That’s why it’s important to have brakes checked regularly, you get little to no warning in modern cars. Same with clutch and a bunch of other mechanisms.