How to properly Engine Brake

TouringBlue

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Full disclosure: I just learned that Engine Braking is a thing and I'm blown away by it even though it's pretty straightforward and common.

So how do you properly apply this when you're driving at 60 mph and you want to slow down a descending hill? Is it simply shifting from D to L (or S) after I let go of the accelerator pedal? I get a bad gut feeling that I may be doing something that could harm my CVT.
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gtman

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Full disclosure: I just learned that Engine Breaking is a thing and I'm blown away by it even though it's pretty straightforward and common.
Don't jinx yourself. It's engine "break-in", not engine breaking. ;)

Just vary your speed and no wide open throttle under 600 miles. I've been doing it this way for well over 30 years and my cars have been fine.
 
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gtman

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Oh, you're talking about engine "braking". That's just a way to save a little bit of wear and tear on the engine by dropping the transmission a gear or two instead of riding the brakes. On the CVT, dropping it into S will give you some engine braking. I wouldn't use L unless you were on a lower speed, steep downhill.
 
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TouringBlue

TouringBlue

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Oh, you're talking about engine "braking". That's just a way to save a little bit of wear and tear on the engine by dropping the transmission a gear or two instead of riding the brakes. On the CVT, dropping it into S will give you some engine braking. I wouldn't use L unless you were on a steep downhill.
Oh my. Sorry for the confusion... I didn't have my coffee this morning (facepalm). I've corrected the Title and Post. So switching from D to S (or L) as the car is moving at 60 mph on a steep downhill is not bad at all?
 


gtman

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You'll be fine doing that in short bursts.
 

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Oh, you're talking about engine "braking". That's just a way to save a little bit of wear and tear on the engine by dropping the transmission a gear or two instead of riding the brakes. On the CVT, dropping it into S will give you some engine braking. I wouldn't use L unless you were on a steep downhill.
Super stupid question, but while L stands for Low(Gear) could it also be used For (L)aunch lol, Ive noticed from a dig you can use L until it stops climbing/pulling, pop it forward to S stomp the throttle let rpms rev let off the throttle long enough for it to register but not long enough for it to stop pulling and slam down again (we dubbed this the double tap method)
 
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TouringBlue

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Super stupid question, but while L stands for Low(Gear) could it also be used For (L)aunch lol, Ive noticed from a dig you can use L until it stops climbing/pulling, pop it forward to S stomp the throttle let rpms rev let off the throttle long enough for it to register but not long enough for it to stop pulling and slam down again (we dubbed this the double tap method)
Ahhhh I'm trying to understand this but a scenario would be very helpful. I'm so new to this... I know it's embarrassing but I want to utilize engine braking.
 

Gruber

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The best engine braking with the CVT requires paddle shifters.

You just touch the left paddle to drop one "gear" down. You may observe your speed and see rpm jump up, and if you want more braking you touch again to see another rpm rise and the car slow down.
The good thing is that you will never do anything too violent, because reducing by one gear will never be drastic. And engine braking is not for emergency braking.
I do it routinely, often just approaching turns or going downhill or cruising behind a braking car ahead. All I need is to move a finger.

Braking by shifting to L is not nearly as convenient. Doing it at higher speeds would unpleasantly increase rpm, so you must waste a moment to first think, while with paddles you can do it as a reflex at any speed. And, you don't need to shift back to D or S, or even touch the right paddle, just resume driving.
 

ThorSellsCars

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Ahhhh I'm trying to understand this but a scenario would be very helpful. I'm so new to this... I know it's embarrassing but I want to utilize engine braking.
From a dig means a dead stop, standing still, its called a dig because when you floor it the car seems to squat almost, and the tires struggle to hold grip in some cases. Launching can mean a variety of different things and several different schools of thought im not going to get in right way wrong way, the jist of it is 0mph standing still to 60mph as fast as you can, climbing or pulling means getting faster with high rate of acceleration, letting on or off the throttle means to press the gas or not press the gas as the gas pedal is tied to the opening and closing of the throttle body.
 


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Are CVTs so complicated that we have so many threads about them?
 

gtman

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Are CVTs so complicated that we have so many threads about them?
Not so much complicated but a lot of first time CVT owners here. I was one of them. Even though, in principal, you press the gas and go they do work a bit differently than a traditional automatic.

95% of my cars have been manual. My last car before the Civic was a traditional auto and there was a bit of a learning curve going to a CVT. At first I didn't care for it, but now I appreciate how good a job Honda did with it. It matches up well with the turbo overall.
 

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R=Race, P= Pass!

S= Squirrel avoidance

L= LowJack so you can find your car after you use the breaks...
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