Hi,

Just bought my 08 Cobalt and am loving it (31.5 MPG Avg city/hwy). But my trip to work every day begins with a 3 mile hilly road that, due to traffic, runs about 20 MPH. My question is can I use the auto trans in 2nd gear on the downgrade (tach runs at 2k) and shift to D when the road levels out and goes uphill? I'd like to take advantage of the lower torque rather than riding the brakes for the downgrade.

I guess the real question is whether this action will do any damage to the trans over time??

Thanks!
Bill

 

Shouldn't hurt the tranny at all. In fact, the transmission is stronger when placed in manual 2, then when its driving in auto 2.

 

Thanks ShawnVW...

I've been doing it and it has helped a bit. But with all of the stop/go driving due to traffic on the interstate that I have to do, I believe my brake drums have warped slightly (so far). And only 1500 miles on it already! At this rate, the money I save in gas will pay for a brake job every 3 months!

Bill