# Am I ruining my car?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [June 25, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821 "2008-06-25T02:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madamesofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@madamesofia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/madamesofia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/1 "2008-06-25T02:57:47Z")
I moved to the top of a mountain in California to work at a boarding school three years ago. Since then, I have gone up and down the mountain’s winding and steep road at least 3 times/month. I thought I was smart to downshift my automatic Subaru Forester as I go down the mountain - I can do the 1/2 hour trip from 5000 feet without touching the brakes. Now I am getting a new car - an Infiniti G35x and I really want to treat it right. Should I be braking instead? ---
**Author:** ![SteveF](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/stevef/32/2_2.png) [@SteveF](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveF)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/2 "2008-06-25T03:00:42Z")
You are doing it right. Use the same technique for your Infiniti. ---
**Author:** ![newpony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/41988e/32.png) [@newpony](https://community.cartalk.com/u/newpony)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/3 "2008-06-25T05:59:33Z")
good advice, stevef. The transmission is working whether the brakes are applied or not. Use the brakes too often and you’re in a “run away”. Been there, done that, didn’t want the tee shirt! ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/4 "2008-06-25T11:08:55Z")
You are doing it right. It is not only better for the car, it is far safer. ---
**Author:** ![lprocter](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/lprocter/32/40_2.png) [@lprocter](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lprocter)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/5 "2008-06-25T13:02:49Z")
You’re doing exactly the right thing. I once drove through the interior of British Columbia in a Hyundai Accent, and going through mountain roads, I discovered the Accent was unable to provide enough engine braking when going downhill, so I had to use the brakes on every hill. Which overheated them and caused the to be useless. Which meant I was going towards 180 degree hairpin turns at 60-80 km/h. With no shoulder. Or guardrail. And a 1000 foot cliff beyond. So yeah, it wasn’t fun. Keep doing what you’re doing. ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/6 "2008-06-25T19:21:49Z")
It’s unanimous. You’re doing it right. Keep up the good work. ---
**Author:** ![Jad2007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@Jad2007](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Jad2007)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/7 "2008-06-25T19:38:15Z")
I think you should use your brakes instead. Ha ha ha just kidding! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Docnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Docnick](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Docnick)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/8 "2008-06-25T19:42:01Z")
We do a lot of mountain driving, and going down steep slopes we gear down with the automatic to the gear that will significantly slow the car, but might still need a little use of the brakes. Like others, I learned the hard way with a camper behind, and having the brakes fade on me; a scary occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![bscar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bscar/32/34_2.png) [@bscar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bscar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/am-i-ruining-my-car/15821/9 "2008-06-25T22:39:14Z")
As long as it’s still in gear and not neutral, you should be fine. I do this with my Civic when going up railroad overpasses. It keeps my revs up(it’s a 4cyl, what do you expect? 😛 ) so I’m not lugging my engine when someone in front of me wants to do 25~30 up the hill instead of the posted 35~40mph(depends on which overpass it is)