Hi, I am hoping you can settle an going argument with my wife on use of lower gears on her CVR when going up hills! When i go up the hill to our street (fairly steep) I simply keep it in drive and go slowly but not too slow. She ALWAYS 
makes the point that it is better fro the car to shift it to second. I tell her that when I keep it in Drive and don’t gun it the RPMS are lower than when i shit it into second gear. We have decided we will abide by whatever you guys tell us !
Too bad you can’t edit 
Neither approach hurts the car, leaving it in drive will let the tranny decide when to shift, so it will automatically (get it?) choose the correct gear. Shifting to second won’t hurt, either, but isn’t necessary.
The transmission will make its own mind up and do what’s best without any input from your wife.
The nice thing about an automatic transmission is that you don’t have to manually shift gears.
I am reminded of my brother-in-law in Cordoba, Vera Cruz, Mexico. He was a sugar cane inspector for over 30 years. He drove all day, back and forth, first in his little VW Old Beetle, his driving total had to be in the millions of miles over that 30 years.
Manual transmission. All day, over speed bumps and other obstacles. Clutch, shift, over and over like a robot.
When he retired he got an old Nissan with automatic transmission.
And, he shifts it manually. Starts off in first, then moves it up as his velocity increases. Manually downshifts when he wants to slow down, which actually has some logic to it.
Still, I want to slap his hand, and say, “Stop that nonsense.”
But, I understand after zillions of miles, it is impossible for him to do nothing while that transmission shifts itself.
Your wife isn’t wrong. She’s just drives differently than the way you do.
Is this difference of opinion really worth an argument with your wife?
He would have had to drive 90 miles a day every day of every year for 30 years to reach ONE million miles.
jason231, see the posts in the thread “backseat driver”.
Two pefectly acceptable ways of doing the same thing.
Drop it, don’t argue about it , don’t even mention it heretofore.
You say kiLOmeter, she says KILometer.
I’m a “gear down” guy and my wife is a “set it and forget it”.
The subject has NEVER come up.
As has been said here, the transmission will downshift if it needs to!.
Geez…you’re married and you haven’t figure it out? She’s ALWAYS right. Just ask MY wife.
Seriously, it doesn’t matter, so who cares? Follow Ken greens advice (and mine)…drop it. If you must argue, do it over something that matters.
Chase
(26 married years, and still wrong)
I watched a NOVA show just last night (with nost Neil DeGasse Tyson) and they did an interview with a man that had 2.7 million miles on his Volvo B1800. The show was about human life expecetancy. The engine had only two rebuilds but a whole lot of oil changes.
The driver gets a choice. The passenger should let the driver decide. The RPMs don’t matter much at those low speeds.
If the transmission hunts for the right gear it may need driver input. If it doesn’t do that, I would favor leaving it in drive. Maybe. I would have to be there and be the driver to decide. No way. No way am I leaving here to go anywhere but the West coast.
Thanks for the update. I’ve been wondering what you watched last night.
I used to love his first show, Neil DeGrasse Tyson Junior High.
Leaving aside the question of how you distinguish between 500,000 and 2,500,000 on the odometer, averaging 171 miles every day for 40 years is not a lifestyle I would choose.
Unless I am wrong, this is something that the owners manual would tell you.
I had an old benz (1982 300sd) and its automatic transmission had D (for drive), S (for slope) and L (for low)…the owners manual gave very specific information about when it was appropriate for each gear choice.
But I do agree with the others, find something worth arguing about. (As long as it makes it up the hill without a lot of gear hunting, its fine in drive)
[b][i]“Hi, I am hoping you can settle an going argument with my wife on use of lower gears on her CVR when going up hills!”
Key Words: WIFE, HER CAR[/i][/b]
Your Wife Wins. It’s Better That Way. Besides, A Wife Shifting An Automatic Manually Has Right-Of-Way Over A Husband Sifting An Automatic, Automatically. It’s A No-Brainer.
CSA
Your wife is right. It is better for her to shift the car to a lower gear manually.
The car doesn’t care, but since it’s what you wife wanst to do, it’s right for her. It might be wrong for you, but it’s right for her.
You’ll notice that I keep reiterating that your wife is right. Now look in the mirror and repeat “my wife is right” over and over until it finally becomes ingrained in you. You’ll be happier for it.
The only throwback would be if she kept the car in a lower gear longer than necessary. Might effect your gas mileage slightly, but other than that it does no harm.
No, it would affect HER gas mileage, not HIS!
My point is she should drive her way and he drive his, never the 'twain to meet. As long as nobody is doing anything dangerous or destructive.