C43 downshift on hills?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 37
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From: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
1998 C43 AMG
C43 downshift on hills?
I work in hilly Seattle. I have been downshifting when going down hills to save my brakes. A friend said doing that is bad on the C43 transmission. Please share your opinion?
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From: Westcoast/Interior
02w163ML500 / 97w210E50AMG / 99w202C230k / 95w124500e-wip
AND I agree.
Brakes are cheaper than a replacement C43 AMG-modified version of the five-speed automatic 722.6 gearbox.
What others have said in past.
You can search the search button for more reading while you wait for others to comment.
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From: Land of mountains, cheese, chocolate and watches
12' W204 C63 AMG coupe "T-Rex", 12' W451 Smart Fortwo Pulse (99' W202 C43 AMG + Ultima Can-Am sold)
As I live in a mountainous environment, I downshift to hold the speed going down steep declines and to keep within legal speed limits, with a push on the brakes at the same time. Also the transmission will also downshift by itself when going downhill or even when coasting to a stop. In this last instance, you can just feel the gentle automatic downshift as the vehicle slows down. You can also watch the rev counter doing its thing too
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 37
Likes: 2
From: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
1998 C43 AMG
Manual downshifting stops today (except coming down a mountain pass to prevent brake over heating)! 125,000 miles, hopefully I didnt wear anything out. Thanks all
