Going down steep hills

[NoShoes]

I have a 2010 SH forester auto and going down steep hills i have to ride the brakes it has sport mode can i use it to maintain speed without riding the brakes

 

[Kevin]

@NoShoes I know my older auto will has limited hold when selecting gears on steep hill descents which is one reason I changed to DBA slotted rotors and TRW Lucas pads to reduce heat. I also "stab" the brakes for short periods rather then ride them. If it's slippery I will sometimes add drag by partially applying the handbrake or use the "driving through the brakes" technique. Some newer models have "downhill assist" which would be nice.

 

[Ben Up North]

Sounds like a mild form of what my SVX does.
When I take my foot off the accelerator it's like it disengages the gearbox. Interesting when going downhill, great when on the flats. I'm sure the drag coefficient plays a part (and the mass of the beast )
My brakes are good.
Got about 11L/100Km out of it on the last open road run I took it on. Rather chuffed about that, not that that has got anything to do with the topic.

 

[subyroo]

I have a 2010 SH forester auto and going down steep hills i have to ride the brakes it has sport mode can i use it to maintain speed without riding the brakes

My understanding of Sport Mode is:

Sport mode is for when you need power and rapid acceleration or for uphill driving.
Sport Mode programming tells the gearbox to favor higher rpm, in order to keep the engine closer to the power band — the rev ranges where it makes the most horsepower and torque. ... It doesn't squeeze extra power from the engine. It may also use more fuel too.

This is what you are thinking of:

Hill Descent Control (HDC) maintains a constant speed when travelling down steep declines at less than 20 km/h, so the driver does not need to apply brakes and risk locking them up.