As a native San Franciscan who lives on a ~30 degree hill, I feel I have
somewhat more experience than average on when it comes to driving on hills.
The usual reason I've heard for not downshifting on a hill is the extra wear
on the clutch. Now it seems to me that if you simply match revs while down
shifting (a good idea in general) you aren't going to put any extra wear on
the clutch. Me, I recommend downshifting BEFORE you start off down the hill,
cause the car won't keep on accelerating as you fight with the completely shot
second gear synchro trying to get the car in gear. :-) Finally, having lost
a car to idiots, I recommend stopping when there is a stop sign at the bottom
of a hill.
I should at least mention something british since this is the british car
mailing list. I posted a week or so ago asking for info about emission control
stuff for a TR8 I was thinking of buying. Turns out I need about 10 miles
of vacuum tubing and hoses besides the obcious stuff, and lots of those parts
are no longer available. (Anyone got a spare hose that comes off an air pump,
and then forks into 8 runners, one to each air injector? Didn't think so.)
Looks like I'll have to pass on the car unless I can find and strip a wrecked
one. :-( Problem is, after driving a TR8 all the other triumphs I've looked
at and driven feel so, well, tamer. Its going to take awhile to get over this
car.
-Barry
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