Driving down steep hills - is there a best method? (Pittsburgh: living in, cost)

[RoughCollie]

Now that we are moving to Pittsburgh soon, I might have to drive down a steep hill or two.

We went to the top of Mt. Washington. The street we took on the way down was very steep. I've never been on such a steep street, and I'm glad I wasn't driving.

Do you have to keep your foot on the brake at all times, to govern the speed of the car?

If so, does that wear out your brakes fairly quickly?

Thanks,
RC

[johnnytang24]

You can put the car in 1st or 2nd and let the engine do the braking.

[BrianTH]

You can do engine braking, although a mechanic I know recommends against it. His point as I understand it basically comes down to the fact that brakes cost a lot less than engines.

[Geeo]

I usually just close my eyes and go. No, seriously, it's never been a problem. You can gauge when to apply a little pressure on the brake and when not to.

[JoeLeaphorn]

If you want a real challenge, take Rialto Street off of Mt Troy Road down to Rte 28 by the 31st Street Bridge. A few trips and you'll never be scared of hills, again. Just make sure that your brakes work.

[fleetiebelle]

If so, does that wear out your brakes fairly quickly?

My mechanic told me that because of topography, your brakes will wear out faster in Pittsburgh than they would in, say, Indianapolis.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by JoeLeaphorn

If you want a real challenge, take Rialto Street off of Mt Troy Road down to Rte 28 by the 31st Street Bridge. A few trips and you'll never be scared of hills, again. Just make sure that your brakes work.

You beat me to it, that is one scary road, and barely wide enough for 2 cars.

[steindle]

It is really easy to avoid these steep hills. In the last four years of living in Pittsburgh, I have not had an occasion to go down a scarily steep hill even once. You probably took Sycamore Street down Mt. Washington, but there are several more reasonable routes you could have taken instead.

[Mugatu]

In anything but snowy weather, I prefer just to use the brakes on the way down, as most people do here judging by the brake lights on the cars in front of me. Like someone said, I'd rather get a $99 brake job than wear out the engine or transmission by constantly downshifting.

But in snow or ice, you definitely should shift into a lower gear to help keep things under control.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

We went to the top of Mt. Washington. The street we took on the way down was very steep. I've never been on such a steep street, and I'm glad I wasn't driving.

That's nothing. As mentioned, there's Rialto Street aka Pig Hill (below), Berry Hill in Glenshaw, some of the streets on the southside slopes, and a ton of other steep hills in the area. Many are closed during bad weather months.

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

Do you have to keep your foot on the brake at all times, to govern the speed of the car?

I tap on the breaks intermittently. Snow is a different story. Then I put the car in neutral and tap the breaks. I'm only sharing what I do personally. It's illegal to coast a moving car into neutral. However, there's just no other way to get down a hill in some bad weather situations.

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

If so, does that wear out your brakes fairly quickly?

Compared to what? How often do you replace your breaks now? I need new break pads every three to four years. I'm sure it also depends on the amount and/or location of the driving done. (Our car caught on fire from driving down Whiteface Mountain in the Anarondacks.) Fortunately, Butler is rather flat compared to the city so you won't have to worry about it much. I