A6S4

My commute each morning and evening involves heavy stop-and-go traffic as well as "creep along" speeds. Rather than constantly ride the brakes, I've opted to put the tranny in "sport" mode and let the engine slow me -- I guess kind of like a jake brake in a truck. Any thoughts on possible adverse effect on tranny for doing this? Obviously I don't want to preserve brake pads at the expense of the tranny, but if there is no harm here, then I guess it is a non-issue.

Thanks in advance.

mishar

Those are very low loads so it can't hurt anything but your wallet and environment by burning more gas.

MP4.2+6.0

A bit more gas burning in basically one lower gear than in D in most cases. But, on deceleration, the gas cutoff stays engaged longer since it is motor RPM based (and no throttle of course).

More important than that depends on how you like throttle feel. I do the same sometimes when I get tired of the shifting up and down from 1 to 2 and 2 to 1 in D, but then the throttle also gets somewhat touchy, at least w/ W12 torque.

Saves brakes at the margin, but the real wear on those are much more the medium and higher speed stops where you are scrubbing off tons of kinetic energy. Wears CV joints a tiny bit more since it is applying force through the CV joints opposite the way it does under power. I know this issue well from back in my ancient C1 days where the (solid) front rotors were inboard and so all the driving AND braking force always went through the CV joints. On the other hand, I haven't lost a CV joint since way back (quattro helps spread load too), and boots seem much tougher in last 15 years than in the 70's and 80's.

Net, trivial differences probably. Mentally the one caution is if you ever blow the tranny or throw a valve or something, regardless of the cause you could find yourself doing some "woulda, coulda, shoulda" second guessing. But if you drive stick its almost a given anyway if you like to be connected to the drivetrain. Net, enjoy life, though maybe not so much there in traffic.

A6S4

Thanks guys. Good points all.

MP4.2+6.0 -- yes, I too have noticed that the boots are tougher. There was a time when I was going through them each time I had some kind of service done or tire rotation. But lately they have been pretty strong and intact.

Mishar -- with gas prices going down like they are, and living in Houston where we have quite plentiful reserves, burning extra "Barney" (fossil fuel) isn't quite as much a concern as it was only a few short months ago.

Again, thanks for feedback...

Petahs

A6S4 yes enjoying paying 2.48 for premium Texas finally has it's benefits!