I have just purchased a 1 litre Ecoboost Fiesta Zetec. With all other Ford cars I have had in the past and my last car, a Peugeot 206, i was able to use the gears to assist braking and controlling speed going down hills. I can't do this with my new Fiesta. When I come to hills and change down a gear, the car begins to pick up speed, presumably under gravity and the revs increase. This happens which ever gear I use and the revs sound the same in each gear so I have to apply the brakes all the way down the hills.

Is there something I don't know about? Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with the car. Any observations would be appreciated please.

I've kinda noticed this on my car, it just seems like the engine provides less resistance to the wheels turning than on my previous cars.

Might be the effect of having 1 less cylinder to push up and down.

IMO this is a good thing though. Less resistance = better economy. :)

Thanks for the post Dave. That sounds like a possibility but not very economical on brake pads and shoes apart from which, I think it could be dangerous due to brake overheating when negotiating a series of hills such as in Devon or Northumberland.

I can't believe that no one else has noticed this problem. I have been in touch with Ford and they appear to be shying away from making an observation which is a bit worrying.

Look af the revs when you change gear. The engine keep reving when you press the clutch. Any other engine the revs will go down,

I think Its the same for all the new 3cylinder engines. A friend of mine tell me Peugeot have the same"problem"

Thanks for the post Dave. That sounds like a possibility but not very economical on brake pads and shoes apart from which, I think it could be dangerous due to brake overheating when negotiating a series of hills such as in Devon or Northumberland.

The car is tested on simulated alpine passes/ down mountains - the brakes should not overheat if the car is being driven right

Better to use the brakes for braking - (thats what they are for) as they are easy and cheap to replace - if you are using the engine for braking the clutch, transmission is more expensive to repair/ replace

The ECU has things in place like anti-stall, etc and when you take your foot off the throttle the ECU may increase the revs over tickover to prevent stalling, the ECU will assume you do not want to slow down as you have not put your foot on the brake, if you brake gently the ECU will assume you want to slow down and may reduce the engine revs and cut the fuelling to improve MPG, so you may get a little "engine braking"

the throttle is a potentiometer, connected to the ECU - that controls the engine (so you dont control the engine - the computer does)

Its a modern car with (realatively) big brakes - engine braking is not nessesary (it was bad practice anyway)

Not noticed this but then again I haven't tried it yet. Doesn't this mean the theory of slowing down with the gears on snow goes through the window? We all know what happens on normal tyres when applying the brakes on snow. Luckily I will be fitting winter tyres but I would still like to slow down with the gears.

Thank you everyone for your posts. FOCA, your post makes some interesting points. I now feel better about the braking. However, as Dark Night points out, might snow breaking be a problem?

After having my car remapped I feel May know why this happens, all the torque is low down between 1300 and 2700 revs, unlike a normally aspirated engine.

Hello Bigmunk. Thanks for that. I understand but it's no consolation at all when going down steep hills and in the snow.

HI, well I haven't noticed any difference in driving the fiesta to my own, 4-cylinder, focus. The five speed box on the fiesta is higher geared, thus I can drive my own focus in 5th at 30mph but the fiesta is happier in 3rd, so this might be a contributing factor and maybe I am automatically compensating. However I would doubt very much if this is a problem in any shape or form...

HI, well I haven't noticed any difference in driving the fiesta to my own, 4-cylinder, focus. The five speed box on the fiesta is higher geared, thus I can drive my own focus in 5th at 30mph but the fiesta is happier in 3rd, so this might be a contributing factor and maybe I am automatically compensating. However I would doubt very much if this is a problem in any shape or form...

Agreed - just a question of adjusting your driving style

In the snow etc the ABS will help slow the car if nessesary - I wonder if left-foot -braking helps

Wow - we had a heel-and-toeing post recently and now left-foot-braking

Thanks for your replies Cuke and FOCA. Quite right, just have to change driving style. Mine is a 3 cylinder so, as Dave said above, I guess this could be the reason for the difference in slowing down using gears.

Here is the Driving Test Theory Questions response:

Selecting low gears when driving

When you are driving, you will just learn to change gears without really thinking about what you are doing and when. But generally you will change up gears the faster you are going, and this is often queued by you hearing the engine noise increase and the revs go up when you are at a higher speed in a lower gear.

However there are some situations where you need to think carefully about which gear you are in.

When you are driving in terrain that is up and down, you may see a 'low gear now' sign. This will often arise when you near the top of a hill and are about to go down the other side. Because of gravity being what it is, you will not simply want to use your brakes to slow you down when coming down a big hill.

Therefore you will need some engine braking as well. By selecting a low gear when you go down the kill, the engine will help to hold the car back and prevent it running away as a result. Also keeping your foot on the brakes over a long period could lead to it failing. That's not what you want to happen when you are going down a hill.

You will probably have noticed that some roads have run offs for those whose brakes have failed which of course is a good safety feature but not something you would ever want to have to rely on.

So yes you need a bit of both brakes and low gears but don't continuously use the brakes. Use just enough to slow you down enough.

EXACTLY Buce. That is the reason I posted in the first place. With my 1 litre Ecoboost Fiesta, using the gears to slow down does not work.