kiwirock:

mudguard: The brakes did their job. But yeah in a manual you could coast down Coronet and almost not brake at all. But in a big heavy SUV then you'll have to engine brake or simply drive slower down the hill. Brake firmly, release, brake firmly, release.

Yeah you're inclined to brake harder like that though, which can push the rotors to higher temperatures than say a constant 20% brake force with ventilated discs.

This is kind of why my next car will be a Subaru Forester. I looked at the X-Trail. But I don't like the idea of towing anything on a CVT which most of them are.

I prefer AWD, but the Forester's 5-speed dual range add's a pretend low range of 0.195:1 reduction in any gear that you can use on the pavement without firking the transfer box. Great for light-medium towing, overtaking or getting a little lower on the current gear on decents where a whole gear change maybe to much like going from 3rd down to 2nd.

It's a shame CVT's aren't usually designed to pull much. In principal they'd be the ultimate tow vehicle. Instead of a pretend manual mode, I'd rather a dial that let's you set the ratio anywhere you want it from the highest to lowest the transmission allows.