Tips for 'downshifting' on Bronco Sport Big Bend 1.5L 3-cyl?

[fleasnavidad]

Hi everyone! Just joined this forum with a question about my 2024 BS Big Bend (BSBB). I have always had a manual transmission before this vehicle and I love everything about my new BS, except I wish there was a way to downshift since I live in steep terrain and would love some engine braking. In my previous vehicle I was able to keep it in 2nd gear which was perfect for the descent. I learned that the 2L 4-cyl does have a paddle shift option, but sadly I did not realize that beforehand. My BSBB does not have that option since it's the 1.3L.

I have found that in Sport Mode, if I slow down to a very slow speed (like 5 mph maybe), the transmission will drop down 1 gear and then I can use it for a little engine braking up to 4,000 rpm. But that's only after slowing down a ton to get it into the right gear, so that is only feasible in a very specific driving situation.

When driving down the mountain roads at around 30 mph, can I push the "L" gear selector to put it into a lower gear? Or is that only for super steep and under like 10 mph? I don't want to mess up my transmission by putting it in Low gear at a higher speed than it's designed for. I have read contradicting responses- one of them said "Low is only for 15 mph and under, and in very technical situations like heavy snow", while another response said that "Low can be used at any speed, it just tells the transmission to drop down one gear. Like, it won't automatically just slam your transmission into 1st gear."

Someone on Reddit mentioned using Sand Mode as an "in between" between the "Low" gear selection and the "Normal" drive mode. But I don't know if it's a good idea to drive in Sand Mode on regular road surface. I live 10 minutes up a steep windy road that is partially gravel, and I'm going up and down it multiple times a day in some cases.

So I'm hoping you can help me! What's the best way to get a little engine braking out of my 1.3L BSBB? Or should I just use the brakes instead?

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[Dude]

Mark S posted about this topic for the 1.5L in your vehicle as well as for the 2L I recall.

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/holding-gears-without-slow-speed-crawl-option.10578/post-182377

Here’s some other posts:
https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/badlands-2-0-transmission-clutch-failure.12181/post-208387

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/my-long-lasting-brakes.13696/post-225185

 

[Major Kong]

https://thebronconation.com/news/what-does-the-“m”-or-“l”-button-do-on-the-sport-t.19254/

have not utilized the "L" yet
interested to hear what others have to offer
link posted states "or hold lower gears, if equipped with the L "
curious about the Hold Lower Gears

 

[Davexxxx]

Haven't been in the mountains yet with the BS but if using cruise control, my truck uses engine braking on it's own. Works beautifully.

 

[Dude]

..have not utilized the "L" yet
interested to hear what others have to offer
…

The pic shows the VW KONG .. can we call you the Bronco Sport KONG (BS KONG)?

 

[fleasnavidad]

Mark S posted about this topic for the 1.5L in your vehicle as well as for the 2L I recall.

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/holding-gears-without-slow-speed-crawl-option.10578/post-182377

Here’s some other posts:
https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/badlands-2-0-transmission-clutch-failure.12181/post-208387

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/my-long-lasting-brakes.13696/post-225185

Thank you, Dude!! I'm new here and I guess I didn't do the best job searching the forum.. Any tricks and tips for uncovering threads when I do a search? I got links for this forum via Google search but when I used the search bar on this website I didn't get great results.

Either way, thank you again!

 

[fleasnavidad]

https://thebronconation.com/news/what-does-the-“m”-or-“l”-button-do-on-the-sport-t.19254/

have not utilized the "L" yet
interested to hear what others have to offer
link posted states "or hold lower gears, if equipped with the L "
curious about the Hold Lower Gears

Thanks MK! I will report back after my drives up and down the mountain tomorrow.

 

[Dude]

Thank you, Dude!! I'm new here and I guess I didn't do the best job searching the forum.. Any tricks and tips for uncovering threads when I do a search? I got links for this forum via Google search but when I used the search bar on this website I didn't get great results.

Either way, thank you again!

Some topics are easier to search for while other searches don’t yield fruitful results. I happened to remember your topic so was easy this time (I only provided a few links of the many threads on the topic)

@Quashish posted how to do a Google search using the site: operator to search a specific website and I added a thread for that:

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/google-search-using-google-operators.13403/post-220823

 

[Me3]

Hi everyone! Just joined this forum with a question about my 2024 BS Big Bend (BSBB). I have always had a manual transmission before this vehicle and I love everything about my new BS, except I wish there was a way to downshift since I live in steep terrain and would love some engine braking. In my previous vehicle I was able to keep it in 2nd gear which was perfect for the descent. I learned that the 2L 4-cyl does have a paddle shift option, but sadly I did not realize that beforehand. My BSBB does not have that option since it's the 1.3L.

I have found that in Sport Mode, if I slow down to a very slow speed (like 5 mph maybe), the transmission will drop down 1 gear and then I can use it for a little engine braking up to 4,000 rpm. But that's only after slowing down a ton to get it into the right gear, so that is only feasible in a very specific driving situation.

When driving down the mountain roads at around 30 mph, can I push the "L" gear selector to put it into a lower gear? Or is that only for super steep and under like 10 mph? I don't want to mess up my transmission by putting it in Low gear at a higher speed than it's designed for. I have read contradicting responses- one of them said "Low is only for 15 mph and under, and in very technical situations like heavy snow", while another response said that "Low can be used at any speed, it just tells the transmission to drop down one gear. Like, it won't automatically just slam your transmission into 1st gear."

Someone on Reddit mentioned using Sand Mode as an "in between" between the "Low" gear selection and the "Normal" drive mode. But I don't know if it's a good idea to drive in Sand Mode on regular road surface. I live 10 minutes up a steep windy road that is partially gravel, and I'm going up and down it multiple times a day in some cases.

So I'm hoping you can help me! What's the best way to get a little engine braking out of my 1.3L BSBB? Or should I just use the brakes instead?

I’ve only used the low button in one area, the bottom section of Mt. Rose highway in Reno, which is a long straight steep hill with a 45 speed limit. My BS 3 cylinder would get up to 65 really fast without me touching the gas, when I hit the low button it dropped a couple of gears and I needed minimal brakes the rest of the way.
With cruise control it would struggle to slow the car down with engine braking, and didn’t seem to use the brakes enough to keep me at 45 mph, unless I had the low button engaged.
I’m not sure what gear I was in at 65mph or how many gears it dropped, I would guess it went from 6th to 4th or 3rd when Low engaged. Definitely not 1st gear. Sure wish we had an indicator. But the car was very stable in snow, ice and rain. Love it!
Don’t use sand or slippery modes on dry pavement.
Hope that helps.

 

[Davexxxx]

This post was on my mind last eve. when I took a back road type route, that had a couple mile long downhill grade. I don't know the percentage but steep.

Cruise set to 35mph. at the bottom, the speed had crept to 37. The trans downshifted on it's own at least once.

It wasn't close to over revving or anything like that and a single, light application of the brakes brought it back to 35.

 

[Me3]

This post was on my mind last eve. when I took a back road type route, that had a couple mile long downhill grade. I don't know the percentage but steep.

Cruise set to 35mph. at the bottom, the speed had crept to 37. The trans downshifted on it's own at least once.

It wasn't close to over revving or anything like that and a single, light application of the brakes brought it back to 35.

Perfect. I use the Adaptive Cruise everywhere and push buttons more than I push the accelerator.

 

[Charlie71]

Hi everyone! Just joined this forum with a question about my 2024 BS Big Bend (BSBB). I have always had a manual transmission before this vehicle and I love everything about my new BS, except I wish there was a way to downshift since I live in steep terrain and would love some engine braking. In my previous vehicle I was able to keep it in 2nd gear which was perfect for the descent. I learned that the 2L 4-cyl does have a paddle shift option, but sadly I did not realize that beforehand. My BSBB does not have that option since it's the 1.3L.

I have found that in Sport Mode, if I slow down to a very slow speed (like 5 mph maybe), the transmission will drop down 1 gear and then I can use it for a little engine braking up to 4,000 rpm. But that's only after slowing down a ton to get it into the right gear, so that is only feasible in a very specific driving situation.

When driving down the mountain roads at around 30 mph, can I push the "L" gear selector to put it into a lower gear? Or is that only for super steep and under like 10 mph? I don't want to mess up my transmission by putting it in Low gear at a higher speed than it's designed for. I have read contradicting responses- one of them said "Low is only for 15 mph and under, and in very technical situations like heavy snow", while another response said that "Low can be used at any speed, it just tells the transmission to drop down one gear. Like, it won't automatically just slam your transmission into 1st gear."

Someone on Reddit mentioned using Sand Mode as an "in between" between the "Low" gear selection and the "Normal" drive mode. But I don't know if it's a good idea to drive in Sand Mode on regular road surface. I live 10 minutes up a steep windy road that is partially gravel, and I'm going up and down it multiple times a day in some cases.

So I'm hoping you can help me! What's the best way to get a little engine braking out of my 1.3L BSBB? Or should I just use the brakes instead?

 

[Charlie71]

Howdy Navidad...
Just got a used 2023 Outer Banks and, being a long time "manual" shifter, I had the same question as you. My previous car was a 2017 Escape and it had "paddle shifters" so I utilized "down-shifting" EVERY time I had to go from highway speed to a city speed limit. IT WORKED AWESOME and I never replaced the brakes on that Escape and it had 230,000 miles when I traded it in.
When I saw the "L" on my shift dial, I wondered if that might do what I wanted, but couldn't find any info on it until your post!! According to the next post, we can shift into "L" at any speed and it will apply the engine brake effect.

As soon as we're down below 50, we can turn it off!! This is great news and I'm already looking forward to tomorrow when I can test it out. My job has me on the highway over 3,000 mile / month so the engine brake will continue to be the best way to go from highway speed to city speed without "laying" on the brakes. Thanks again!

 

[Me3]

“According to the next post, we can shift into "L" at any speed and it will apply the engine brake effect.”

Any speed? I don’t think I’d try it at a hundred mph unless my life was in danger. Common sense would tell me that’s pushing it a little bit.

 

[Charlie71]

Good point, Paul, and I totally concur.....

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