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[SIZE=medium]Hill Descent Control—Amazing![/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Some old-timers like me remember the American folk ballad of John Henry vs. the Steam Drill: John Henry heroically beats the machine (in the mythical contest of drilling holes for dynamite in tunnel construction) only to die (from a heart attack/exhaustion?). Having driven offroad in Jeep vehicles (though not my pristine new one) equipped with Hill Descent Control down seriously high, steep, rough hills, I early on learned to yield to THE MACHINE in those situations. I don’t see how it is humanly possible to “manually” do better than the Hill Descent Control system! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]There might be some Jeepers out there who claim they can do better manually, but I’m skeptical about that (especially with respect to non-professionals like me). For example, one bane of offroaders’ existence is what I call the dreaded crunchdown; others might call it something else, but the bottom line is that an insufficiently-controlled smackdown of your undercarriage after "hitting a bump"—even at slow speed in low-range 4-wheel drive—can damage parts and leave you stranded or gouge your finances. And in a serious crunchdown, rocks sometimes find a way to “outdo” even skidplates! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]My point is that Jeep’s Hill Descent Control system basically so well-moderates rough offroad downhill speed and bumping up and down that no human can manually compete with it in that regard.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]‘Any other Allparers care to share relevant stories/ disagree/ otherwise comment?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Some old-timers like me remember the American folk ballad of John Henry vs. the Steam Drill: John Henry heroically beats the machine (in the mythical contest of drilling holes for dynamite in tunnel construction) only to die (from a heart attack/exhaustion?). Having driven offroad in Jeep vehicles (though not my pristine new one) equipped with Hill Descent Control down seriously high, steep, rough hills, I early on learned to yield to THE MACHINE in those situations. I don’t see how it is humanly possible to “manually” do better than the Hill Descent Control system! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]There might be some Jeepers out there who claim they can do better manually, but I’m skeptical about that (especially with respect to non-professionals like me). For example, one bane of offroaders’ existence is what I call the dreaded crunchdown; others might call it something else, but the bottom line is that an insufficiently-controlled smackdown of your undercarriage after "hitting a bump"—even at slow speed in low-range 4-wheel drive—can damage parts and leave you stranded or gouge your finances. And in a serious crunchdown, rocks sometimes find a way to “outdo” even skidplates! [/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]My point is that Jeep’s Hill Descent Control system basically so well-moderates rough offroad downhill speed and bumping up and down that no human can manually compete with it in that regard.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]‘Any other Allparers care to share relevant stories/ disagree/ otherwise comment?[/SIZE]