On Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:11:41 -0700, terry wrote:
Yes - I admit I was doing a certain amount of playing :-) Lots of the
grades were around 1:3, so it gave the car a pretty good work-out.

There is one somewhat longer hill

I'm not sure what the total descent I did in this case was - it took a
while to get to the bottom (with a stop partway down to give the brakes a
rest!)...

In a line up of cars it is very easy to see which ones have
transmissions that effectively slow down the vehicle without using the
brakes! Most automatic drivers will use their brakes; the brake lights
popping on the moment we are over the crest of the hill.

Yes, I've always owned vehicles with manual transmissions in the past -
the wife's Toyota (not one affected with problems has a slushbox and I
much prefer something with a manual, even if it's a clunky one.

including a relative's older model Lexus have paddle shifters on the
steering wheel that work well.

I was going to say that I like to keep everything mechanical if I can -
but then the elderly truck has a 3-speed manual with column-mounted
shifter, so there's probably quite a bit of scope for something failing,
given all the linkages involved!

Generally we get well over
over 60,000 to 75,000 miles on a clutch and at least 35,000 to 40,000
miles on disc brakes.

I've normally had about 100,000 out of a clutch - I don't think I've ever
figured out brake life, though; I just check periodically and do whatever
needs doing.

Doing the brake work ourselves a full set,
including new rotors can be done for around $200 or less.

Sure... I just did rear rotors on the Toyota (currently 170,000 miles on
it) and I think they were $30 each side, and a similar amount for pads.
The front ones are still the originals, with very little wear on them.

The whole thing is we think; know your vehicle, know how to stop it no
matter what, know how vehicle handles (steering and brake wise) if the
engine stalls or conks out. Know how to use the emergency brake and
drive on it if necessary.

Absolutely. I wish there were more places folk could go to deliberately
try out some of the "unexpected" stuff...

Above all have not encountered yet, although modern vehicles may be
different, a vehicle that one couldn't get 'out of gear'.

I've had cars before with hydraulic clutch mechanisms, so I suppose
there's some opportunity there for something breaking such that the
clutch doesn't operate - but it's not usually difficult to pull out of
gear even without a clutch (and harder but not impossible to get one
smoothly into gear without a clutch, too)

cheers

Jules