I was going down a large hill yesterday with my GS300. Transmission in normal drive mode, brakes lightly applied, cruise control off. Surprisingly, the transmission downshifted automatically at some point going down the hill. I don't know what gear it dowshifted to.

Is this normal? I've never driven a car that would automatically downshift going down a hill. My previous Mercedes would do this if the cruise control were on. Maybe the GS senses the increasing speed with the brakes slightly applied and then automatically downshifts?

 

Yes, this is normal. It is part of the "hill assist" programming in the transmission. The car has a level sensor to know if you are going up or down hills.

 

Very cool. Thanks.