Gotta agree on the difference between drags and off-road. When was the last time any drag machine had to run constantly in gear and hard for more than a quarter mile? Even that constitutes one pass through the gears and all up-shifting.

Helirich, I see your point. But OE doesn't necessarily equal a poor setup. It simply equates to a driver who is ill prepared or lacks the skill to compensate for the situation. Hill climbing always starts lower in the gears than anything else for the simple reason that something like the event you described is a potential. Better to get up that hill slowly and steadily than to run out of "umph" halfway up. I'll accept a time defeat to finish in one piece to climb another hill.

I see this competitive idea come out so frequently in these conversations... "the fastest is the winner". Well, in the sense of a pure race mentality, yes there is only one winner, "second place is still the first loser". (To quote one of the world's better racers). However, in the world of off-road adventures, often just the act of GETTING from point A to point B is considered a feat worthy of acknowledgment. I've been on many an off-road tour that had us towing, dragging, or otherwise carrying battered vehicles home that weren't up to the challenge. Fortunately, it has yet to be mine. (knocks on head...wooden thing that it is).

 

Yea, I know that we were idiots. Truth be told, that night involved alcahol and blue smoke. Also, there were woman present. (we were showing off) All bad ingredents.

But, change that senarieo to be driving slowly up the hill in first. If it gets too steep and your wheels start spining, you have to shift. Since you push the clutch a split second before you hit the brakes, you still wouldnt know that you brakes dont work untill too late. Same outcome.