Well, I didn't say "painfully slow."  I said "slowly relative to other
drivers."  I also said that my 2.1 "handles it fine," and though I did
not define the grades, my reference was to grades similar to those you
mentioned.  In Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah etc.  some of those may
be miles long.  I downshift like you do, and also drive around 45 mph.
On an 8% grade in Great Basin National Park, I downshifted to second
gear, and drove 20- 25 mph, but part of that was because of the need to
slow to 15 mph on the switchbacks.  The "overheating" that I mentioned,
I hope was understood to be partly perception.  My owner's manual
describes exactly the behavior I described (and have experienced),
including the need on occasion to let the vehicle rest.

David McNeely

On Fri, Nov 20, 2009 at 9:09 AM, Karl Wolz wrote:

> Depends on what you call a long grade and also depends on what you
> call
> "painfully slow".
>
> On a 6-7% grade I downshift to third and cruise up at around 45mph.
> That,
> to me, is not painfully slow, though others more used to American big
> blocks
> would mostly disagree.  My old '62 40hp bus would climb the same
> grades at
> around 23 mph in second gear.
>
> Overheating has never been a problem in any of my vans unless there
> was a
> "situation" in the cooling system.
>
> Karl Wolz
>
> Respectfully, I would say that depends on how you define "long
> grades,"
> and also how you define "handle it fine."  My 2.1 camper handles long
> grades fine, but I drive slowly relative to other traffic, and it
> drops
> speed on long grades.  I do have to downshift.  It is well tuned.   A
> long grade in one part of the country may be a mile of 3%, but no one
> who drives in truly mountainous country would consider it so.  If you
> drive a 2.1 in the mountains, you will drive slowly relative to
> ordinary
> traffic, or you won't drive.
>
> David McNeely