Pulsing brakes at the bottom of a long steep hill

Good, I hope it keeps those pulses away every trip, not being a variable thing that still gets you some of the time.

Note also that you don't need to let it slow you down below your preferred speed. Some users mistakenly believed that they needed to keep their foot off the gas pedal while using B mode. Nope. That gets maximum engine braking, but it is perfectly fine to push on the gas pedal to reduce engine braking and go faster. Modulate the degree of braking as you please, and seamlessly go into fuel-burning power production mode when reaching the bottom of a dip and starting to climb again, without needing to shift into D. When climbing or any other time that ICE power is needed, B behaves identical to D. (At least in most circumstances. There are some corner cases where it isn't identical, but not relevant to this ski road.)

There is no real reason to take it out of B at all until past all the steep parts. For a hill like this, it doesn't do anything wrong on the flatter sections or even occasional uphills segments. It isn't like a traditional car where downshifts boost RPM all the time, B mode will do it only when needed for compression braking here, and act like regular D mode when B isn't needed. On this hill, at least.

But do take it out of B when you get permanently down to the flats, short or shallow hills without a full battery, or slow or stop-and-go city traffic. Here, it will waste fuel by throwing away some of the energy that could be regenerated into the battery, and also prevent the ICE auto-shutoffs that otherwise would happen at stops, during glides and coast-downs, etc. Leaving it in B when not needed, won't hurt the car at all, it just disables some fuel saving functions and lightens your wallet a bit.

That is good, it means you caught it earlier than the others who did have that light turn on. (The 'v' has a low pressure light just like the Liftback, I hope?) Hopefully that makes it less serious.

Is the oil drain plug properly tightened? I had that on another vehicle a couple years ago, fortunately an oil slick betrayed it before the level dropped much.

This road seems to have numerous good opportunities for this maneuver, something I also do, though infrequently.

But I do it mostly on sparse rural roads. Numerous other ski access roads are not as favorable for this trick.

 

It’s somewhat a case of “couldn’t resist”, but still I DO think it’s a factor: a steady regiment of hill climbs and descents takes a toll on an engine; compared to flat land cruising, it ages an engine, fast.

 

An effective and carefully installed Oil Catch Can is a good addition, but not going to reduce oil consumption to speak of. Besides avoiding hills, these may help:

1. Keeping the oil changes to 6 months or 5000 miles, throughout the car’s life.

2. Avoiding sustained high speed drives where practical

3. Accelerating “conservatively”, staying at or below speed limits. This can be easier said in today’s Mad Max environment; just do what you can. Wearing a fedora might help?

4. Avoiding short trips, do consolidate trips, etc

5. Using block heater for a couple of hours before first cold start of the day, whenever practical

6. Checking the dipstick frequently