what is the retarder .

[ARTHUR]

the question is in the title of thread

[Mystere]

As far as i can gather, its a device to increasingly add a load (force) to the engine drive wheels for eg. if you have a heavy load going downhill, increase retarder and you won't have to dab brakes. I think you have to upgrade to get it fitted at garage.

[TfR Magic]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=retarder&l=1

[zbobg]

Each of the trucks now has a choice of transmission, one without a retarder and one with a retarder.

I've tried the retarder in-game and it's not really useful. It's too strong of an effect so it's hard to control and there really aren't enough big hills that you could actually use it on. I find that the motor brake (jake brake) is more useful.

Both of these devices are intended to cut the wear on the brakes or prevent brake failure. The thing is that brake wear and failure don't seem to be implemented in ETS2. Maybe in a future patch.

[Harriet the Fly]

Originally posted by TfR Magic:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=retarder&l=1

This thread is the first link after a google search for me, how ironic.

[Adventure Square]

Originally posted by Rauce:

Originally posted by TfR Magic:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=retarder&l=1

This thread is the first link after a google search for me, how ironic.

Yes, this is how it always works. Google for a topic, find someone snidely saying "google it" instead of answering.

This is why you should typically just answer, or be silent, unless you can link to an actual answer. Luckily zbobg saves the day.

I was mostly curious how it compares to downshifting. There's a moderately useful discussion here: http://forum.scssoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=251

In practice I seem to find that downshifting has a fairly mild drag on speed, while the retarder is much more significant. Subjectively, the engine whining from a hard downshift makes me feel like I'm being mean to the truck.

There's also a fairly low-information-density video here if you prefer listening to someone take a while to get to the point (I'm not a video fan), but he covers it pretty thoroughly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM0HGzqSXAg

Supposedly, in a real truck it has the significant advantage of continuing to work over a long period (I haven't noticed brake fading in the simulation, however). It also should work more effectively at high RPM because the engine operation provides the oil pressure to drive the retarder.

With the simplified shifting model, it seems entirely unnecessary, but the braking action can be very heavy-handed, so even there it can offer some finesse.

[Human]

Originally posted by patrick.cremona:

the question is in the title of thread

Well said.

[Fluff❽]

The volvo FH16 has 3 levels of retarder severity available. The first one is quite gentle with the 3rd being pretty severe, which when used with brakes is good for emergency stops. Sorry I don't know about the other truck's retarders.

[✪James Tiberius Kirk✪]

a retarder will always function at the setting you put it to the engine brake is RPM dependent although using either at a high power setting and trying to corner can lead to results you tried to avoid by slowing down