i've been running my ride for last 4yrs w/ 90,000 miles using the downshift method.

i even bought the aftermarket shift knob so that way i can down shift from D4 to D2 without pressing the button on the knob.

i hardly use the break on my ride, that's why i've only had a break service once(front & rear).

i know people will say this will hurt the tranny but this is the method how i fixed the tranny problem that i had before, the symptom was that the car wouldn't hold the ignition whenever i become a complete stop. so i took my ride to the dealer and they told me that my tranny needs to be serviced, i even took my ride to other dealer service shops, because i didn't believe the first shop that i took my ride to.

anyways, to make the long story to short, i used to down shift a lot with my previous ride, acura integra, 'til i totally that baby. since i was having a tranny problem, i just started to downshift here and there, whenever i needed.
and guess what? my tranny started to hold up better, and my ride is in perfect condition after doing this for about 2yrs. and ever since then, i've never had a tranny problem again.

i wouldn't recommend y'all to follow my method of downshifting, because the condition of my ride (when i got it from the previous owner) will be totally different than yours.

so yeah, i just wanted to point out that downshifting won't totally kill your ride. because i've been doing it for last 4yrs w/ 90,000 miles on my ride. just make sure you know what you are doing, at least if you claim that you are owner of your ride.

$.02