Neutral'in down hills

[R.D]

Alright, so i was wondering. How many of you like to slip her into neutral and coast down those nice slopes, in order to save a penny or two of gas. If so, how often. Or is it just me and my tight arse group of mates who enjoy this haha.

One of my mates is addicted to coasting, I myself only do it on long stretches of downhill with a stress free rev match at the bottom, ~ 30 seconds at least of rollin. What about you guys?

[BC5RA]

You lose a measure of control when you take the car out of gear.

The savings at the pump would equate to stuff all.

[funkytown]

nope never..

and you fail your driving licence if you do it.. fyi

[dubbedup]

haha yep usually to get a bit of silence from the current gbox

also i'd fail my license if i resat it...

[Joker]

also you waste more gas idling than coasting - some later version use ZERO fuel in complete vacuum IIRC ie they turn the injectors OFF

[Bazza-NZ]

If I'm returning home late at night i do it, just to keep everyone as happy as possible

otherwise i just leave it gear

[Guest boostin]

 JoKer said:

also you waste more gas idling than coasting - some later version use ZERO fuel in complete vacuum IIRC ie they turn the injectors OFF

Correct. Injectors are off (or very low duty) with closed throttle and revs above about 1500rpm. So you are actually using more gas if you slip it into neutral.

[Andrew NR]

I use to neutral downhills but if it uses more fuel idling than engine braking then I may as well drop it one gear and engine brake down the hill.

[Shale]

I do the opposite - hook a lower gear. On steep ones in 50km/h zones...as low as 2nd. Engine braking > no braking; the engine helping you is better than gravity fighting you if you have to jam the stop pedal down in a hurry.

The only time I'm in neutral is if I'm not moving. And that's the way it should stay!

[Koom]

 boostin']

[quote name='JoKer said:

also you waste more gas idling than coasting - some later version use ZERO fuel in complete vacuum IIRC ie they turn the injectors OFF

/quote]

Correct. Injectors are off (or very low duty) with closed throttle and revs above about 1500rpm. So you are actually using more gas if you slip it into neutral.

I concur. Even my old abacus powered Possumlink does this.

[Guest lan_killa]

im very against coasting

biggest reason is IF your engine stalls you have completely lost 1 form of control and the other 2 are compromised

Power steering stops working, meaning steering goes real heavy and can get difficult to control

Brake Booster looses vacuum, meaning you only get 1 good stab at the picks before the pedal goes VERY hard

and you have no chance of accelerating out of or away from and obstacale

My other reasons for not coasting is, 1- my old man is a truck driver, engine braking gets drummed into you real quick... 2- My other car which Ive had for some time now runs 4 wheel drums, they are very easy to overheat and have the pedal goto the floor, so you need to take maximum advantage of the engine braking effect to be sure your picks will work when you need them

just my 2c worth

[fiaboi]

i never coast down hills.puts to much strain on the brakes and it dangerous,due to the fact there is no egine braking you run the risk of going into corners with little control.i would advise not doing it.

[kamineko]

i tried this when i was 18 and learning to drive. my front brakes ended up on fire. you'd be surprised how much 'help' engine braking has

+1 billion to the other replies in this thead. learn to use your gears.

being passenger in a car that coasts is scary as hell. coasting (from habbit) into a corner then trying to decide on a gear ... nightmare material

its a shame that proper driving training courses are not easily accessible in this country.. lack of theory coupled with turbo cars is asking for trouble

[aim]

I own an auto...

[Guest boostin]

 aim said:

I own an auto...

Whats your point? You can still slip them into neutral....

[aim]

True. But I never bother. They don't give much engine breaking in any case. They're generally in the highest gear when going down hill unless you're accelerating. Also thought you could damage the auto GB if you have high speeds @ 700rpm...

EDIT: Maybe it's just when the engine is off the GB can be damaged...

[kamineko]

i currently drive an auto ..

you can and probably should select 3rd or 2nd

[DRFVDR]

 boostin']

[quote name='aim said:

I own an auto...

/quote]

Whats your point? You can still slip them into neutral....

or even change it down a cog or 2,I drive all the autos that i do like clutchless manuals when decelerating but then I am also a professional driver and would prefer as much control of a vehicle as one can get and going into "jesus" gear is never ever a good idea

[fiaboi]

if im decending a steep hill i will pop it into 3rd (auto).works a treat.

[Shale]

I drive an auto as well - EJ20G-powered Legacy. I pop it into 3rd down hills just as I'd do with the manual Impreza.

PS: DON'T jam it into 2nd with a grumpy box, unless you're nearly stopped. It results in epic whiplash...

[aim]

 kamineko said:

i currently drive an auto ..

you can and probably should select 3rd or 2nd

I usually only chop it down manually for overtakes. Because it's too slow to wait for it to do it on its own. Probably should you're right. Sometimes going up hills or taking lots of corners I'll make it stay 3 or below, as I get damn annoyed when it decides to change up halfway around a corner or just won't sit on 100 in 4th.

[G-unit]

i do in mt lil nissan but in the sti i dont see the point trying 2 save gas in a performance car

[Guest]

I never do this i was taught not to when learning to drive trucks.

I partners Mitsi Legnum goes down the gears accordingly depending on speed it's picking up going down hills, she says it ends up reving its tits off haha so she pops it in neutral, she gets an ear full if im in the car and she does it, i'v tryed explaining but she does'nt listen!

[R.D]

i did a bit of research on it ages ago, apparently its real bad to do in autos. Something about how it doesn't get the lubrication it needs if coasting, and that the stress it puts on the box out weighs the tiny fuel saving costs, or something on those lines.

I engine break when i should (coming to a stop to save pads), but say on the motor way, coming down a hill, the engine is revving around 3000rpm, alot higher than this injector cut. So if u take your foot off the gas, u lose speed down the hill due to engine breaking. But if u drop into neutral you can hold or gain speed, so its kinda a win win situation. Staying in gear uses more fuel plus even more fuel to get u back up to speed after coasting.

[Joker]

hang on your slowing down? wtf get off my roads

maintain you speed fool