March 9, 2011
does putting my automatic car in neutral save any gas?
I noticed when I am coasting or going down a hill, putting my car in neutral lowers the rpm quite a bit, it also makes me glide with less resistance. Will doing this save me gas?
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Mar 9th, 2011. Comment. 
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Comments on does putting my automatic car in neutral save any gas?
Not that much. It sounds like a bad idea, because shifting while in motion is stressful on the transmission.
technicaly yes it does save gas, this is one of the reasons manual transmision cars save gas bc you can coast them down hill….. if you knotice pushing the shifter to neutral from drive doesnot require pressing the shifting button nor when shifting back from neutral to drive….so no stress on the tranny
no because your car is still running. the engine uses gas, not the transmission.
I doubt it – if you simply take your foot of the throttle, the extra rpm’s that you see are turning up from the transmission since the fuel flow is at the idle speed.
If all of your trips are down hill, it might make a somewhat noticeable difference in the fuel economy – but that just isn’t the real world.
Excellent way to save gas an BLOW ALL THE INTERNAL SEALS in an automatic transmission. Why do you think they warn you not to tow an automatic equipped car with the drive wheels on the ground. It blows up the transmission.
Not only does it not save gas, it’s a bad idea from a safety standpoint and in most places it’s illegal.
Coasting in neutral is not permitted because you have now disconnected the engine from the drivetrain and are not in full control of the car. You will not be able to accelerate in an emergency should the need arise.
On a modern car, no. Cars today have a fuel shutdown mode when going down hill for a long time to save gas. If coast down a long hill one day and you feel a resistance(engine brake), the shutdown mode has kicked in. Putting on neutral will disable this feature.