September 18, 2010
Question about automobile and gasoline?
if i drive an automatic and see im approaching a red light or other stop or down a large hill…, and I SWITCH FROM DRIVE INTO NEUTRAL –i.e. glide– DOES that save gas???????? Or does the whole action of switching around gears cancel out any gas that may be saved. Also, what about letting up/coasting on the gas pedal when gliding in drive–less gas??
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Sep 18th, 2010. Comment. 
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Comments on Question about automobile and gasoline?
You have the right idea.There are people who use tricks like that to save gas,they’re called hypermilers.Some interesting techniques can be learned from them and their website.
You actually don’t save gas in an automatic that way. If you leave it in Drive and slow down it will pull the engine RPM’s down with it. thus saving fuel if it is neutral there is no gear pulling and lowering the rpms so for example if your stopped and the car is in Drive you would be Idling at 550 rpm’s if it is in Neutral your now idling at up to 850 rpm’s the engine is then using more gas. so for an auto leave it in Drive.
Urgh… yes you will save gas.. but your transmission might go out.. save a few bucks at the pump and pay 5,000 dollars at AMCO. you decide.
Today’s modern transmissions require fluid movement to cool the internal workings. If you put the transmission into neutral, you are stopping the movement of fluid and the converter in the transmission is still turning. In neutral the valve body stops fluid movement to the converter, this in turn causes over temping of the trapped fluid. You then go back into drive and release the overheated fluid. Leave it in drive and save the transmission, they are much more expensive than a few gallons of gasoline.
ok,this how it works…when ur car is in a gear(drive) and u don’t give it gas, the car doesnt die…coz it will automaticaly idol.. so going down a hill,if u leave it in gear or in neutral, the motor will still b idoling..thus u use the same gas.. u will just be going faster down the hill if ur in N.. hope that helps
YOU AINT GOING TO SAVE THAT MUCH GAS BY DOING THAT AND IT REALLY ISNT GOOD FOR TRANS EITHER SO BE CAREFUL AND TAKE IT EASY AND MAKE SHURE YOU HAVE GOOD BREAKS ALL THE TIME …………………………..AND KEEP IT TUNED UP AND PROPERLY OILED UP AND LUBED UP AND KEEP ALL FILTERS CLEAN AND DO ALL REGULAR MAINTANCE AS NEEDED.
Be careful on two parts:
First it saves very little on gas and will create more wear and tear on the car in other ways.
Second if you get in an accident, coasting with the motor running around here is a ticketable offence. I never heard of anyone getting a ticket – unless in an accident however. This is due to the fact you have less control over the car when coasting, plus if the engine stalls, you loose your brakes and power steering while going fast. If you are in gear (drive) the transmission will help control the car to a stop.
The wear and tear is if you need to slap the car in gear if cut off or to avoid an incident then the transmission take a beating, a little at a time for each time you do this. Also using the trnasmission to help slow you down saves your brake pads from doing all the work of stopping you.
Coasting is a driving technque I use on my motorcycle – however as it is a manual transmission it is more common between gears to a red light to coast. And I do eat up my brake pads because of it. (bad habbits are hard to stop after 35 years on a motorcycle)