Auto car: Free gear when down slope.

[Rogersk8ter]

Anyone here drives an auto car and shift to free gear when going down slope or cruise to a stop before reaching a traffic light?

I tried doing that for one full tank and realised it actually save a fair bit of fuel.

But that will also increase in ware n tear of the gears?

Do u agree to such driving habit?

[Deckbuild]

Tried once, its fun when free gear till I engage it back... its also dangerous without engine brake.. do a search, this have been discussed before.

[Junjian]

Prefer having engine brake.

 

Think about it this way. You use free gear, you think you are saving fuel.

But you increase the wear and tear of your gearbox. And you are using more brakes to slow down your car. Brake pads thus wear off faster.

 

So might as well you use your engine brake.

[Yeshe]

Anyone here drives an auto car and shift to free gear when going down slope or cruise to a stop before reaching a traffic light?

I tried doing that for one full tank and realised it actually save a fair bit of fuel.

But that will also increase in ware n tear of the gears?

Do u agree to such driving habit?

 

your gearbox kee chia will cost more than your fuel savings, not to forget free gear is dangerous

[Wormvirus]

my ex jap car D was not put proper slip to N on its own, dont even realise till rev dont move car at all

for conti car need to step brake to move gate

[Mach23]

Anyone here drives an auto car and shift to free gear when going down slope or cruise to a stop before reaching a traffic light?

I tried doing that for one full tank and realised it actually save a fair bit of fuel.

But that will also increase in ware n tear of the gears?

Do u agree to such driving habit?

 

Try free gear downslope plus wet road. You will then have the answer

 

[R_aquarii]

you are wasting more fuel actually.modern car got a feature call "Deceleration fuel cutoff"

just let go your pedal and you will use 0 fuel

those who have scangauge can see this

 

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4248

Edited February 24, 2013 by R_aquarii

[Vhtfhwlego]

The proper way is to switch off the engine while driving down slope.

Confirm save petrol.

[Donut]

Anyone here drives an auto car and shift to free gear when going down slope or cruise to a stop before reaching a traffic light?

I tried doing that for one full tank and realised it actually save a fair bit of fuel.

But that will also increase in ware n tear of the gears?

Do u agree to such driving habit?

 

Quite a silly thing to do actually. Dangerous and u r wearing out your brake pads.

 

The correct way is to engage low gear "L" or equivalent and let the engine control your down slope

[Solar]

you are wasting more fuel actually.modern car got a feature call "Deceleration fuel cutoff"

just let go your pedal and you will use 0 fuel

those who have scangauge can see this

 

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4248

 

some cars have built in gauge that shows the fuel used while you step or lift the foot off the gas pedal.

 

yes, when car is moving, mine shows 0 liter / km when I lift my foot off the gas. all the while with gear engaged.

[Solar]

leave the gear in D lah.. comparing the wear and tear and eventual gearbox repair or replacement, does it make monetary sense just to save that bit bit of gas?

not to mention also like some bros said, safety.

[Angcheek]

i only switch to N at Red light. Down slop , i usually dont step on gas unless Im in a hurry

[Heartbreakid]

If putting to N is dangerous while coasting to a stop, I wonder why newer cars like Golf has this system that decouples the transmission input once the accelerator is off the foot? While coasting to a stop in neutral, I believe those who do it is wise enough to judge the situation before doing this. For auto I heard doing so will do more harm to the gearbox while letting it coasts to a stop in N. For manual there is no problem at all...

 

I once read that newer cars have this fuel cut off supply once the accelerator is off the foot but still in gear and that is to save fuel. On real life scenario, I have tried both coasting in neutral at safe conditions and lifting off the accelerator while leaving in gear, I got to say coasting in neutral still saves more fuel... And I drive a manual, just declutch and clutch in should I need engine brake.

[Kiadaw]

Seriously guys. Spend so much for cars, but want to save a few pennies on this. Its danger, & discourage in almost all driving manuals.

[ViperGTS]

I too only engage neutral when at red light or coming to a stop. Don't see a need to engage on a down slope. Driving a 07 Mazda 3.

Edited February 24, 2013 by ViperGTS

[Fuelsaver]

I only neutral at red light. Down slope, bend inclusive always be in gear, even auto, I put to tiptronic mode for engine brake or acceleration. If next ride only has full auto, I put od off or 3 or lower if necessary. I don't even like to put at D.

Edited February 24, 2013 by Fuelsaver

[Kangadrool]

Auto tranny is for the laziest people on earth! Why do you still bother to shift from D top N and back to D for such a momentarily short moment, putting severe strain on your gearbox and causing more wear and tear to your left hand?

[Watwheels]

Definitely a dumb thing to do coz you forgot to switch off the ignition as well to complete the save fuel package.

 

Dun be dumb lah. For goodness sake why do ppl drive an auto car like a manual?? Even if you put to "N" the engine idles which is also burning fuel. Why do you think car makers come up with auto engine start/stop??

 

Autogear other dan the hardware which is the gearbox there's also the AI or ECU to control it. Car makers have their own program for all kinds of environment and scenario to maximize efficiency. What you are suggesting is purely disruptive. Modern day auto cars are more complex in the gearbox programming. It "sense" all kinds of scenarios and operate accordingly. Say going down slope, it will auto shift down for engine brake, going up slope it will also shift down and hold gear to give you more power, coming to a stop it will shift down gear by gear, just to name a few.

 

Imagine the gearbox is shifting to help the car maximize efficiency or maximize power and you go and free gear?! I believe you are a computer user and you will know what issues you will have if you do something you are not suppose to. You will immediately see an error message and your computer may reboot on its own. For the gearbox you can't see the error message and do not know how exactly it will react to your disruptive inputs.

 

Think about it. Which is actually helping you save money, a broken gearbox or saving that little bit of fuel consumption?

Car makers have already done the gearbox programming to maximize fuel economy, just leave it to its work and dun disturb it.

Edited February 24, 2013 by Watwheels