Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Guys, and some gals, I have a question regarding manual tranny's. If driving along and I notice a red light .250 miles up the road, I decide to put the tranny in neutral. The car's a manual btw. Is it ok to put it in neutral and coast versus approaching the stop light and riding the clutch? I think you'd wear out the throwout bearing if you decided to downshift or ride the clutch. Or you cable could snap and end up in someones rear end or through a red light. That's why I coast up to them as well as to save fuel. So am I doing any damage to the car by coasting? It's a manual so I don't see why any internals would be taking a beating.
By your statement on this thread, you are just fine, I can't remember how many times I used "coasting" in the day..LOL..when I was saving on fuel...the only downside would be eventually more wear on the brakes, you can do as the other person said he does partially also use your gears to an extent when approaching a Stop sign.....Bottom line that is fine...what you are doing...
Either way, it will make little difference. Leaving it in gear gives engine braking and the ECU will shut down the injectors to save gas, or putting it in neutral will give you a quiet roll and stop. No notable difference in wear. I do believe that driving pro will have you stay in gear to be ready for emergency maneuvers.
I have heard that coasting in neutral is illegal in some States. I don't know.
I coast against engine compression until just before coming to a stop, then I step on the clutch.
It works for me.
Guys, and some gals, I have a question regarding manual tranny's. If driving along and I notice a red light .250 miles up the road, I decide to put the tranny in neutral. The car's a manual btw. Is it ok to put it in neutral and coast versus approaching the stop light and riding the clutch? I think you'd wear out the throwout bearing if you decided to downshift or ride the clutch. Or you cable could snap and end up in someones rear end or through a red light. That's why I coast up to them as well as to save fuel. So am I doing any damage to the car by coasting? It's a manual so I don't see why any internals would be taking a beating.
Thanks, Josh
No, it won't hurt anything to do that.
In terms of economy, coasting in neutral is less efficient than coasting in gear. This is because in most cars made after the 80s (generally anything with computer controlled EFI), the fuel injectors shut off when the throttle is closed and RPM is over a certain speed. So for example, if you are coasting down to a stoplight from 65mph in 5th gear, you can coast all the way down to 20 or 25mph with the car in 5th gear, before the RPM is low and you want to de-clutch. Zero fuel would have been burned during that time, until the RPM was low enough to start the injectors again. If you shifted into neutral, the injectors would have to fire to keep the engine running, for the whole time you were coasting. I'm sure one could debate just how much or little this effects economy, but I'm not going to get involved with that...
(I'm assuming you aren't driving some old carburetor-fed gunboat in which case the above is not valid.)
Last edited by 43north87west; 02-07-2009 at 06:58 PM..
Yes, coasting is actually illegal in some states, but I'd doubt you'd get ticketed for coasting to a light. There are two big reasons you should never coast - one, the car is unpowered while coasting and if you need to accelerate away from a danger, you can't, and two, coasting is less efficient on the car during decel since you use more brake pads and fuel.
Fyi, modern ECU-governed cars deactivate the fuel injectors when fuel isn't needed, so when you come to a stop in gear, the engine doesn't burn any fuel until it reaches the idle rpm. Instead of fuel, the wheels drive the engine and act as a brake for the car, so the car will decelerate on its own with no brakes. Decelerating in gear can extend brakes life 50% or more since the engine uses the kinetic energy instead of it being trasnferred to the pads.
You should never ride the clutch, leave the clutch disengaged (foot on the pedal) because this stresses the pilot bearing and pressure plate and can cause them to wear prematurely. Use the clutch only to get a car into and out of gear, then re-engage it. Fwiw, you don't need the clutch to take the car out of gear, so you can just push the shifter into neutral if you want to coast.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
