Ha ha ha, that was awesome.
Just found him on the Zune Marketplace lol, downloading that song.
Last edited by BobtheGreatII; August 24th, 2009 at 09:04 PM.
Wow that guy has no freaking idea what hes doing. You DO downshift down hills, you need the full control of the engine, higher gears you dont have that low end control you require. Also, taking it OUT of gear and coasting? That is the dumbest thing I've heard. Coasting is a huge no no, you have no control of the car, the engine is fully disengaged so breaking will require more force.
While I like to downshift on hills, this is an absolute no with most modern cars. The engine does not have to be connected to the transmission to pump the power steering and brake fluid, it just needs to be on. Also, coasting in neutral is good if you're on a gradual slope, such that coasting in gear would stop you on said hill. Saves gas.
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Part 1
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No, going down almost any hill in a low gear is a much better idea than coasting in neutral. When you're coasting down a hill in neutral, the engine is still using fuel. When you're going down a hill in a low gear, the engine is not using fuel, which saves gas. Using the engine as a brake is better for the whole car than actually using the real brakes. If you're on a hill that is not even steep enough to warrant switching to a lower gear, simply leave it running in the gear it is in.
Um, we're talking about FULLY manual cars.
Coasting reduces braking power, it completely eliminates engine braking and soley replies about foot brake system to slow the car. The car was designed to use the engine braking and foot braking in unison, not separately.
Being in neutral reduces your ability to regain engine control, if a hazard occurs you have much less response from the cars brakes.
When I'm going down a hill, and I downshift, when the car is briefly in neutral you can feel the car become lighter and actually speeds up, it doesnt have the engine to slow it down. Which means I have to use the brakes even more.
Transmissions are technical pieces of equipment and werent designed to be put in neutral at high speeds. The gearboxs are designed to work sequentially from 1 to your highest gear, you HAVE to go to each gear you cannot skip a gear. Therefore going from neutral straight into 2/3/4/5 is unnatural for the system.
You can however, downshift and miss gears, I could even go from 5th down to 2nd, however my speed has to be right down before I change into second.
Like Xet has said, you do not save fuel at all by coasting. The engine is still running, obviously if your going down hill you arent going to use the throttle which is the real gas guzzler.
For Example: Entering my town, there is a long hill and a hairpin just as the hill evens out, heres how I tackle it. The speed limit going down is 70 mph, but I am constantly slowing down using the footbrake down the hill, I then get onto the straight section thats still on a down hill, I use the footbrake gradually to slow the car down, I get to a good speed that the top of 2nd gear will be happy with and I slowly bring up the clutch, doing so engages the engine and slows the car down even further, then all I have to do is steer around the corner and use the throttle to power through the corner, I then power out of corner and change up to 3rd when the speed is correct. - Simple!
Most important, you match the gear to your speed .
Last edited by Limited; August 25th, 2009 at 04:59 AM.
Are the rules different for automatics or something? My engine does about 1000-1500 RPM coasting downhill in neutral and probably 3000 or so in gear depending on my speed... I've saved a lot of gas coasting down hills.
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