this is really an 'ole wives tale' because when I was young
I was told not to go down long hills or go fast for long periods of time in neutral because 'something' is spinning that needs to be in gear.
Otherwise you risk some damage.
Is this true ?

I dont know if they were talking about the flywheel or what. I'm new to the workings of a car.

thanks

B.A.R./Honda ! <U></U>

 

i've heard its bad in automatic cars.... dunno bout manual tho

 

I heard this too, from what i think what spins is the syncrho (sp?) and when you try to go into a gear from neutral when your going fast (say 50 in neutral) and you put it in gear (lets say 2nd to slow down) thats putting alot of pressure on the syncrho, also waste alot of gas. Atleast thats how i always looked at it.

 

you would have to be retarded to put it into 2nd @ 50.
IF you have to slow down that bad you shouldnt of been
doing 50 in the first place.

 

first off....it doesn't effect anything inside the tranny in a negative way.

second....you have to be stupid to be cruising in neutral anyways- no control of car

third....rev match before shifting into gear and you'll be fine

 

i agree with Emerika

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Emerika &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">first off....it doesn't effect anything inside the tranny in a negative way.

second....you have to be stupid to be cruising in neutral anyways- no control of car

third....rev match before shifting into gear and you'll be fine</TD></TR></TABLE>
Everything I was going to say, summed up in 3 simple sentences.

 

I do it sometimes, I make sure to rev match though. I'm pretty **** about it, I rev match almost every gear for some reason for some fear that I'll destroy the synchros in my tranny if I don't get it perfect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Luserkid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also waste alot of gas. Atleast thats how i always looked at it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

think before you talk.. how is it going to waste ANY gas when the car is in neutral? unless you have a habit of flooring the gas pedal when the car is in neutral you should be conserving gas.

Emerika is right though.. You dont have the ability to make a quick move when you're not in gear, but you could always rev-match before throwing it in gear if you dont want to risk hurting the tranny.

 

I blew an engine one time in my wifes Mercury (Zepher auto tranny) because I'd been coasting in neutral. It was more than 20 years ago. It was 105 degree's outside and my engine was running hot. We came to a long down hill running into a canyon so I poped it into neutral, something I commonly did in my 5 speed. My error was in not shutting off the cruise. When I got to the bottom of the hill I popped her back in drive. The cruise floored the engine because I had slowed down below the speed the cruise was set on. Before I could turn the key to shut the engine off it was blown. 200 CID Ford 6 cylinder couldn't handle a couple seconds of being floored. Be sure to shut off your cruise off before you do it.

 

it would never affect anything inside the tranny just crusing in neutral
dont you go in to neutral before changing gears at 50?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hatchy-Ownzjo0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">think before you talk.. how is it going to waste ANY gas when the car is in neutral? unless you have a habit of flooring the gas pedal when the car is in neutral you should be conserving gas.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Believe it or not, coasting in neutral uses more fuel than coasting in gear; when you coast in gear, the engine shuts off the injectors so you are using no fuel whatsoever. When you're in neutral, the engine has to use some fuel to keep itself idling.

However it is not an unbelievably huge difference, I am just being a nit-picky jacknob.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Believe it or not, coasting in neutral uses more fuel than coasting in gear; when you coast in gear, the engine shuts off the injectors so you are using no fuel whatsoever. When you're in neutral, the engine has to use some fuel to keep itself idling.

However it is not an unbelievably huge difference, I am just being a nit-picky jacknob. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I want proof..

 

I agree.... you have to stay in control of the car.

 

being in nuetral isnt bad as long as the clutch pedal is depressed (foot off pedal)

being in lower gears (1st thru 3rd) while going downhill with the pedal pushed in is bad. clutch could be spinning upwards of 10,000 rpms and could fly apart destroying everything and flying thru your firewall into the passenger seat. do not do this. i have seen pics and now i keep the pedal depressed if im coasting, in nuetral.


Modified by NA_95d16z6 at 11:49 PM 4/14/2004

 

The main reason I am asking this is because I want to conserve gas.

I understand the you have more control with it in gear.

thanks for the replies

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Believe it or not, coasting in neutral uses more fuel than coasting in gear; when you coast in gear, the engine shuts off the injectors so you are using no fuel whatsoever. When you're in neutral, the engine has to use some fuel to keep itself idling.

However it is not an unbelievably huge difference, I am just being a nit-picky jacknob. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You can't coast in gear , at least not for longer than a couple of seconds, it slows you down alot more than in neutral and I thought coasting in gear would be harder on your tranny. And coasting means driving roughly the same speed for a while doesnt it?

 

If the hill is steep enough to pull your car in gear without giving it more gas, the injectors are shut off by the ecu. This would make you save more gas than having the car in neutral which burns fuel. You are much better off in gear anyway for handling issues.

 

well if u actually go and calculate it. the amount of gas u would need to accelerate due to the car slowing down because you were in gear, may offset the amount saved in the first place.

good theory eh!

 

i live whre ther are no hills
i coast all of the time........on my road bike

rev matching and heel toe is a common practice done by me

 

It is actually bad to coast in neutral cause the pump is not turning. An auto tranny uses atf to lube and pressure to change gears, the pump is run off the input shaft and if your car is in neutral nothings turning the pump which causes inadequate lubrication.

 

if someone downshifts into 2nd while there doing fifty they might as well kick them selves in the NUTS!

 

ah....the beauties of double-clutching. coasting in nuetral does nothing whatsoever to your motor or your tranny. although there is no reason to downshift into second while going fifty, it is very possible and very easily done. again, the beauties of a motor that can rev to 8000rpms safely.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMlifestyle &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if someone downshifts into 2nd while there doing fifty they might as well kick them selves in the NUTS!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Pull up next to me doing fifty and I'll shift to 2nd and walk you...you'll be so far back you'll be kicking yourself in the nuts

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hatchy-Ownzjo0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">think before you talk.. how is it going to waste ANY gas when the car is in neutral? unless you have a habit of flooring the gas pedal when the car is in neutral you should be conserving gas.</TD></TR></TABLE>

but ummm isnt that cool to do that, i mean didnt vin diesel do that in F&F.....cough cough *uncle bens* hack, cough, damn man, its not that hard to be cool