Sorry guys, I am from the old school, you always, always are in a gear that you can pull in, that includes slowing at a light. Once you get used to it, it is automatic, just happens. Coasting with a vehcile as heavy as the Dodge will kill you. Safety is more important than economy.

 

You guys all know that all that shifting in and out of gear just wears your trans down sooner right? Everytime you shift into gear your bands and clutches wear away a little bit. How much fuel do you really think your using while coasting down a hill in gear? Not much I'd say....

 

I've always heard it refered to a "Georgia Overdive". (trucker's term)

 

Coasting in neutral is not less safe than in gear in a manual. When you need to stop quickly, the first thing you do is push in the clutch. My truck stops no quicker if its neutral or in gear. I think you're confusing the reason why they made these driving in neutral laws. If your motor dies in an automatic transmission and your in neutral, you cannot engage the transmission. Also if your motor dies you can lose power to the brakes. In a standard, especially a noisy diesel, you know if your engine dies and you can always shift into gear and get the deceleration out of your transmission as well as repower the brakes.

 

Oh boy.....looks like the guys from Georgia are gunna be upset now.
Never heard it called that. No matter what, it is penny pinching trying to save a little bit of fuel. (yea I have done plenty of times, when i had a hand shaker)

 

Bad and unsafe information. Coasting down a hill in neutral is illegal and unsafe. And no, when coming to a stop I do not push the clutch in until 1000 rpm. Its also a good way to pop a clutch disk or tear up an automatic as the case may be.

 

We always called it Mexican overdrive , or texas overdrive , it's all the same isn't it?

 

coasting in neutral is illegal...if you're doing that down a long steep hill then u might as well leave her in neutral and turn the truck off till you get to the bottom

best ways to save mileage:

1) have a soft foot..like u have an egg under there

2) predict in advance....i mean u can see whats happening out in the distance so dont accelerate to the red light and act like u didnt know the red light was coming

3) if u actually have to stop and go at any point, then accellerate annoyingly slow...until u get people honking at u or passing u making faces it means ur accelarating too fast with your truck

4) pick roads where u can use ur overdrive or final gear as much as possible...the difference from no overdrive to overdrive mileage is huge

5) dont stomp the pedal just to let out smoke and make a "burrp" sound...folks on here have been getting tickets lately

 

I've aways heard the opposite, better mpgs by accelerating to the speed limit rapidly, I don't mean stomping on it but at a good rate.

 

I have heard that referred to a momentum driving. Makes perfect sense to me.

I love watching some driver’s accelerating hard up a hill to hammer on the breaks for the corner and then hammering up the hill again. Although I am sure they keep their mechanics well employed.

I would think coasting down long hills in neutral that you would be using the service breaks more than if you were in gear?

 

Maybe I was misunderstood. I didn't say you should always coast. If I am comming over a crest with a slight downhill for the next 1/4 mile or so like I do every day for work my truck will keep its speed until the traffic light I hit and then I do shift into gear to use the engine braking to slow down. If something were to come into play that would be dangerous my foot can still hit the brake as fast or faster than if it were in gear. And coming down a steep hill would not be one of the places I would coast. It doesn't make mpg sense to keep my foot on the throttle just to match the motor speed to the road speed, just wasting diesel.
I still don't know why it would be unsafe to run in neutral if you think about it. Coasting in a manual in neutral is similar to coasting in an automatic which is in gear. Both use less fuel by not using throttle.

 

Just to be clear. I have NEVER coasted down a hill loaded. Never, ever would consider doing it. And I do not do it at all now with an auto trans. There was a terrible accident not far from here on the Conejo Grade. A big rig was coming down it in to high a gear. He tried to downshift and couldn’t get it in gear again. Two people didn’t get to see there loved ones again. It’s just not worth doing it at any cost.

 

Ask your DOT officer what he thinks... He'll be watching you the next time you coast down that hill in neutral. It IS illegal. Learned that when I got my CDL-A (8 years ago).

Besides, even if the engine is revved up while coasting, it's still not getting any more fuel that it would at idle, providing you keep your foot off the throttle!!! It's just free-wheelin.

 

If you let off the go pedal in an official unmodified Dodge automatic transmission,
the engine drops to idle speed, overhead mpg readout shoots up to 99 (only two digits, so highest it can go),
and EGT's drops down to 300 or less in no time, pretty much burning negligable fuel.

I'd say that's as close to neutral you can get without breaking any laws.


phox

 

Now that I think of it, most everybody coasts in neutral or at least with the clutch in. Whenever I come to a stop from lets say 45 mph I generally downshift to 4th and let the engine slow the truck down, then push the clutch in and shift to neutral. After coming to a stop or close to it I shift to 1st if going uphill or towing my boat, second if level road making it ready to start off again. But usually from about 25mph or so I am usually in gear with the clutch pushed in or in neutral.
I still don't know what you guys are talking about saying that coasting is unsafe. In some conditions yes. Not in all. The legality I am not arguing. I do wonder why that keeps getting mentioned when things like every time someone posts about driving 80 never gets the "that is dangerous and illegal". Coasting can be dangerous as have been noted but not always. Or am I wrong.