WOW! I hadda got 35 MPG !

I get 32MPG with my Intrigue, so that's pretty good.

Yep, keeping constant speed is key.

They are my favorites, too. Interstates are boring and crowded, with no side views. Yeah, the speed limit is higher, but the average speed ends up being the same because of traffic.

Nah, I leave it at 70+.

That's not optimal. Fuel-injected engines cut fuel off when coasting, but by putting it in neutral forces it to keep fuel flowing. And some fuel is more than no fuel.

Were not talking a medium duty truck here, were talking about a car. If you can not stop your car with the engine off, or steer it, you should just park it.

Power steering won't matter until your at low speeds (under 5MPH) any ways. Not to mention the power booster has a vacuum reserve for one stop.

If your brakes "go to the floor" their is a park brake peddle (something Hollywood ignores). Now if the steering fails, engine running or not becomes a moot point. Charles

Ian is correct. With automatics very little engine braking is done via coasting. It only occurs when you either manually down shift, or are driving a truck with a tow/haul mode (which will down shift early to off engine braking)

Very few FWD car owners use engine braking, heck very few light duty truck owners do. Charles

Let's start over again. Here is the scenario....I'm cruising down the road, I move the transmission lever from the Drive position to the Neutral position. Nobody said anything about shutting the engine off. Now you tell me what is dangerous about that, what loss of control there possibly can be, and what you are talking about when you mention that there will be loss of engine braking, (very little if any with most automatic transmissions), and loss of vacuum (engine is still running, at idle with closed throttle, lots of vacuum).

Off topic....nobody is talking about coasting around in neutral all day long. My question again.....what loss of control will there be if you shift into neutral? There is none, other then a bunch of "what if" scenarios that people quickly bring up.

Ian

Ahhh, ok Mr Rocket Scientist.....this sounds like an intelligent reason why not to put it in neutral. I mean...we all know that engines can "only" stall when the trans is in neutral, not when it's in drive.

Sheesh.

Ian

Why would it need one if the engine is running? The front pump is still going is it not?

OK OK OK !!

i'LL TRY NOT TO PUT INTO NEUTRAL ANYMORE... IT WAS BECOMING A HABIT, BECAUSE MY IDLE IS A LITTLE MORE than i want it to be.

i don't like the feeling of it trying to pull ahead a little, so i was putting it into neutral.

REMember,

the 95 buick century has the "free wheeling" rear axle............you know what that is??

It coasts and coasts.........ha!, the pre-owner didnt like it, he went back to dealer and said i dont want that on my car! ha..I'm used to it now, it might use the brakes a little more..but its only money, and pads, or rotors or shoes...........

Like my '90 Buick Century, it is Front Wheel Drive. As with all FWD autos, the rear axle and wheels mainly keep the bumper from dragging the ground. Now that's an over-simplification. The real wheels do aid in breaking, load bearing, and handling, but they do NOT transmit power to the ground. Unless the auto is RWD, AWD or 4WD, the rear axle is free wheeling.

The former owner was apparently clueless.

That is true but the coupling is very weak. Take your foot off the gas with an auto and the engine goes to low rev even though the car is still at speed. No engine braking.

------->>>> goodgod! now i know what idiocity driving this car is! it's got a great interior, and that is crap! it has a good engine, and now that sucks! THERE is something different about the '95 boo-ick century though, i guarantee it..it IS MORE free-wheeling than other years, i tell ya! i was driving ystrday, and thought, "hey you, this is an idea...how could the fuel injectors get not as much gas as theyre getting right now, without affecting the performance???"....like in the olden daze, where you could put in a smaller or bigger carb jet??? ....why couldnt you put in some kind of fuel line butterfly valve, that would adjust the fuel flow to the performance???

thats what i'm saying.............

Well, Mr. Sarcastic, I never said it can stall ONLY in N, but if it does, the wheels will not be turning the engine, creating vacuum in the intake manifold for the power brake and turning the power steering pump then.

Try that and get back to me later.

Just try steering a car whose power steering failed and get back to me.

My Alero had a power steering pump shaft broken and it took both arms to manage to steer only very slowly. It's got nothing to do with the car speed, as the demultiplication in cars with power steering is about twice as direct as in those without it.

Depends on the speed. If the TCC is still applied, it's got as much engine braking as a manual tranny.

That would be true. I don't think the TCC would still be applied with closed throttle though. I don't know for certain.

I've done this in a few cars, an 80 something Monte Carlo and in a 99 Blazer. The Monte wasn't running, but it was going really slow, that thing was still steerable to me, an 8 year old at the time. The Blazer I just put into neutral and ran it down a hill without the engine on and that was still easily steerable. What do you think they did in the days before power steering?

Hi...

Being a real old guy, I kinda remember - sorta :)

The steering wheel itself was much larger...

And the steering gear ratio was different... more turns of the steering wheel to go lock to lock on the wheels.

Ken

They used manual steering gear boxes of course! They were geared slower and took more turns to get the vehicle around the bend. That's why they were not that hard to use. A power steering box is geared higher to move the wheels faster.

Brian

Oh boy, you've taken your smart pills today, haven't you? What is your point?....if the engine stalls, in either neutral, or drive, it quits. These cars don't have rear transmission pumps. So if the engine quits, you won't have power steering, but you will have power brakes for one or two applications. And this will happen whether it quits in drive or neutral! You have as much chance of the engine "quitting" while it's in drive or in neutral. In other words, putting the car in neutral while you are bombing down the road puts you in no more danger of losing your power steering or power brakes then if you were in drive. Got it? Vacuum is not created by the wheels "turning" the engine. There is more then enough vacuum created simply by the engine idling.

Very strange ideas that some of you have. They certainly have no relationship with how cars "actually" work. But that seems to be par for the course on "automotive" newsgroups. It wouldn't be so bad if the information was posed as a question, but to speak authoritatively about complete BS is beyond me.

Ian

You mean line what the engine computer already does?

Ted