Coasting in neutral, good idea or bad?

Inactive

pault123 wrote: »

Inactive have a look here, the first pic shows what happens when the clutch is pressed, the fly wheel and clutch plate disengage,

Thanks but I am well aware of how a clutch works, it was only a pure technicality of the words " in gear " that I was making.

My view is that if a car is " in gear " ie; in any gear and the clutch is disengaged, it is still technically " in gear " albeit, the engine is disengaged from the drive train.

Others beg to differ, fair enough.;)

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Wig wrote: »

So IMHO the 'rolling' car is on the whole likely to save more fuel than the 'in gear' car.

You are wrong, and also not in full control of your vehicle.

LandyAndy

pault123 wrote: »

Inactive have a look here, the first pic shows what happens when the clutch is pressed, the fly wheel and clutch plate disengage,


http://www.dorwey.co.uk/clutch.htm

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

You tried to tell Inactive something.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

LandyAndy

Its only electronically managed cars that use no fuel on the overrun.

Pete268

Whatever, just don't try to do it in an automatic car (ie coast in neutral). It can cause serious gear box problems.

Pete

Wig

LandyAndy wrote: »

Its only electronically managed cars that use no fuel on the overrun.

And not all of them do it either. Your car manual should tell you have the feature.

Wig

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

You are wrong,

What do you base your opinion on?

and also not in full control of your vehicle.

I beg to differ.

cajef

Wig wrote: »

I beg to differ.

Well tell that to a driving examiner, if you do it on the driving test it is a serious fault and instant fail.

Highway Code Rule 122.

Coasting. This term describes a vehicle travelling in neutral or with the clutch pressed down. It can reduce driver control because

• engine braking is eliminated
• vehicle speed downhill will increase quickly
• increased use of the footbrake can reduce its effectiveness
• steering response will be affected, particularly on bends and corners
• it may be more difficult to select the appropriate gear when needed

Generali

Surely if you're in neutral you only have road and air resistance. If you are in gear with no foot on the clutch then you have the resistance of the engine to contend with too. If you select a gear wisely you can reduce but not eliminate that.

Having said that, crashing your car probably isn't very money saving!

Belnahua

Coasting is illegal and dangerous. You are deemed to not be in full control of the vehicle.

I think the theory behind it is partly that if the engine dies whilst coasting, you lose power steering and the brakes become harder to work after the first couple of pumps. Also you can easily cook the brakes if you don't have the added engine drag, and a cooked brake will not stop you - and it's a frightening experience - I had a caliper stick on (only one out of the 4 pads stuck, but it boiled the fluid) and when I next used the foot brake, there was nothing there.

However how many cars out there now do not have an electronic engine management system. Even my old escort from 1986 had a no fuel on the overrun system.