I believe he's referring to the resistance the engine load has on the car when in gear, common in all cars. Holding a bit of throttle reduces this, keeping the speed up. Coasting in neutral is the option, but then the brakes are needed to keep the downhill speed in check, however, coasting in neutral is not a safe practice to follow and the mpg gain is negligible at best.

 

I see what you mean. When I let go of my gas when going downhill, I could feel a slight lurch forward by the AT FIT engine which explains what you and SB described. Thanks!

 

I believe coasting and speed control depends on the hills. 0 fuel is use when coasting so coasting is good and it also helps the engine clean by moving the load to the other side.
I dont notice the engine braking as much in an auto as in a manual but I dont have hills like you guys.

Running premium I also notice less engine braking.

 

Engine braking isn't transmission specific as it occurs on both auto & Manual vehicles. It is the resistance feeling you get when the engine is actually slowing the car down due to a lack of the appropriate amount of fuel being injected into the engine (not enough to accelerate). It will be more noticeable depending on the gear rations themselves as opposed to whether you row the gearbox yourself or not.

As for "Freewheeling" It is dangerous and also illegal in most if not all states in the US. When going downhill, applying a touch of gas will prevent your engine from slowing the car down but by releasing the pedal the tiniest bit, you can modulate this as it is variable and not "all or nothing".

~SB

 

Does your motor stop running? If not then fuel is being used...at least in my 2011 it is since the motor is always at least at idle...

 

Here is the fuel cutoff Throttle parameters. Get a gauge and see for your self.

 

If the car is indicating RPM then how could it not be running? So then this car is different than others that actually cut off when stopped i guess? I have driven other Hondas and can feel the cutoff / surge but i have none of that on my fit...???

The Insight has horrible surge BTW...

 

Modern cars cut off the fuel injection when you take your foot off the gas above roughly 25 mph. Wheels are attached to transmission which is attached to crankshaft and hence, engine keeps turning even though no combustion is taking place. When you put the transmission in neutral, the engine goes to idle and the injectors must come back on to keep the engine from stalling. It sounds counter-intuitive but if you want to save gas, keep your car in gear.

 

The fuel cuts off and the compression acts like a brake. You will feel it in the fit eventually. Its the same technology that makes a 8 cylinder run on 4 cylinders. Honda also has selective engines that kill cylinders under certain loads.

Never driven a Insight but the surge would be cause by the electric motor.

 

Look here: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/eco-...f-control.html

 

I am familiar with the 8,6,4 as most big trucks have had that for some time. Guess the Fit is just much smoother than other Hondas that i have driven. Insights drive like crap. Prius don't drive anything like that or have that surge.

Thanks for some info...

 

On any given modern ECU, OBD1 and OBD2 this is a setting on the Fuel Cut offset tables for when TPS = 0% and the VSS is showing mph X>0.

On an MT this requires that the ClutchSwitch = 0 (closed), and a gear is engaged or on an A/T the "D" (drive) Pin has to be engaged.

This lets you coast with the injectors off and all the fuel keeping the rail pressurized is routed back down the return line.

On most Honda's this is the table, as illustrated by SB's link:

You get that popping on the injector overrun when you slam the throttle shut while still in gear on a straight pipe because most of the interpolated tables tied to this in closed loop tell the ECU it needs to run rich in case you dive back on the throttle for a given span of time after, so the fuel still getting dumped is now being blown out the hot exhaust popping and burbling like an Indy car till it reaches whatever the set FC Offset is.

Usually its pretty low before the RPM and TPS dictate that the injectors need to come back on and save the car from stalling, on the Fit.

In fact according the manual (Thanks to K_C) that threshold is 907 rpm for MT Fits and 850rpm for the AT guys: