I know it's been asked:

Should I shift to neutral when I'm stopped at a light?

YES!
I figured there was a disconnect when shifting to neutral that would reduce fuel consumption just a little, but hadn't seen any evidence anywhere that it actually gave a clue as to how much... Until I read the current issue of Popular Mechanics.

They had a little blurb about the Saturn Astra, which mentioned the automatic transmission would shift to neutral automatically when the brakes were applied for more than 2 seconds. Doing this disconnects the torque converter from the engine, reducing load, and upped the city fuel economy by .2mpg.

It's not much, but it's SOMETHING.

 

.2mpg, YAY!
Thanks for posting man, ill try it next time and see if it does anything at all with the Fit.

Tyler

 

And is that .2mpg worth it when some guy loses his brakes and starts heading towards your car and when you instinctively hit the gas to get out of the way you just start revving the engine?

 

of course you shift to neutral..how else are you gonna stop without stalling? clutch-in the whole time?

 

LOL. i htink this "trick" is for the automatic transmission guys.

our trick is

 

Does it affect more wear to the transmission though?hmmm...

 

wow, that gain is like the automotive equivalent of John Holmes taking Enzyte.

 

.2 seriously?

I do get that every little bit helps...but there are safer ways to get way
better economy. There are also worse ways to though.

It doesnt seem worth the safety decrease and probably more obvious wear on parts.

 

HAHAHAHAAaa ....ouch...hahahahaaa

 

not worth it. .2mpg is really nothing.. dont risk the wear and tear of the tranny

 

i don't think I would want to put my tranny under the constant stress of applying and removing the torque converter for just .2 miles........doing this would probably cause mechanical problems over a short period of time.

 

i currently have an AT, but i had been driving my buddies cars for fun the past few weeks. when id switch back to my car, i was inclined to shift to neutral at red lights, so i just started doing it. you can really tell the difference when you idle in neutral and when youre in D mode in an AT.

 

i always shift my AT cars into N at stops that are longer than 5sec.

it provides slightly better gas consumption, keeps the tranny oil
temps lower... and dont need to push down the brake as hard
during idle up on cold morning.

 

I've also found that the transmission downshifts at some speeds when braking, which can make the brakes feel a bit 'grabby'. Shifting to neutral alleviates that as well.

And yeah, it idles better, because the torque converter isn't putting it's little load on the engine.

Arisen, I shift my Porsche into neutral at lights (it's a manual). Never had a problem where I thought I'd have to 'get out of the way in a panic'.

 

some volvo's used to have an automatic Neutral Stop function. It did more harm then good. It just killed the tranny.

Transmission > .2 mpg

 

It's a little different for a manual since instinctively we usually know to shift and clutch in. For an automatic first nature is to hit the gas unless you're constantly just sitting at the light thinking about it. I did it a few times when I had my old automatic and even just when the light turned green sometimes I'd completely forget and just sit there revving in neutral.

Of course you've never had the problem of having to get out of the way... until it happens.

 

i doubt you're going to have enough time to react to something
that abrupt even if you were in gear at a light. you still need
a fraction of a second to get the rev up. i think you'll just stall
there. lol plus you're going to wear out your OT bearing while
you're waiting at the light.

from habit i make sure my 1st gear collar is aligned to the gate
while my cars is slightly rolling forward coming to a stop. that
way i can quickly enter 1st as needed.

anyway, back to AT's.

 

if you have an AT don't do neutral drops. end of discussion.

 

pfft.

*runs away*

 

This is a totally silly idea, IMO. Just keep your foot on the brake with the car in gear, until you're ready to go. Then, just move the foot to the accelerator.

Sheesh! You would have to be totally anal to worry about that 0.2 theoretical MPG in a 34 +/- MPG car, and it would only show up in strictly city driving, if indeed it EVER showed up at all. (Which I seriously doubt, since the revs will increase when you remove the load.)

It would be unduly hard on your transmission (and the linkage thereto), and yes, you might have to move out of the way quickly, and Murphy's law states that that's the time when you would forget that you had your car in N, trying to save a drop or two of gas.

If you own a car that does this neutral-shifting for you, fine. If you own an AT Fit, for God's sake just drive it normally, and don't try to outsmart it.

Again I say, sheesh!