Coasting in neutral or with clutch down?

[falfa]

Hi I'm new to this forum and hypermiling, I really enjoy the reading.

On my glide I don't go in neutral i rather clutch down its just less work then shifting manual into neutral. What is really better with a diesel?

[SVOboy]

I doubt it makes much of a difference, to be perfectly honest, but I generally do it with the clutch in in case I need to be in gear.

[tasdrouille]

I always switch to neutral by habit. Some people might say you're wearing your throwout bearing running with the clutch when coasting. But on the other hand I've never heard of someone who really had a bad throwout bearing because of that.

[KJSatz]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

I always switch to neutral by habit. Some people might say you're wearing your throwout bearing running with the clutch when coasting. But on the other hand I've never heard of someone who really had a bad throwout bearing because of that.

I agree. I always shift to neutral and let the clutch back out.

[cfg83]

falfa -

I agree with KJSatz and tasdrouille. I have heard that keeping the clutch pedal pushed down for a long time is "bad", but I can't remember the reason.

CarloSW2

[LeanBurninating]

Welcome to the boards!

+1 for the throwout bearing story.

If you are lazy like me, just go into neutral without using the clutch. Its pretty easy to do, you basically just have to eliminate the load on the tranny, which means the engine is not accelerating or decelerating the car. So maybe 10% throttle or so. Depends on your car (truck?) but to get a feel for it, take your foot off the gas, pull on the shifter a tad in the direction of neutral, and give the gas pedal a gentle "blip" and it should pop right outta gear. Easy.

[Daox]

I also shift to neutral. However, if I know my glide is going to be short, up a hill for instance, I'll just use the clutch.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I think it depends on the car -- my xA's clutch spring is a little too light, so I don't like to hold the clutch down long; and I shift into neutral to coast. My previous cars with standard shifts (2002 Focus ZX-5, 1987 Golf, and 1970 Volvo 144) this was not an issue, so I held down the clutch as long as I liked.

[DIMS]

The scan gauge gooes off the chart with the car in gear and pedal off the gas, but in neutral it is similar to idle. It appears that I have a fuel cut off in gear but not in neutral.

[MetroMPG]

DIMS: that's normal. But it's generally considered more efficient to go to neutral because your glides will go much, much further in N than while decelerating with engine braking/fuel cut in gear.

I'm with Leanburninating: I can't remember the last time I used the clutch to shift to neutral. Light pressure on the shifter as the transmission unloads, and it shifts out of gear like butter. I rarely glide with the clutch in.