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Originally Posted by briogio
I'm curious what you guys think about putting a car in neutral and then just using the brakes to come to a stop. I know you'ld use up your brake pads more but would you save gas?.
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Pick your deceleration method carefully.
If you can call the shots : coast to a stop or to a lower speed.
Pick your starting distance to match the start and end speed.
It takes a while to find out how far your car will coast.
It's a fair bit further than you'd have thought
Obviously, coasting with the engine off is more efficient than with the engine on - but it's not my thing either.
If you'll need to stop / decelerate but have a fairly long way to do so : use engine braking (DFCO, see later).
I've found out that coasting with the engine on, is still more efficient than DFCO.
If the above won't stop or slow you down quickly enough : use the brakes
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I'm not really into shutting off my engine when I'm coming down a hill but would it save more gas to put it into neutral, idle, and coast down?
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Going down a hill, you normally have DFCO : Fuel is Cut Off while you're Decelerating (releasing the throttle but staying in gear)
With a fuel meter (on board, or scangauge and the like) you can check wether your car keeps using fuel or not.
This is also called engine braking, and should be used going down steeper grades.
It has the same effect on fuel economy as shutting your engine off, but without the disadvantages of shutting it off.
What's a steep grade : any grade steep enough to increase your speed beyond the limit (or the limit + your usual extra) when you're going downhill in neutral.
Depending on your car's aerodynamic properties, it'll have a terminal velocity for every kind of gradient.
Mine is 100-110 kph (63-70 mph) on 4 to 5 % grades, meaning I can coast in neutral and maintain that safe speed - on a highway of course.
Any steeper, and I have to put it in gear to control speed.
Try it out
Remember : braking wastes energy.