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Originally Posted by highhung723
1.) Is it normal for a cold engine to be more efficient in "Drive" than "Neutral"? When I start up my car and coast downhill from my parking spot, the RPM reads about 1000 for D and 1500 for Neutral until it's warm. Does this reflect fuel usage too?
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In my car, the instant fuel usage does read lower for neutral idle until the car is warmed up. It will probably depend on the car.
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Originally Posted by highhung723
2.) For engine-off coasting, do you lose steering? I tried this when there was bumper-to-bumper traffic and it was hard to turn the steering wheel. I might have been because I was going 5 MPH, but I didn't want to experiment at higher speeds.
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This will depend on the car, but if you have power steering, you will lose at least some of your ability to steer. Some cars are downright impossible to steer without it. Some factors/alternatives you might want to look into include mechanical power steering deletes or a separate electric motor to run the power steering unit.
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Originally Posted by highhung723
3.) Should I turn my engine off at every traffic light? In other words, approximately how many seconds of driving does turning on/off an engine equal?
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Again, this will depend greatly on your car. I haven't yet gotten to the point of attempting this technique, but I've started to chart the lights that consistently stay red the longest. Right now, even on my 30-mile, round-trip commute, I only have three to four lights where I would consider this.