Quote:
Originally Posted by moffiler
By coasting, I assume you mean what we call free wheeling over here.
|
Yes.
Gliding along with the transmission in neutral, with the engine either stopped or running.
Quote:
|
It is bad practice and if your vehicle is fuel injected (from its age, I guess that it is), it does not save any fuel.
|
It sure does save fuel
Quote:
|
Take your foot off the throttle and you use no fuel with FI;
|
That's right.
They call it DFCO - Deceleration Fuel Cut Off - on here, but in my neck of the woods we call it engine braking as it means you also slow down considerably.
That's also why it is less efficient.
Unless you want or need to brake as quickly as engine braking allows for, it's more efficient to coast along, even with the engine on.
The trick is to not accelerate to too high a speed, so you don't have to brake when you arrive at the next transition point (traffic lights, a turn, sharp corner, speed limit, downhill grade, ... anything requiring a speed reduction)
You only accelerate to a speed that will allow you to glide to the next transition point.
That means you also gain by reducing the fuel gulping acceleration phase.
Engine braking is obviously a lot more efficient than staying on the gas too long and then slammin' on the brakes at the last moment.
Equally obvious, having the engine tick over @ idle means it's still using fuel.
That's why some users shut their engines down during coasting.
But not everyone is happy to do so - I for one won't shut the engine down.
Quote:
|
Coast in neutral or with dissengaged clutch and your engine will be using fuel to tick over.
|
Sure.
Quote:
|
That could be at a rate of a litre per hour for you car.
|
Sure.
But it is still less than what you'd consume per hour if you drove the distance you coasted.
I was an avid user of DFCO / engine braking before joining ecomodder.
Coasting - and driving slower - is what has bumped up my mileage.