Quote:
Originally Posted by Manualhybrid
I turn off my engine and coast when I can. I have doubled my fuel economy using this technique along with gentle acceleration and cruising in the lowest speed of my highest gear: My personal best is 40 mpg in my 2004 Toyota Matrix XR, front-wheel-drive, automatic transmission with Thule racks. I wonder whether other folks coast with the engine turned off and what they've learned.
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Welcome! I'm also in the Greater Seattle area.
Engine Off Coasting (EOC) is a widely used technique on this site. You are doing something unusual though... your car has an
automatic tranny. The majority of automatic transmissions will be damaged by coasting with the engine off because lubrication to the transmission is powered by a pump run off the input shaft. Turn the engine off and you lose lubrication.
Have you verified that your transmission is OK to be flat-towed?