Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
Find a slope where you're neither gaining nor losing speed while rolling in neutral. Now, put it in gear and find the exact throttle position where you're neither accelerating nor decelerating. At this point, as long as you hold the throttle exactly where it is, you can take it in and out of gear and 1) RPM will not drop when it leaves gear, and 2) fuel consumption will not change whether in or out of gear.
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No one drives at zero torque and shifts in and out of neutral with zero torque.
Try reving really high as you go down the road and pulse and glide in a single gear without using any neutral or clutch. Accelerate up a few miles per hour and take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow down a few miles per hour and then do it again.
Driving a typical manual means snapping the throttle shut and causing higher pumping losses.
Driving an automatic means that the torque converter will be forced from time to time to hit less efficient RPM differences that churn more hydraulic fluid into heat.