[elhigh]

In neutral, the tranny and engine are each turning at whatever speed they will - the tranny's speed is dictated by the rest of the drivetrain; the engine will hold the speed you determine via the accelerator pedal.

I don't fully understand all of Roflwaffle's above statement - if the engine is being dragged along by the tranny, and the engine is EFI, the injectors won't have anything to do. Little or no fuel will go through the system. If you're looking for a longer coast, though, well then you should shift to neutral. Then your EFI will turn up the wick a little bit to keep the engine turning over. This is as it should be.

Carbureted engines don't coast in gear as well as EFI; the engine tries to become an air decompressor, pulling a vacuum against the back of the throttle plate. EFI doesn't do that.

If you're driving an SUV or an offroader or a Jeep (which is both), you may have a pretty loose Torque Converter in your ride. A looser TC will amplify torque more when there is more slippage between engine and transmission, at the expense of more slippage at full speed. Most TCs have a lockup clutch to prevent that when cruising. Let off the gas, though, and a lot of the lockup clutches immediately release - your engine will drop right down to idle. It feels like neutral, but it really isn't. The TC probably has enough drag in it to pull the engine up off idle a little bit, so the EFI can back way off on the fuel it delivers. Then, as your speed drops to near zero, the TC drags from the other side, and the engine is generating enough power even at idle to continue propelling your car.

Torque converters work great at transmitting power from the engine into the transmission. However, diode-like, they are nearly worthless at transmitting power from the transmission into the engine. That's why you can't roll-start an automatic-equipped car.

NO manufacturer will equip a vehicle that shift out of and back into gear for itself. NONE. This would expose them to tremendous legal risk. Remember Audi in the late 80's, and all that BS with "unintended acceleration?" That was almost the end of Audi, at least in the States.