Greetings from a new first-car owner Los Angeles
 

I just bought my very first car yesterday, and the first thing I did was register on Ecomodder!

I have a very bright blue 2007 Toyota Corolla Model S. I fear that the car will have a worse drag coefficient and more weight than the normal versions, however, I haven't been able to find out specifics of the model S verses the others for that year. If anyone has a link to comprehensive information that would be great!

I previously drove other people's cars, including my wife's Prius, and am particularly proud of a stint I did in England where I got 70mpg on a little ford rental car rated for 45mpg (by never driving more than 80-90km/hour on the highway, and, erm... some less savory methods that are advised against and which I won't do anymore:-)

My next step is to find out whether it is safe and cost effective to put the car in neutral going down hills and coasting to stop signs.

Well done for driving in England ! I hear most people from the US of A have a melt down the first time they see a roundabout.

How did you find driving on the wrong side of the road ?

I personally never had any issues and when I move to Sweden I took my English cars with me, non of the other drivers at work could understand how I could drive to work in a RHD then drive LHD all day the RHD home again.

I'm sure that you will find coasting in neutral both safe and cost effective, it is helping me get a better MPG, there are lots of tips and tricks, some more extreme than others.
The links for these at the top of the page, they are good lists as it give an indication of the costs and the savings involved.

Welcomes to the forum

Mike

Coasting in neutral in an auto isn't recommended. I personally would bother due to potential trans problems, Some on here do it, and haven't reported any issues though.

Yes that is good advice for an automatic, I was assuming that it was a manual.

Coast in in N is ok for most automatics, depends on how the engine/tranny behave, my Impala when in OD coast the same as N, if engine braking is needed I have to go to D or lower. Previous 03 Malibu was the same.

Stratus and Altima don't coast in OD, they engine brake, I use N coast every time I drive them.

If your engine rpms drops to near idle speed when you release the gas then you probably don't need to N coast, if it doesn't you are engine braking.

Engine off coasting with a Auto is generally a no no, except for a few cars that have the lube pump driven from the output shaft instead of the engine. Pretty sure Saturns and the other similar GMs that are OK to be flat towed can be (I wouldn't but I'm lazy that way).

If your car doesn't go from D to N without any fuss I wouldn't do it, all of mine do smoothly.

Last caution, be careful with cruise control, all mine turn it off, my Mom's 02 Silverado doesn't, it hit the rev limiter faster than I could tap the brakes.

I have coasted in neutral in many different automatics and never suffered a moment's trouble. There are tradeoffs to consider however:

1) You can't coast with the engine off. Most automatics won't take that as the front of the tranny has to be turning to maintain internal lubrication. There are a few exceptions but I won't go into that here, just accept it as a general rule and you can research for yourself if you're one of the exceptions. I would simply assume that you aren't.

2) The usual neutral coasting illegality issue. Since I'm not required to host a tattletale spy gadget that constantly updates cops on what gear I'm in, I don't worry about this one.

3) The usual overshooting-into-reverse argument. Having actually done this at 40 mph and getting a bruise in the chest from the seatbelt, I don't consider this a negligible risk. I was also shocked that a) the tranny permitted the shift at such a high forward speed, modern ones probably won't do it and b) the car took it and shrugged it off. No damage. I was amazed. That was also a Corolla - a 1982 Corolla.

4) The usual six-of-one, half-dozen-of-the-other argument. You would get a longer glide in neutral, but simply coasting in gear may allow the engine controls to deactivate the fuel injectors while you're decelerating. You could have more time at minimal injector duty while the engine idles, or a shorter period where the engine burns no fuel at all. This one is a tossup, really.

My normal everyday commute to work is 120 miles round trip... I drive an 05 Mazda 6 w/ automatic.

I coast in N, with engine running @ idle speeds, a combined total of approx. 3.5 - 4 miles per round trip commute depending which rout I take... I have been doing this w/ no problems for over 5 years, and although I haven't quantified my neutral-coasting gains ... I feel confident that it is helping... my FE ranges from 27 mpg to 30 mpg per tank depending on how I drove that week.