Tips for a beginner

[Ladogaboy]

And therein lies the problem, Diesel Dave: We have the expectation that people will do the right thing. That gorilla would be dead on an LA freeway.

I think the best option really is to find a semi going the speed you want to travel (sometimes hard, because even the semis down here go 65-70 mph) and follow/draft it. Obviously, there are still dangers with drafting, but it might be safer than the alternative.

[highhung723]

I haven't checked in for some time, but have read up on all the advice/discussion. LA is probably the worst part of the country to drive in, but DC is close behind. I agree that driving well below the speed limit is dangerous is more populated areas and I personally will not go more than 10 MPH lower if there is traffic. I am fairly certain I would get rear-ended within two miles if I did that. I drive a black, mid-sized sedan, not a huge cement truck!

Luckily, my daily commute goes through a two-lane, 50 MPH road that is curvy and hilly, so people are not "dead zombies" for the most part. That means I don't have to speed, but the curves and hills limits the speeders' sight ahead of them. So unfortunately, I don't do P&G at 25 MPH. I go down to about 40 MPH when I climb hills and up to 60 MPH when I coast down them. *I have traveled 25-30 MPH on a 40 MPH road, but that was when there was no one else around. I can't say that about many roads I'm on though .

I have noticed that a lot of people follow the speed limit. It's just that in the past, I would always zoom by them and not notice them. It feels good to be behind or in front of someone going the same speed as me, who also lets up on the accelerator when climbing and coasts when descending.

I haven't been honked at, but have had people tailgaiting and cutting me off. I'm starting to get over it, but I'm still fairly new and am on my toes around these aggressive drivers. Keep the advice rolling.

I have a couple questions:
1.) Is it normal for a cold engine to be more efficient in "Drive" than "Neutral"? When I start up my car and coast downhill from my parking spot, the RPM reads about 1000 for D and 1500 for Neutral until it's warm. Does this reflect fuel usage too?

2.) For engine-off coasting, do you lose steering? I tried this when there was bumper-to-bumper traffic and it was hard to turn the steering wheel. I might have been because I was going 5 MPH, but I didn't want to experiment at higher speeds.

3.) Should I turn my engine off at every traffic light? In other words, approximately how many seconds of driving does turning on/off an engine equal?

[Ladogaboy]

Originally Posted by highhung723

1.) Is it normal for a cold engine to be more efficient in "Drive" than "Neutral"? When I start up my car and coast downhill from my parking spot, the RPM reads about 1000 for D and 1500 for Neutral until it's warm. Does this reflect fuel usage too?

In my car, the instant fuel usage does read lower for neutral idle until the car is warmed up. It will probably depend on the car.

Originally Posted by highhung723

2.) For engine-off coasting, do you lose steering? I tried this when there was bumper-to-bumper traffic and it was hard to turn the steering wheel. I might have been because I was going 5 MPH, but I didn't want to experiment at higher speeds.

This will depend on the car, but if you have power steering, you will lose at least some of your ability to steer. Some cars are downright impossible to steer without it. Some factors/alternatives you might want to look into include mechanical power steering deletes or a separate electric motor to run the power steering unit.

Originally Posted by highhung723

3.) Should I turn my engine off at every traffic light? In other words, approximately how many seconds of driving does turning on/off an engine equal?

Again, this will depend greatly on your car. I haven't yet gotten to the point of attempting this technique, but I've started to chart the lights that consistently stay red the longest. Right now, even on my 30-mile, round-trip commute, I only have three to four lights where I would consider this.

[Mustang Dave]

Originally Posted by Ladogaboy

I think the best option really is to find a semi going the speed you want to travel (sometimes hard, because even the semis down here go 65-70 mph) and follow/draft it. Obviously, there are still dangers with drafting, but it might be safer than the alternative.

That's my technique for dealing with California freeway traffic. (except for the "draft" part) I follow the semi at a 2-3 second (200-300 foot) distance. Cars still whip between us, but it's much less stressful than trying to keep up with the "pack".

[highhung723]

So it turns out my car (2011 Camry, automatic) cannot be dinghy towed. Therefore I can't (or at least shouldn't) coast in neutral. But the owner's manual also notes:

"Moving the shift lever to N while the vehicle is moving will disengage the engine from the transmission. Engine braking is not available while N is selected."

There is also an "S mode" shifting that I'm unclear about...why can't I just have a manual car?

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by highhung723

"Moving the shift lever to N while the vehicle is moving will disengage the engine from the transmission.

Um, yeah, that's the definition of "neutral".

Originally Posted by highhung723

Engine braking is not available while N is selected."

Um, yeah, that's the point.

Engine braking means that the engine is slowing the vehicle down. That's because it takes work to just turn the engine around even if there's no fuel being sent to the engine (pumping and friction work). During engine braking, your engine is basically turned ino a giant ground-driven air compressor. It's actually the engine producing negative torque. Power is going TO the engine, not FROM the engine. From a fuel economy perspective, you almost always want to avoid engine braking.

[highhung723]

Originally Posted by Diesel_Dave

Um, yeah, that's the definition of "neutral".



Um, yeah, that's the point.

My point is: why even have neutral if it's damaging to the transmission? And what is the point of this little trivia? The owner's manual tells me what shifting to neutral will do, but supposedly it's bad to do that in the first place.

[Diesel_Dave]

Does the manual say it's actually harmful?

[highhung723]

No, but from what I've gathered on this forum, a car that cannot be flat-towed should not coast in neutral.

[slowmover]

Automatic transmissions depend upon fluid circulation and pressure for lubrication. "Neutral" may mean that some parts of the component will be moving (rotating) but not receiving lubrication when the engine is turned off. On any auto trans vehicle I have owned (cars going back to the 1960's) it was that the vehicle could be towed four-down for very short distances at very slow speeds. We always tried to avoid that.

Engine on, but trans in "N" may still mean fluid circulation (there is more than one way to build an auto trans).

It never kept me from choosing "N" in certain situations (pausing between going from "R" to "D" for example), and while I am not fond of "N" to be used on any transmission while moving down the road, it has some limited applicability. Is FE worth the lack of engine braking? Not in my book. Maybe the last bit before a full stop ahead where the possibility exists that the stoplight may change in my favor.

Either/Or decisions are harder to quantify when cutting corners (note the analogy). Perhaps not making it a habit is the best compromise.