I like coasting on long down-sloping grades as much as possible to save gas. (With CRUISE off, STABILITY off, ECON on.) I can even exceed the criticized EPA Fuel Economy figures. And I rarely have to brake hard at stops. My 2001 GM Venture would coast forever. My 2013 Dodge Caravan is very reluctant to coast or “freewheel”. When I ease up on gas pedal, it downshifts, revving up the engine to apply costly engine-braking (when I don’t want to slow down or stop at all)! I have asked several Chrysler mechanics and gotten different answers from each one, none of which helped. Now you Car Talk guys here are my last hope for an intelligent and definitive answer. Thank you, John.
My Camry will start automatically down shifting as the speed slows down. When you let off the gas, the computer sees this and matches the speed to the gear in the transmission. That way when you hit the gas it will be in the correct gear to accelerate. It’s all computer programed now and there is nothing the average consumer can adjust.
+1 to knfenimore’s comment.
My 2011 Outback also downshifts as the car coasts down in speed, and as a result is not able to coast anywhere near as far as my previous cars.
Is shifting into neutral harmful these days?
^
For starters, shifting into neutral and coasting is illegal in every venue with which I am familiar.
Additionally, since it doesn’t save gas on modern cars and since you lose the ability to suddenly accelerate if the need arises, I don’t think that it makes a whole lot of sense to shift into neutral.
“I don’t think that it makes a whole lot of sense to shift into neutral.”
It never has. It’s a dangerous practice.