How much gas do you use in gear with foot off of gas pedal slowing down? So you are driving and the light turns red, you leave it in gear vs. leaving it in neutral when you are stopping. Which one saves more gas?
Manual or automatic?
The car is a Manual transmission 5-speed.
Search the site, this question is asked every so often.
What is the year, make, and model of the car you are talking about?
If you are talking about just about any car made within the last 15 years, the answer is no. You will in fact use more gas if you coast in neutral. When you are coasting down a hill in gear, gravity supplies enough energy for the transmission to keep the engine turning, so the electronic fuel management turns off all gas to the engine. If you put it in neutral, then gas is supplied to the engine to keep it running.
This applies to manual or automatic transmissions.
Thank you for the reply. That makes perfect sense. Very logical. The car is Acura Integra 1997.
Where’s that dead horse picture we saw in another thread recently?
Just do what you please. It won’t make any noticeable difference in MPG.
Quick answer. Generally better in gear. But not always. It gets complex.
Neutral is NOT recommended for coasting especially coasting down hill. It is very easy to lose control due to the fact you have no engine braking to assist you in stopping.
transman