So after reading the " Oil Flushing " thread i kept looking around on this sight and came across this for us 5spd drivers..... not sure if its legit though

Gas saving tips

14. Coast in gear, not in neutral.
If you need to coast while you're driving, don't slip the car into neutral but let it coast in a high gear. Most cars nowadays will shut off the fuel supply to the engine completely if you coast in gear. If you put it in neutral, the engine consumes enough petrol to keep it ticking over. ie. you'll get better fuel economy coasting downhill (for example) in gear.

 

I do it, usually, and get decent mpg, all things considered.
I typically do it when going down a hill (maintains speed, better) or stopping at a light. of course, this is more engine braking than coasting, but I think this is what they mean.

 

do that anyway.. leaving it in gear saves wear and tear on your clutch and synchros because you're doing about 1/2 the number of shifts.

 

i've known that for a while now. that's how come i downshift into 3rd when coming up to a red light, to keep the fuel off until i get down to like 20mph. if you are the lower gears and go to 2500rpm then lift, you'll feel the engine-brake effect weaken when the fuel injectors start firing again at 1600rpm

 

Putting it in Neutral and switching off the engine won't burn any fuel nor will it slow down the car with engine braking.

Of course, power steering will be out, you'll only have a couple pumps or so of the power brakes, voltage will be a little weak (but you can turn the key back on to "accessory" position so all the lights, signals, wipers, etc are still working) and you'll have to start the engine back up again when you are ready to hit the gas.

Back when gas prices were > $4.00 / gallon, I documented an increase of fuel economy of my '89 GXE max w/ auto tranny, driven only to and from work (4 miles each direction), by using this and other "hypermiling" techniques to increas my miles per gallon from about 20 miles per gallon to almost 30 miles per gallon.

The other thing I did was switch off the engine at the stoplights to avoid useless idling (especially wasteful idling for an extended period in drive gear on an auto tranny maxima, I feel) and also tried to conserve momentum wherever possible (used brakes as little as possible.) Trying to time the stop lights is always fun (to try and arrive at the light as it turns green, or try to arrive at the traffic ahead when it starts moving again.)

 

good info, so the injectors flip back on when below 1600? and pretty much the fuel is cut off when you feel the engine brakes on?

Sounds good to me, i guess i'll change from as fast down the hill in neutral as possible to keep it above 1600 in gear.. which is usually 3rd/4th.

 

but of course downshifting uses up more of your clutch, and your synchros.... that's why i double-clutch and rev-match from 5th to 3rd, which doesn't use up anything.

 

yea, i've gotten pretty good at "blipping" the gas pedal to match revs. Anyone see that technology that does this automaticly? forget where i saw it

 

the new 370z has it

 

Done right, you shoudln't have to double clutch.
tap the gas and pull shifter out of 5th. don't touch the clutch.
blip the throttle to match revs, THEN clutch in and stick it in gear.

75% of the time, I don't even use the clutch to downshift. just match revs and drop it in gear.

 

i'm not entirely comfortable shifting without the clutch.. sometimes if i'm coming up to a light in 3rd or 4th i can slip it out of gear without tapping the gas, somewhere around 1000rpm. but i never put it in gear without the clutch... all that results is a horrible grinding noise if I do. That, to me, is an increase in synchro wear.. whereas I can double clutch and get it in smoothly without messing anything up.

 

There's that rev-matching thing for you. figure that out and you'll be golden.

 

I was playing around with it earlier. kinda fun. I've done it before, but you have to watch the revs, like matt said. Its like those "perfect shift" videos on youtube.

 

i know it can be done. i'm just hideously uncoordinated it's a miracle i can drive stick at all haha