solar2000

Hey guys, just wondering, does putting the car in neutral during red lights or heavy traffic reduce gas consumption? or will it be bad for transmission to constantly shift from neutral to drive?

thanks.

'97 5spd

iTrader: (1)

theoretically speak, that would save gas, practically speaking, that wouldn't save you any $, since you'd need a new transmission much sooner than you would otherwise. If you want to save gas, get stick, although from personal experience that doesn't make that big of a difference. Make sure you have a tune-up done, have clean filters, and use a high octane gas, that will improve mileage, also inflate your tires (32 front, at least 29 back). Forget the while shifting into neutral idea, that is bad for the tranny

Eric L.

Maybe shifting to neutral during long red lights is ok, but I would not do it for stop and go traffic. Idling for a long time in drive builds up transmission fluid temperature, and that can lead to early failure. Honda had a major problem with transmissions overheating in their minivans, and the fix was always shifting into neutral at stoplights, and changing the fluid every 7500 miles. As for saving gas, probably not much of a difference. For automatic maximas, the best thing you can do to save gas is drive 10mph slower on the highway (very difficult, but it really works). The Max gets good mileage going 60-65, and craps out when you break 70.

solar2000

You're probably right. Thanks. By the way, I just drove 400 miles at around 75 mph, and got 30 mpg! That's pretty good I think.

(97 GLE - auto)

FLO_BOY

That is good! I've had similar going about 80...
IMAGINE IF WE WENT 65!!! even more...scary, isn't it?

FLO_BOY