cemnei
Nov 14, 2008
10:14 PM

I'm surprised about the point of not shifting into neutral. GM commented that their vehicles do not benefit from doing this. However, my Silverado (with instant fuel economy readout) always shoots up to 99+ m.p.g. when I do so. Leaving it in Drive and coasting cuts it by almost half. I have to say it has improved on my overall average, so at this point I'll have to respectfully disagree...

VWJunky
Nov 15, 2008
7:08 AM

probably depends on the car or truck as to where you go in to neutral or not. My car shuts the fuel off when coasting in gear. When in neutral it has to put fuel to the motor just to keep it running. What kind of difference are you seeing in a tank by going into neutral? I would figure if you had automatic and siting at a light it would save fuel by going into neutral so it won't load up the transmission.
later
erick

i agree w/ VWJunky. on short "glides," stay in gear to achieve DFCO(deceleration fuel cut off). most newer cars have this feature. if a long glide presents itself, by all means take the vehicle out of gear.