Does turning off O/D on a 98 RAV4 save gas???

Question

I just want to know, cause when the gas light comes on, i turn off the O/D on the shifter and after about 10 seconds the gas light goes away, it will stay off for about an hour......

Answer 1

Overdrive makes your car cruise at a lower RPM thus saving gas. I suggest that you leave it on for better gas mileage.

Answer 2

actually driving with your qverdrive off, puts your car in a lower gear, thus making you use more gas.  when the gas light comes on, stop and put some gas in it, thats what its there for in the first place, to remind you your low on gas!!!!

Answer 3

Texas is right on, The only reason I could think of for the low gas light turning off is coincidence.

Answer 4

no overdrive takes strain off the engine.The reason RPM's drop is cause the engine is bogging down from the lower gear.If you were driving,let's say 30MPH, and dropped it into 2nd or 1st,the rpm's would go down to almost nothing.It brakes the engine basically.

Answer 5

No.  Driving in a higher gear (which overdrive is, by definition) always uses less gas than a lower gear.

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"but when I drive and turn overdrive on, the rpms drop lower..."

yes -- RPM's gives you an indication of how hard the engine is working.  Lower RPM, less work therefore, less fuel burn.

Lower gear is smaller, therefore it has to turn faster (more RPMs) than a higher gear to keep up the same speed.

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"so makes no difference?"

to the contrary, it makes a whole lot of difference.  Try it and get back to us with your result.  Drive with O/D off your mileage will be much much worse.  15% or more