I often put my car in neutral when going down hill. Some people say this is unsafe - is this true?

Question

Forgot to mention - its a manual

Answer 1

No not exactly. it just weirs out your brakes.

So when u have it in gear it helps slow down the vehicle, so less pressure on brakes.

Answer 2

This is dum and very dangerous. Think about other people in your car with you and other people around you.

Answer 3

I think everyone is assuming you're going to have to stop at the bottom of the hill, which may not always be the case. Where I live there are alot of bridges over the bay so I'll put my manual into neutral and coast down the bridge to save a bit of gas. It may not be a lot, but every little bit these days helps.

Also, when I'm approaching a red light, I'll put my car into neutral and coast to a stop. How else are you suppose to stop your manual? Downshift from 5th to 1st to help slow you down? I was never taught that and nobody that I've seen drive stick does that, so I don't quite understand why everyone's so against going into neutral while coasting or even having to stop from there. Doesn't make much sense to me.

Answer 4

Depending on the steepness of the slope and distant. Generally, it is not safe because engaging in gear will slows down your speed thus you don't press on the brake too much. If you press on the brake too much over a long distant, it might fail due to brake fluid over boiled or brake pad burn out.

Also, if you suddenly need to speed up to avoid anything, you will loose precious time by engaging your gear again.

My advice, don't put it to neutral. Leave it engage with your current gear ratio.

Answer 5

If an automatic, the tranny was not designed to work that way.

With either tranny, you are wasting gas if it's fuel injection. The ECU cuts almost all the fuel to the cylinders when coasting in gear.

You'll also save on buying brakes having the engine help slow you down a bit.

I do the same thing keylime does when coming to a stop. I don't even use the clutch, I just tap the gas and pop it out of gear. Saves wear on the throwout bearing.