Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Is it okay to coast in neutral?

Obviosly not in a slushbox. But is it okay to do it in my 5speed say like coast downhill for a 1/4 mile or so.

You can coast in neutral in a slushbox also.
As long as you don't overshoot N and put it in R.

As long as the motor is running, it won't hurt the transmission.

Towing a slushbox in N, with the drive wheels on the ground is a no-no.
This is a sure way to burn up the transmission.
Drive wheels should be in the sling,
or off the ground, ALWAYS.

So does that mean Yes to my origanal ?

it's probably illegal, although it might vary from state to state. as far as drivetrain goes, you don't do any harm, but think why this might be illegal and then decide for yourself

Why in the blue hell would it be illigal to cost down hill in a car?

The real question is why would you want to coast down a hill in neutral...

The engine gets better gas mileage when under engine braking, the oil flow is better, the coolant flow is better, etc...

Also yes it is illegal to coast in neutral in a lot of states for safety reasons.
No engine braking, car picks up speed a lot faster, car stalls much easier (loss of power brakes & steering), your brakes heat up extremely fast, hot brakes = less stopping power (boiling brakes = NONE), much harder to make an emergency manuever (oh but I don't see a problem ahead - that's why it's called "emergency" :p )

So not only may it be illegal it is just not a good idea to begin with...

See I thought i would get better gas milliage if the car was idling while i was moving. thanks its a good thing a cop never saw me costing down a hill;-)

I had a tiny amount of gas left, the next gas station was many miles ahead, but it was downhill. Using "Mexican overdrive" was quite helpful in that case.

I'm not sure I agree with the better gas mileage part, you will get better brake mileage though. An engine is certainly not at it's most efficient point when idling but it generally will be using less gas then when spinning at 2000+rpm and no throttle. I know in automatic cars the fuel injectors will be shut off while in a 'coast' situation is this also true of a manual?

If it is stick, you can push in the clutch and stay in gear...same effect....same bad idea as neutral though. Don't want to lose power if the engine stalls....