yeah i jus read it.. accidentally skipped it hahaha
um im sure u can go from N to D when the car is rolling slowly without damaging the box.
Printable View
im manual, and i put my car into neutral wen im travelling at a speed that i dont need 2 stay in gear like especially going downhill or something, and surprisingly my GBOX needs REPLACING and my BREAKS are FINE... very strange... if i dont need 2 become stationary then i just throw it in2 a higher gear, like 3nd would be ideal, but i dont wanna risk the revs going real high suddenly so i'll put it in2 4th, so its not like i force it back in to 2nd or watever..
yeh for a manual its easy to decide what gear u need, depending on speed. i used to use 3rd gear alot and engine brake on hills with my old manual. neutral to a selected gear is dependant on the driver, but with auto i dont entirely trust the ecu/auto box to select the proper ratio at high speeds shifting from N to D. id only recommend it at low speeds ie traffic to preserve your auto box..
It is fine to do as long as your car isnt equipped with one of those locks that you have to [put your foot on the brake before you can release out of Park] (this is for auto cars btw)
cos i used to have a golf and it had that feature and i constantly put in neutral at the lights and going downhill. but soon enough it broke and i couldnt get it out of park so it got towed and fixed. not too pricey but still such a hassle. lucky it only happened at my girlfriends house.
anyways in the long run it will save u petrol cos my golf was equipped with a electronic meter like most euro cars. which shows how much petrol u use per hour [and it varies from when u idle and rev] and at the lights in (D) it was 0.9L of fuel per hour and when i shift it into (N) or (P) it was 0.8L of fuel per hour.
and with an auto engine leaving it in D at the lights does put light pressure/strain on the engine cos if youve notice on flat road if you leave your car in (D) it goes forward without u pressing any gas. with your brakes on and (D) in gear you will notice the pressure of the car moving forward but once in neutral there is no pressure. so i guess neutral may be to your advantage
hope this helps!
i suggest you actually downshift. its alot safer in emergency situations (even though we may be lazy) cos u never know shit happens a truck or anything could be heading your way and you need to step on it out of there. but cos ur panicing and ur still in neutral.. could be a problem. and u got you think of other variables that make your gearbox wearing out not just the brake issue. i dont know if you do this but, going too slow in a higher gear than necessary makes ur gearbox/engine struggle when you step on it that cant be good too.
see, alot of new, euro luxury cars actually have neutral on stop built into the gbox. so as soon as you pull up, it chucks it into neutral. soon as you put the foot on the go pedal, it puts it into gear. barely noticable, but saves petrol
its similar to the cylinder deactivation. at a constant load, cylinders are shut down, soon as you put the foot down, the ecu starts them back up again. its done in a fraction os a second, and isnt even noticable.
this is the reason why we(well, the yanks lol) can keep building on engine sizes. i mean, chevs new 6-7 litre engines have fuel efficiency compared to a small six when freeway driving, and light traffic driving, due to cylinder deactivation, but they still retain epic torque/power for when needed
lol but then again. if you have a 6-7 litre engine....what the eff for if you aint gonna push it hard.. so basically at the end of the day your fuel consumption is gonna be mighty high:D just like the toyota aurion with its 200kws and low as fuel consumption ratio.. but still why have a 200kw car if people gonna drive like a grandpa. like even if people try to drive it slow. it has all the power . doesnt that tempt us we are human
So really the lesson here for auto's is to just leave it in D all the time when driving.You will use a little bit more fuel but it's better than the wear and tear on the gearbox and then having to replace/rebuild it after a few years of in and out of gear.
Might aswell just put in P, put your handbrake up, and turn off your car.
LOL why you guys worrying so much about a little bit of petrol here and there?
The way I see it, if you are going to mod your cars... expect higher fuel consumption. If you worryed, go buy an echo.
For a Manual you should put it in neutral since holding the clutch down wears the bearings.
Dont think it matters with an Auto