OK, so here's a bad habit I picked up from my old car. After reading that prolonged stops at red lights in hear wear out the tranny, I learned to put the car in neutral if I knew the signal was going to be red for a minute or more.

As I did that more frequently it developed into shifting to neutral as I approached a red light. I figured the engine was throttling to idle so I was saving gas and putting less wear on the brakes (is this correct).

I know it's illegal to switch to neutral while the vehicle is in motion. Is this becuase it is more likely to stall and the power brakes/steering might be lost? In 8 years driving my old Contour I had only 1 stall - going downhill at 80mph and suddenly noticed I had no RPMs

I was wondering if I should carry over this habit to the TL. I know the TL cuts back gas if you're braking, but it still holds the revs because the drivetrain is active. Am I saving any gas by coasting to a red light?

Is it bad to continuously switch back to drive if I had momentum from neutral - ie the light turned green as I was approaching. When I do this the TL never lurches- it's as smooth as silk so I'm assuming there's no wear. The only time it lurches is when I switch from Neutral to Drive with the foot off the brake (horrible right?)

Just curious as to if I'm helping the tranny or hurting it by switching to neutral so often.

 

So I have no idea if it is good or bad if you shift to neutral, but it is illegal in California. The car must be in gear while it is in motion on the highway. Not that it would be very easy to prove you were doing it, but an FYI.

Steve

 

I did it in my old automatic and never had a problem, I dont know how much of a difference it makes but I cant imagine that it is tearing apart the tranny.

 

It saves no gas at all .. and creates additional wear on the brakes. It also creats a dangerous situation if you have to quickly accellerate to move out of harms way you can't.

There is no mechanical link between the engine and tranny to create wear while idling at a light.

 

I would try to break that old habit of putting the car into neutral at the stop light when coming to a stop light.

As stated, when a emergency situation occurs, the last thing you need to be thinking about the gear shift in drive or neutral.

Also, the grade logic on the will assist in braking (downshifting) if you are on a road that declines. So do not be concern when you feel the car's "extra" braking. This is actually the transmission downshifting like in a manual. It will not downshift and cause high RPMs.

Join the many TL AT owners that leave it in drive. :gheyhug:

 

omg, i thought you meant in a manual! i was about to say DUH! but then i realized you meant auto. DO NOT DO IT. you have a torque converter to do the work of a clutch for you, you wont outsmart it. and if it was better to coast to neutral, they would have developed automatics to do this function. not only, but constantly going from D to N to D to N isnt the best thing in the world to prolong your vehicles life span...

 

I do that all the time. Whenever I would be traveling fast and coming to a stoplight, Ill put the car in nuetral. I stop doing because one time I forgot the car was in nuetral and I started to push the gas and it didnt go anywhere. Everybody behind me started to honk and flick me off when they passed me up.

 

don't try this with automatic... I accidently did it couple times and heard "Grinding"....

 

I've done this on 4 different cars I've owned and never had a problem - but I will kick the habit when slowing down. I will continue to do so at prolonged stops.

 

haha i've been wondering about this topic before..i've been told that it saves gas but honestly, i really question it myself. The only problem I have about this is that I forget that I have it in neutral and end up revving the car the when the green light goes on haha.

 

Why do it with an automatic?
It's causing a lot of unnecessary wear.

 

Actually the idea of switching to neutral at a prolonged stop (ie a red at a major intersection) is supported by AAA. They mention it frequently in their tips on city driving to avoid overheating in summer. When the car is in drive and you're stopped you're making the tranny work against the brakes which puts wear on the tranny - maybe not tremendously but it does heat up the transmission components.

My Contour has 65K miles on it mixed city/hwy and I used to switch to neutral all the time. The tranny still runs like a champ - of course that has been the most trouble free car I ever had - only 1 repair in 8 years of ownership for some dinky $38 smog test component.

I could see how stupidly revving the engine and then putting it into drive would kill the tranny. Wouldn't that strip the gear or flywheel? I've never done that since I pay attention when I drive.

 

Never do it, is like if you would ask...can I shut off the car while I'm at a stop light?...you must have total control of the vehicle at all times...put it in neutral and you loose this....'nough said......

 

Forget any possible wear and tear or fuel savings. The additional risk you put yourself in is simply not worth it. What if your at a light and look in the mirror at the last minute and see a truck barrelling at you?

 

^you're fucked either way

 

Yeah, I thought about that - but NIHS states it's safer to get hit while in neutral than while braked since the change in inertia is more diffuse.

Either way I brashly pull into the intersection and get T-Boned and die or I safely pull to the side - which in LA is often not possible.

 

well, your fine doing it at long stops. if you know the stop will be longer than a few minutes, then this is acceptable. but dont coast in neutral up to a stop light. remember, they build these automatic trannys with all this in mind...

 

Well. One time, I had to brake sharply as the traffic in front me did an abrupt stop. Got to test the emergency breaking abilities and stopped with maybe half a car length before the car in front of me. Well the mercedes suv behind me was squealing to a stop and managed to stop as well (I was eyeing it VERY closely), but then I heard a loud bang behind me and I instantly hit the gas. I knew that the mercedes suv had just been rear ended and pushed forward enough that it would have plowed into where I had originally stopped.

 

please pass the road knowledge test then talk...

 

what?

 

I don't coast in neutral, but if I stop at a light, after 10 seconds or so, I do put the transmission in neutral. My left foot gets lazy and I don't have to apply as much pressure to hold the car. Sometimes I apply the parking brake in drive instead of shifting to neutral. The car feels more at ease in neutral. I have often wondered if I cause any additional wear when shifting back into drive. I always give it a second to get into gear before pressing the gas and I generally get this all set up before the light changes since I watch the lights around it.

 

What about shifting in and out of the sport shift option on the automatics while at any speed? Is that fine to do all the time?