Automotive

Shifting To Neutral In An Auto

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  • Mar 10th, 2015 8:34 pm
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Deal Expert
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May 10, 2005
36997 posts
11419 upvotes
Ottawa
joejoem wrote: working in a garage washing cars and running errands doesn't make you a mechanic peter :lol:
.
“Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”
Banned
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Jul 17, 2008
11042 posts
3878 upvotes
So much drama for a shifting theory.

OP, I have no idea if shifting in an auto will actually damage anything. Go ask your car manufacturer?

What I know is that several years back when I was driving with a company car I always shifted to neutral, or went into lower gear on a downhill (those 1-2-3 numbers on autos), and that car was an auto. Now I didn't work long enough to know if that did any damage, but the car felt fine the entire time. I used to always shift in neutral or lower gears because my personal car is a manual and it's a habit you hardly get rid of, unless you stop driving a manual.

In terms of fuel efficiency, don't know about autos, but with my manual it's simple. If I have to stop and I know that the current gear I'm in will be enough to reach (and most likely I will also need to brake), I leave it in gear and let the engine break do it's job. The engine consumes 0 fuel (compressions keep the engine going), and I save a lot mullah on brakes (I still have my original brakes, at 50% wear after 8 years and 80k kms). If I have to stop and I know that I would need to use the accelerator to reach the stop point because I am too far back, I pop it into neutral, since neutral will burn less fuel for the distance, vs using the accelerator longer just to only use engine brake for a shorter distance.
Sr. Member
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Feb 21, 2008
735 posts
106 upvotes
Montreal
Wow, this thread turned into a dick measuring contest pretty quickly! lolll

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