Automotive

Stop n Go traffic + Manual

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  • Nov 29th, 2011 9:59 am
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Feb 2, 2007
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Toronto
I've driven to downtown and back up on purpose because some girl said she'd pay $50 of gas for me if I visit her. HELL YES LOL.

Yes it was rush hour, yes traffic was annoying.

Ever since I started driving, I try to save as much gas as I can when I drive. Red light ahead, throw car in neutral, coast to it. Even if you think you won't make it, oh you will, just very slowly.
I brake early when there's a red light ahead of me, so I can minimize the chance of me fully stopping, and increase fuel economy since there's a chance of the light being green when I reach it.

That drive back from downtown in rush hour for $50 of gas, I barely stopped due to the fact I drove slowly and left about even 3 car spaces ahead of me. Braked early, so I don't have to full stop, when needed to. The people behind me didn't even seem to mind that there was so much space ahead of me. Probably because they felt that they barely had to stop too. I've tried accelerating to the car ahead of me because there became so much space that it was a bad idea. I came to a complete stop after catching up... LOL

It's just the art of being patient and anticipating the traffic ahead.
That should be enough to even keep you focused.
I know having fuel economy on my mind keeps me focused.

Oh, and I also neutral on any downhill parts on the DVP in traffic. Helps a lot. Kick it back into gear as you start to slow down going back up a slope.
M-e-X-x wrote: Booty call AND you get gas money? Sweet!
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pnyknights wrote: I think what he meant as 'bad advice' was the coasting in neutral during traffic. If an emergency came up and had to accelerate you would not have ability to easily get out of the way. Yes yes of you're paying attention then you would know what's coming toward you. Just my two cents as I'm still a "novice" driver with < 5 years of driving. I was just taught to always have the car in gear. Of course you would have the car in neutral after coming to a complete stop.

Oh my, when he said "stop n go" I took that literally as meaning congested bumper to bumper traffic. Meaning you move a little, you stop for a minute. Move a little, stop for a minute.. etc. If an emergency came up and you had to accelerate quickly, where are you going to go? You are stuck in traffic, you can't drive through other cars! And with all those other cars around you, the time it would take for everybody to react and have the ability to get out of the way for an ambulance or something would be so slow that the split second it takes for you to put the car in gear would not be a factor.
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Mar 5, 2006
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M-e-X-x wrote: Booty call AND you get gas money? Sweet!

haha that should be moved to Hot Deal section of RFD.....haha

edit: I know how good that feels.
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Jan 8, 2006
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bluewaker wrote: Don't get me wrong here but
1) I use manual because I want a clutch pedal. There is something about learning how it all works and being able to say that you can drive manual that is satisfying. Also, if I go to europe, I don't get screweed when I want to rent a car.
2) I'm only 20 and I can't afford a GTI but I consider it a boy-toy. Econ box + turbo + nice engine + suspension mods to me is still an econ box. I'm also a strong believer in keeping many things simple. Technology is crucial to our lives but I have no idea about the long life durability of DSG nor the price to rebuild/replace one. It's more complicated than a normal auto and has more moving parts. Transmission failures are a prominent reason why many cars get scrapped over getting repaired. So until I hear DSG running well on an engine wtih 250k km+, I can't comment on it.
3) Rear wheel drive.
4) Ugh red stitching overkill....is there any class in that vehicle?

Don't get me wrong here but
1) DSG is not a regular auto tranny. Have you ever driven a car with DSG or something similar? (no, tiptronic is not the same)
2) you are only 20...turbo + hatch = win for most of us. Here is where GTI shines, it could be driven by 20 yr old (given you can afford one) and it can easily be driven by 40 yr old. It's definitely not a boy-toy, your are thinking about civic SI. It's 2012, technology like DSG has been around for quite some time now and is used across multiple vehicles, not just VW, Audi and so on. Just because you can't afford or tried one does not mean it's bad. Personally I cannot see myself buying any cars that are not equipped with DSG or equivalent.
3) rear wheel drive may be good. However, when you have an all season car in Canada it's not that great anymore. And GTI with DSG is not your regular Accord/Camry, it drives much nicer even if it is FWD.
4) Red stitching is personal preference....Yes, there is a lot of class in GTI....again, you are thinking about civic SI.
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Andro wrote: 2) you are only 20...turbo + hatch = win for most of us. Here is where GTI shines, it could be driven by 20 yr old (given you can afford one) and it can easily be driven by 40 yr old. It's definitely not a boy-toy, your are thinking about civic SI. .

I am not going to deny the si is a boy racer. But don't kid yourself, so is the gti!
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Oct 17, 2007
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Andro wrote: Yes, there is a lot of class in GTI....
+1.

:arrow: Car and Driver June 2011: "...one of the most dynamic and refined compact cars on the market."
Andro wrote: Here is where GTI shines, it could be driven by 20 yr old (given you can afford one) and it can easily be driven by 40 yr old. It's definitely not a boy-toy...
:?: Uhmmm... :arrow: link
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thrifthunter wrote: I am not going to deny the si is a boy racer. But don't kid yourself, so is the gti!

No it's not, unless you rice it out.
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Nov 6, 2005
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Vancouver
kay188 wrote:
Ever since I started driving, I try to save as much gas as I can when I drive. Red light ahead, throw car in neutral, coast to it. Even if you think you won't make it, oh you will, just very slowly.

I may be wrong but from what I've heard coasting to a stop in gear is better because it cuts off the fuel line, unlike neutral.
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subagear wrote: I may be wrong but from what I've heard coasting to a stop in gear is better because it cuts off the fuel line, unlike neutral.

Now my geek comes out. That's actually true. New cars have a decel mode which cuts off fuel and runs lean when the car is actively decelerating (i.e. rpms dropping as opposed to going back to idle when you coast in neutral). Whether it means real savings, probably not more than a few pennies here and there.
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Andro wrote: No it's not, unless you rice it out.

Yes it is. It's main appeal is to boy racers. Just because a 40 year old has a mid life crisis and picks one up doesn't mean anything. 40 year olds buy si's too!
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thrifthunter wrote: Yes it is. It's main appeal is to boy racers. Just because a 40 year old has a mid life crisis and picks one up doesn't mean anything. 40 year olds buy si's too!

:facepalm: :lol:
Deal Fanatic
Feb 2, 2007
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subagear wrote: I may be wrong but from what I've heard coasting to a stop in gear is better because it cuts off the fuel line, unlike neutral.
ichpen wrote: Now my geek comes out. That's actually true. New cars have a decel mode which cuts off fuel and runs lean when the car is actively decelerating (i.e. rpms dropping as opposed to going back to idle when you coast in neutral). Whether it means real savings, probably not more than a few pennies here and there.

Coasting in gear, or neutral to save fuel is a VERY grey area. Perhaps newer cars now most likely are designed to be in gear all the time anyways probably are designed to be best fuel economical than neutral. Makes sense. However, it's still a grey area with older cars.
Not real savings, but a few cents here and there.
I coast because I want to at least maintain the energy and gas spent to getting the car up to speed to use the most of it. That's me though.
I have a friend who dropped his MPG about 0.5 (according to the car's computer) by accelerating up to speed, and throwing the car to neutral. This was in a Camery that should be post 2000, I believe.

Coasting in gear slows you down more than if you were to coast in neutral. Try it. I've tried in newer cars (say 2011 BMW's) vs older cars (pre 2000), all of them coast further in neutral than if you were to coast in gear.
Once you slow down, you need to use fuel to accelerate back up. However, if you coast in neutral even if you use more fuel to neutral, you use barely anything to just throw it back in gear and to maintain the speed you were at. Grey area.
Lower RPM's does not mean lower fuel consumption though.

You can't cut off the fuel line though? An internal combustion engine NEEDS fuel to "combust" does it not? That's the only part where I'm confused. How can you stop fuel injection when the engine depends on it to run?
M-e-X-x wrote: Booty call AND you get gas money? Sweet!
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kay188 wrote:

Coasting in gear slows you down more than if you were to coast in neutral. Try it. I've tried in newer cars (say 2011 BMW's) vs older cars (pre 2000), all of them coast further in neutral than if you were to coast in gear.
This is true because when you are in gear engine braking takes effect when you are coasting.

You can't cut off the fuel line though? An internal combustion engine NEEDS fuel to "combust" does it not? That's the only part where I'm confused. How can you stop fuel injection when the engine depends on it to run?
Whenever you take your feet off the gas pedal it will cut off the fuel supply to the engine, it does not need fuel because it is being turned by the inertia of the car. As far as the fuel consumption difference between coasting in gear and neutral....who knows....it certainly not enough saving to mull over it lol
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Apr 1, 2010
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driving manual in traffic is not that bad, I know in my gti usually i leave it in 2nd gear most of the time and it does fine. As well as leaving a bigger gap between you and car in front of you

3 weeks ago i was stuck on the 401 for a total of 5 hours, did not bug me than a auto would have. You get used to these things and it tends not to affect you after some time.

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