D_Nyholm

So, you are saying that holding the clutch to the floor to coast in neutral is a bad remedy to pulling the car completely out of gear and coasting with the clutch pedal up and the car in neutral? I think you would get the added benefit of the increased gas mileage and then when you need to replace your clutch at 60-90 K miles (normal manufacturer recommendation I believe), just make sure they change the throwout bearing since that is the only thing that is really going to wear. Correct me if I am wrong please.

little_rod

Well, I have always thought riding the clutch was bad. I think that what most think. So riding the clutch to coast in neutral would be worse than just putting the engine in neutral without the clutch engaged.

Of course, if you do ride it, it does give you an excuse to get a new flywheel and clutch sooner, lol. But I would rather not do this to my car, plus it is more effort to hold the clutch down anyway.

joust75

iTrader: (1)

Yes! Holding clutch in = bad Just think about it this way... The more you use the clutch the more it wears. Even if the plates are not together the throwout bearing is still holding away a rotating plate thus it is wearing.

Keep that foot on the dead pedal too. Even a slight pressure might not cause clutch slip, but it is applying pressure to the throwout bearing!!!

aki

Long post so sorry if it's too much

Definitely true that if you keep your clutch pedal depressed, you'll put extra wear on your throwout bearing, which is the bearing that allows your clutch to slide back and forth on a spinning spindle. It's a lot of work to replace - it would be uncool to have to pull your clutch out just because you wore out your throwout bearing!

Downshifting to slow a car is not efficient but it doesn't really damage anything *if* you heel/toe and don't have to slip the clutch *at all*. When you downshift your clutch should not cause your engine to go faster or slower. Otherwise you are putting extra wear on your clutch and probably your synchros in your tranny when jamming your tranny into gear. Your brakes will do a great job stopping your car but be a little less dramatic. Heel and toe allows you to accelerate in the right gear when you exit the turn. Plus it sounds cool and it's fun

Any time your rpm's go up, you are pulling more air through the engine and you will burn more gas. That means revving to heel/toe, usine the engine brake on a hill, etc., all burn more gas than when you idle.

Now, regarding coasting...
In general you shouldn't coast more than necessary (approaching stops etc) but I think that you have to take it into context. It's also true that you shouldn't speed but I don't know how many people reading this drive at or below the speed limit all (not most, *all*) the time. Ditto eating in your car, talking on the phone (no matter how briefly and even using hands free sets), etc etc. Coasting, under control, while aware of the road in front of you, is not the most evil thing to do while driving your car.

I do coast when appropriate, I feel like it, etc., because it allows me to get good mileage in a car that doesn't get good mileage. I read about coasting/mpg when reading about a 100 mpg Taurus (stock except tires pumped up to high psi). They did a "punch and coast" method of driving - ask me if you want info. For kicks, I tried it on my 21/28 mpg GTI (with an mpg readout like the Z). I once averaged 49 mph for 2 hours and still drove with the flow of traffic. My VR6 Passat (21/28?) regularly got 35 mpg for a full tank mixed highway/city driving - the same mileage as my parents' Civic but a lot more fun to drive. In my Z (Touring 6 MT, 21/26 I think), I can average 31-32 mpg and average 60 mph for my commute. It's 15 minutes of city/traffic lights and 40 minutes of highway where I drive with the flow of traffic (65-80 mph). I normally get 24-27 mpg per tank and regularly redline the first four gears.

Of course this is all theoretical, especially my *ahem* speeds

dr_gallup

When you are completely off the gas and the engine RPM is above a certain minimum speed (~1200 to 1500 RPM) the fuel is completely shut off. You can feel it yourself, try coasting to a stop in say 3rd gear, as the engine passes through the threshold RPM the ECU starts operating the injectors again and the engine braking significantly reduces. Thats not to say you will get better gas milage by leaving it in gear, it all depends on how long you can coast and how steep a hill you are going down. For the ultimate in fuel economy try switching off the engine on long descents (just kidding). It used to be illegal in many states to coast in neutral, maybe still is someplaces. I think the issue then was with run-a-way vehicles back when brakes were marginal at best. I do throw it into neutral approaching stop lights rather than downshifting as some advise. That's just extra wear and tear on the driveline. I don't coast in neutral down big hills, I like to be able to get on the gas in a hurry when that logging truck appears in my mirror.