2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
Forget the popular myth that coasting in neutral can save fuel.
Many motorists try to roll up as often as possible, switching to neutral after acceleration. They believe that this is how they save fuel. This is especially true when going downhill, where it is simply a sin not to take advantage of the inertia of movement. But this is unsafe, and even nullifies all the savings.
At first glance, it is not clear what the catch is. Everything seems logical: in neutral, the engine runs without load and fuel consumption is reduced. If you are in gear, the fuel is pumped into the cylinders and wasted. In fact, everything happens exactly the opposite.
When you release the gas pedal, the flow of fuel to the cylinders is automatically stopped. This happens even on old domestically produced carburetor cars, not to mention modern cars with injection engines. At the same time, when the neutral gear is engaged, the engine starts to idle, and in this mode, the fuel consumption can reach up to 2 liters per hour and even more, depending on the engine size.
In neutral, so that the engine does not stall, the revs are maintained at around 1,000 rpm. When braking by the engine, this is due to the rotation of the wheels, so no fuel is wasted.
So it turns out that in the pursuit of economy, we run into increased fuel consumption, and even expose ourselves to potential risk. When driving down a hill in neutral gear, the adhesion of the wheels to the roadway deteriorates, and, accordingly, the control of the machine. In addition, more often you have to use the brakes, which is fraught with overheating of the brake pads and complete failure of the brakes at the most crucial moment.
In any driving school, students are taught the principle of engine braking, strictly forbidding to switch to neutral when driving down a hill. And this advice is worth heeding. By breaking this rule, you get no benefit and only make it worse.
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