{"id":11184,"date":"2024-11-24T05:38:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-24T02:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/?p=11184"},"modified":"2024-11-24T05:38:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-24T02:38:58","slug":"why-you-should-never-drive-a-car-in-neutral-going-downhill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/why-you-should-never-drive-a-car-in-neutral-going-downhill\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should never drive a car in neutral going downhill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coasting meaning: What is coasting driving?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Coasting is the process of driving a car downhill with either the clutch depressed or the gear stick in neutral – or both at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coasting is also sometimes referred to as freewheeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What happens when coasting driving?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The effect of coasting when driving is\u00a0that your wheels are disengaged from the engine, meaning engine braking (using gears to slow down) is not possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coasting means the car is taken down an incline by gravity and the vehicle’s momentum.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why do drivers coast?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Some drivers choose to coast because it disengages the engine; the idea is that coasting will reduce\u00a0fuel consumption\u00a0–\u00a0but\u00a0does driving in neutral save gas?<\/span><\/p>\n

It is in fact incorrect that driving neutral (coasting) will save fuel<\/strong>\u00a0and is actually a bad driving technique to adopt.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why is coasting a bad idea?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Why is coasting a bad driving technique?<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a number of reasons why coasting is bad, whether that be coasting downhill, to coast to stop or coasting in any other circumstance:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • You pick up speed quicker and go faster than you otherwise would.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • You have less control because you can\u2019t control speed via engine braking – since the engine is not connected to the wheels.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • It becomes more challenging to take a safe, steady line around a corner – meaning you’ll have less control if you cross the path of another road user or other hazard.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • If you do need to re-engage the gears in order to react to a hazard, you’ll have less time to do so than if you weren\u2019t coasting.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Is coasting bad for your car?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Coasting driving can accelerate the wear of your car; as you are going faster, you have to use your mechanical brakes more aggressively, which can wear out brakes more quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Is coasting against the law?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    While it is not illegal to coast downhill, if you get into an accident and you are deemed not to be fully in control of your vehicle, you would have committed an offence.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Why coasting doesn\u2019t cut your fuel consumption<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Modern cars are fitted with Electronic Control Units (ECUs). With the engine engaged, these devices reduce fuel use when the accelerator is not depressed – e.g. when you are going downhill.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But what if you are coasting in neutral, going down a hill?<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Why is travelling in neutral bad?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Travelling in neutral disconnects the engine from the wheels which, with your foot off the accelerator, means the car cannot get the rotational power it needs from the wheel. In this case, it uses a small amount of fuel to keep engine powered – essentially “idling” – rather than drawing the necessary power from the wheels.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    What about older cars:\u00a0 Is coasting a bad driving technique in older cars?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    While with older cars and\u00a0classic cars\u00a0coasting could save a small amount of fuel, with modern ECUs this technique does not work.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But whether you have an older or a newer car, coasting is\u00a0potentially dangerous\u00a0and should be avoided.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Coasting meaning: What is coasting driving? Coasting is the process of driving a car downhill with either the clutch depressed or the gear stick in neutral – or both at the same time. Coasting is also sometimes referred to as freewheeling.   What happens when coasting driving? The effect of coasting when driving is\u00a0that your…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1954,1674,1975],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-literacy","category-driving-advice","category-road-safety"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pej6K6-2Uo","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-content\/uploads\/Why-you-should-never-drive-a-car-in-neutral-going-downhill.jpg?fit=1210%2C670&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magaripoa.com\/gari\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}