any thots on using neutral to coast ?

I do it all the time

 

I can't think of a single reason to coast in neutral instead of regen, and plenty of reasons why not to. Though, I routinely shift to neutral when driving a manual transmission when slowing to a stop so I coast further and use less gas.

 

I also do it all the time.

 

I think that learning to glide is worth the effort. You have all of your options open with out reaching up and shifting. If I was to do this (using neutral) I would do it all the time until going in and out of neutral was a conditioned response.

 

There is already a long thread on this topic where several nice people told those of us that regularly coast in neutral how irresponsible, dangerous and unlawful we were. We've been saving fuel doing it ever since.

 

Sure, you can leave it in drive mode and feather the gas pedal to achieve neutral and glide the 1 or 2 blocks to the upcoming red light. Or you can just flip the gear selector into neutral and coast on in. I do it all the time and now it's just a natural motion...much like driving a manual transmission. As soon as you know you'll need power, you flip it back into drive. I also use the B mode in this way as well to assist in long slow braking situations. I am averaging about 54 mpg nowadays. And I live in a cold climate.... Colorado.

 

The statistics are skewed. Few, if any, who had an accident because they were fiddling around in N would ever admit it.

 

how do you cause an accident when you are in neutral? Perhaps this is a really dumb question, but can someone give examples?

 

I tried the whole "shifting into neutral" scene, it just didn't work for me. Reaching over to grab the shifter, moving it over, and back, is annoying. I've learned to use the pedal instead. Even so, by not really implementing the "neutral" concept too often, I still can pull 61mpg out of my hat, pending good weather of course.

 

sure, I can feather to get to neutral as well, but whenever I have a long hill I just put it in neutral. It's very easy to do, just move the shifter to the left, very easy and when done put it into D. I would not do it constantly for a short lenght of drive but once in a whole 50 mile stretch for about 2 miles it's not hard or annoying at all.

 

i dont know anything about the inner workings of cars, so i can't state with any certainty at all that this is acceptable for the cars engine/motor. what i have experience with is doing this to coast into darn near every stop i come to. it is second nature - and i don't have a prius. if you are conditioned to pop it in and out of neutral without thinking about it, there is NO DIFFERENCE in this compared to doing the same with a manual transmission.

i don't know that i will do this with my prius, when i get it - it may be thatgliding will be 'easier' on me. if it turns out to be easy for me to flick it in and out of neutral (like i can now) then i'll continue being just as safe as a normal manual tranny driver, and probably more so since i'm paying much more attention to what is going on - not just directly in front of me, but out in the distance as well.

 

There would not happen to be some kind of switch (similar to the EV Switch) designed in the firmware/programming which matches that of feathering the pedal, would there?

Then if someones wants to enter 'coast' mode without switching to neutral or feathering the pedal (in the event they have difficulty doing that) they can simply hit a switch and bam, they'll coast on down.

Just an idea (if it exists) I won't have my Prius until '06, so I can only speculate (and research) until then.

 

Now THAT, is an IDEA!

To capitalize on it: howabout a button on the steering wheel?

 

"Several nice people" (I was one of them), includes the Vehicle code in many states. In California, it is considered an infraction of the Vehicle code section 21710 if you are "Coasting, in neutral on downgrade". :angry:

You folks can do what you want to streatch out those miles, but I still consider it irresponsible and dangerous. The car is designed to get you good mileage while in drive - NOT neutral. Can't people be responsible and just drive? Do you have to put it in neutral to watch the MPG numbers go up? For crying out loud, get a bicycle if you want to coast. If you're in a car, sharing the road with me, I want you in "drive" with two hands on the wheel, not distracted by thinking about when to shift in and out of neutral so you can report higher MPG in an online forum. <_<

Maggie, the next time you have to swerve and step on the gas to get out of the way of another car or something, and you're in neutral, you'll see why it's not safe.

People who push things that much farther by doing stupid things like coasting in neutral are why we have other posts like "How Do You Think Non-Prius Owners See You?". :blink:

 

I totally disagree. Ever owned a car with a standard transmission?

 

I haven't had a situation that I would have to break while I am in Neutral, so I don't know, but I was told in this forum that the breaks are working the same whether I am in N or D. But I like I said I haven't tried that yet.

 

Your brakes WILL work REGARDLESS of whether you are in "N" or "D".

 

Pulse-and-glide is too slow for my needs and too much work.

If I recharge the battery a little extra here and there rolling in D for 3/4 of a mile at a time, I think I'm better off...