Quote:
Originally Posted by dad
Coasting in neutral consumes more fuel. In neutral, the injectors fire to keep the engine at idle, so you are burning fuel. Coasting in gear, the ECU switches to deceleration ... which happens to have an injector pulse width of zero.
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FYI: I'm no mechanic nor an auto engineer... just a dude using common sense and the fuel gauge read-out on my car...
I still don't understand why coasting in neutral would burn more fuel?
Are you suggesting that simply lifting OFF the gas consumes less fuel than placing the car in neutral to idle @ 750 RPM? I think there's a direct correlation between fuel consumption and RPM range - unless you're bogging the engine or loading it.
If your theory is correct, I could be driving down hill in second gear @ 6,000 RPM with my foot off the gas pedal (yet maintaining speed due to gravity & slope/grade) and save more fuel than popping it in neutral.
Very, very arguable, irrespective of however technical you may wanna get w/ injectors or widths.
Sure, there may be a point at which the speed one drives w/ the foot off the fuel pedal conserves fuel, but gearing and velocity have to be factored in and there comes a point where idling and maintaining a certain momentum (vs. losing momentum due to engine speed slowing the car) is more efficient.
Can you refute my non-technical assessment? If so, please do so in plain english.