Most of the time when I'm off to work its bumper to bumper, so the recommended gear is third gear (my disco is automatic). Can I shift it to "D" when I'm picking up speed? also when going downhill can I shift to neutral and coast? with the notion that I'm saving on fuel? or is that what they call lugging your engine -which sounds bad. Thanks

 

Put it in 'D', drive the vehicle, put it in 'P', park the vehicle.



Done.

 

When in heavy traffic under 45mph driving in 3rd will save you gas and save the transmission from shifting to much.
Yes you can shift to drive while moving, at any speed.
No do not shift to neutral while going down hill, that is a saftey issue, if you were in netrual and all of a sudden you needed power you wouldnt have it, like in a emergancy manuvor.

 

Got thanks.

 

To be honest, unless you're going pretty steeply downhill for more than a few miles you really won't notice a difference in your gas mileage. If for example your route to work has a 2 mile steep hill and you drive down it every day in neutral you might bump from like 15 to 15.3 mpg over the course of a tank.

 

cars with automatic transmissions are never supposed to be moved over any distance in neutral... your not even supposed to tow them unless the non driven wheels are not in contact with the road (front wheels up on front wheel drive, rears up on rear wheel drive, land rover on a trailer...) if it has a standard transmission then its ok...
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BestOfBest4U live

 

there is a long hill in my subdivision that I shift to neutral and coast down sometimes since I'm only going 10mph, but not a good idea on the highway. I think it's actually illegal in some states. I do shift to neutral when stopped at long red lights.

 

Other than driving in 3rd in slow traffic, the best thing you can do to save gas is watch your driving style. Go the speed limit, dont punch the gas, and dont over brake. Little things like that will save you gas over time. Actually, its proven that 55 is the optimal speed to go (something with aero stuff, blah blah, science, blah blah...) but I still thinkgoing the speed limit is the best bet to save gas. But hey, with gas being at $1.84 here im just happy it doesnt cost a small fortune to fill up everytime!

 

You can tow a automatic transmission car with the wheels on the ground for 50 miles with the trans in neutral at speeds no faster than 50mph, this is because the transmission will overheat and fry itself.

HOWEVER, if the engine is running and the trans is in neutral then youcan tow it as far as you want since the engine will be turning the transmisison fluid pump and the trans fluid will be pumped through the transmisison cooler and the transmission will not overheat.

 

Thanks Guys I'm learning a lot post by posts.