here's another great one:
It is illegal to use a lasso to catch a fish.

Memphis Tn Laws:
Illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians.

 

Guys, it's a major safety concern and you should never coast in neutral.

Aside from the points mentioned previously, what happens if you cook your brakes and can't get the car back in gear? You are out of control in a hurry. Ask any truck driver if he coasts down a hill in neutral...no way in hell...you use the same gear, or one below the gear, you would go up the hill in.

People that drive automatics are most guilty of this (at least the ones that don't have automatic downshifting cars). They might be in gear technically, but the top gear of an automatic is hardly doing anything in the way of engine braking. If you ever follow people with automatics down a hill, you'll notice they are on the brakes nearly the whole way. Not a good practice, and it's easy to cook the brakes this way and lose control.

With the evo, sure you could get away with gliding down a hill in neutral as the Brembos aren't likely to give out, and true enough brakes are cheaper than driveline parts, but you are still taking a chance by doing this. I've gotten a long brake pedal even with the brembos during spirited driving on mountain roads, so they aren't indestructable.

Also, to avoid an accident, you can either accelerate or stop...if you are not in gear, you just took away half your options. I'm so **** about this, I never use overdrive in moderate traffic, or if there is a car beside me, because it increases the time it takes to accelerate out of danger.

I know at least in CA it's illegal to coast down hills in neutral, and the way to enforce this is: When you hit a car head-on and kill someone because you are in neutral and your brakes were cooked and you took the turn too wide, you get a ticket, and probably a fat lawsuit.

 

To go along with what machron said, it is illegal to coast downhill in neutral in every state (as far as I know, at least). The owners manual includes the more broad version of coasting in neutral to cover their ***. It's primarily a safety consideration.

Going downhill in neutral isn't efficient, either. Staying in gear going downhill turns the engine into a compressor, and you won't burn gas (at least not in a fuel injected engine). This will help cool the turbo down as well.

 

When ever I get caught coasting in neutral anytime or anywhere I will post about it.

 

You haven't priced EVO brakes have you?
Over $700.00 for a set of rotors and $70.00 per axel for the cheapest pads or $100.00 for better + labor compared to $550.00 for a complete clutch, and I rev/downshift to lessen clutch wear.

 

The reason that it is illegal, like WSB I believe it is illegal in all states, is because when you are "coasting" in Neutral you are NOT putting miles on the car. This is odometer fraud, which is not looked upon very kindly in the United States. *go figure* I wouldn't condone checking it out next time you drive, but on an automatic, you can drop it in to neutral and turn of the ignition as well to save on gas, and miles if you have a lease. I'm rather sure that the same thing would happen as well with a manual, can someone confirm (saying that they've have seen it done, not that they've done it themselves) .

 

This won't save you mileage. You'll still accumulate miles because the wheels are still rolling. Most speed measuring gears (which also turn the odometer) are coupled to the transmission's output. This is still turning because it is coupled with the driveshaft, not then engine. In order to save miles, you would have to lift all of the driven wheels off the ground, as in towing.

 

Coasting in neutral up to a stoplight is a whole lot different then coming off a steep grade riding your brakes all the way down. Not even worth a comparison.

A clutch job is one thing, but there are more parts to a drivetrain, including the labor that could wear out.

 

As long as you speed match when downshifting instead of shock loading the transmission, I don't think you have to worry about your drivetrain falling apart by leaving it in gear while decelerating.

 

it is illegal becuase when you're coasting in high speeds ang you place it on neutral..you can lose traction control..... its like when driving fast on a turn or curve... it not safe to brake.....

 

There is so much misinformation in this thread it's hard to sort out.

But so far machron1 is right on the money.

 

turning off the engine for a hill or at stop lights doesn't save gas.

 

Okay, let me attempt to help inform the public.

1. The Owner's Manual is correct. It is illegal in my state.

2. There are a couple of reasons, the most important one is safety. Read machron1's post for more details.

3. On the Evo, as is the case with most street cars, it is definitely okay to coast in neutral. It won't do any damage to the drivetrain, however, some sequential gearboxes, such as those that come on motorbikes and race cars, will incur damage if you coast in neutral. The reason is because they only get lubrication in gear, and not in neutral. They're not meant to coast in neutral like that.

4. When you have a problem, you have 2 things to consider:
a) how quickly can you react and decide what to do and do it?
b) how quickly can the car respond after you tell it what to do?

For a), don't drive drunk and impaired and stressed out, and all that stuff. That will help your reflex. It will also help if you take some driver training course so you know what to do.

After you decided what to do, how quickly can the car respond? If say you want to accelerate quickly to avoid an oncoming car, can you do it more quickly in gear or in neutral? Your call.

5. In my state, when coming to a stop sign or stoplight, you are required to put the vehicle in neutral and completely release the clutch after the vehicle has stopped moving. Otherwise, it's not considered a full and complete stop.

6. Law enforcement will not know what gear you're in, unless you crash or if you tell them. Or they can see you wiggle the gears in neutral

7. Starting the motor consumes a lot of gas. When you take your foot off the gas completely while you're in gear, the motor actually uses no gas. The inertia of the car turns the motor and you don't use any gas.

That's why it's better for fuel economy to leave it in gear than to put it neutral. When the car is idling, it uses a little bit of fuel to stop itself from stalling. When you're in gear, it won't stall if you're moving quickly enough.

8. Engine braking is an integral part of vehicle control. If you don't know it, you need to learn. You may not ever use it, but it should be in the basic skill set of every driver.

9. **** sex is illegal in my state. So is oral sex. I don't know...

10. Pads and rotors are cheaper than drivetrain parts, but rebuilding calipers and master cylinders and replacing brake lines are also not cheap. If you know how to drive correctly, you will do very minimal damage to the drivetrain.

11. I don't use engine braking much, but I will use it to supplement the brakes if necessary. Also, it's good to be in the powerband in order to negotiate traffic conditions.

12. You are responsible for the damage you create by doing something illegal, even if it means you were avoiding something illegal done by someone else. For example, if in order to avoid a truck that comes into your lane, you plow over pedestrians on the sidewalk. You are guilty of vehicular manslaughter or something like that.

13. If the engine is not running, no power steering

14. Lane discipline is something we Americans lack. Drive on right. Pass on left. It's that simple!

15. A complete brake job can run you well over $1,200. A clutch job is about $600-800. The thing is that more than your clutch and more than just pads and rotors can wear out.

16. This is wrong. If the speedometer reads, the odometer moves. The speedometer still reads in neutral. It measures the speed of the output shaft of the transmission, which is directly connected to the wheels. You can disconnect the wheels and output shaft from the engine, but the wheels will still turn the output shaft.

17. The best way to stop the odometer is to unplug the vehicle speed sensor. This is illegal because it is odometer fraud.

18. Downshifting, when done correctly, will eliminate or at least minimise clutch wear.

19. No traction control in neutral? Makes sense to me. How can you adjust engine power when engine power isn't going to the wheels?

20. Braking in the turn isn't good, but sometimes it's good if you know what you're doing. This is a big topic that I won't even be able to touch on.


I never coast in neutral, not unless there is something majorly wrong. That's just how I do it.

 

Great post, g6civcx. That pretty much sums it all up.

Kinda sucks that oral sex is illegal in your state. I guess you can't get head while cruising in neutral, can ya?

 

The reason for my windshield banner.....