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Originally Posted by zoedragon Maybe you car buffs can answer this for me. When I'm at a stoplight that I know is going to take a long time to turn, I'll shift my automatic into Neutral while I wait. This is because I don't want the car to be pushing for so long during the red light. On the other hand is all that shifting bad for the automatic transmission? Should I not bother? What's best for the long-term condition of my car?
Also, which uses more gas, idling the engine in Neutral or idling it in Drive? |
A page on the topic of neutral shifting while waiting at stoplights:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum.../March/18.html
More information from (
here):
If you are solely concerned about gas consumption, I think it's too small an amount to be worried about it; enjoy your drive. However, if it's about transmission pressure it's a different story. This is what the experts say: If the weather is hot, or you've been driving in stop-&-go traffic, or if your stop takes more than 4 minutes, put the car in neutral. What you are trying to do here is to take some heat away from the tranny. Heat is the #1 killer of transmissions!
And one more tip for lifetime of trans: Use your e-brake when parking, especially on inclines. Pull the e-brake before disengaging drive (but after you've stopped). Just don't forget about it when you start driving again!