You American are strange!
Over here in Europe I think we look diffrent on this matter.

It is NOT forbidden by law to coast downhill in neutral with your car (at least not in EU or Scandinavia). But at driving schools they teach you to use eninge braking downhills since you actually will save gas while going downhill in gear instead of coasting in neutral. I have tested this both in a MT and my CVT Jazz, and both have a digital meter that tells you how much fuel you are using. Both stated 0mpg coasting in gear downhill, and a little diffrent when coasting in neutral (my CVT said 1L/100km and the MT said 1.5L/100km, but that was probably because my engine was hot after driving some miles before the test.)

As for the safety; the Jazz/Fit has to much drag so you can't coast the car up to great speeds. I have tried and I could only get up to 90km/t and then it did not accelerate more even if there was more downhill road left. I even tried to go up to 110km/t and then coast, the car slowed down to 90km/t...
And for the case of stopping, the brakes should be able to stop the car whatever the speed the car is able to reach. If not, the brakes is not approved for the car...
And here in Norway where I live, we have a LOT of steep downhill roads (well, actually same amount of upphill roads )

But then again, it could be that we dont have that steep downhill straight roads over here. In Norway there are always a turn somewhere on the road that keeps you from going too fast (you have to brake to be able to take that turn). I tried this at the Autobahn in Germany too but those roads was straight but the downhill was at max 7%.

 

Yes, we are. Thanks for a perspective from outside North America! It helps to know how others view things. Often in America, people are so apt to sue there are stupid warning signs for every little thing (such as "Warning: the coffee you are about to enjoy is HOT!"). As such, there are also lots of myths/commonly-held beliefs

 

try this,,,
go to the top of one of those Mtns with the car fully loaded with four adults and all the gear/food/whatever for a days fun. Have a fun filled day and then when you all come back,,, put the car in nutrul at the top of the Mtn and try to make it to the bottom with all those curves without heating your brakes up,,,,,,,,,no DON"T do this cuz I don't wanna see ya get hurt.
The cars brakes are sufficient for the cars wieght and will work fine UNDER NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS. Coming down a steep mountain road in nutral is NOT NORMAL and the brakes can heat up and fade on you. The car is built to be fuel efficient, so they did not put extra weight there in the brake department,,,,you can heat them up trust me, don't be fooled by the small size of the car.
I'm sure that gravity works as well in your country as it does here in the USA,,,the problem I'm having is the generic question "Is it safe to coast" and the equally generic answer "yes". Cuz in the extreme coasting is NOT safe (which is the area I'm talking about cuz I coast up to the stop light just like everyone else does) I just don't want someone to get bad info and think it's OK to coast ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.

 

Maybe that is the reason we have disc brakes both in front and rear on our EU Jazz?

 

better yes,,,,immune to brake fade ,,,,,no

 

Grouser, the problem is you're implying that it's wrong to coast in any situation, while the description you posted about coasting down miles and miles of mountains with a fully loaded car is on the far extreme of how most of us drive.

There's nothing wrong with coasting down a hill for small amounts of time to a stop sign or stop light.

 

The poster who said to "use common sense" is right.

The more time you spend driving a stick, the better judge you will become regarding when it's best to take the car out of gear.

It's YOUR car. It's your transmission. You will not harm the car by using neutral occasionally. If you bought a manual trans Fit, the option is yours all the time. Of course there are times when it's appropriate to coast in neutral.

Neither coasting nor engine braking uses more fuel than any other idling situation. The above-mentioned higher RPMs during engine braking are not due to fuel ignition, they're due to the inertia of the car in motion; the wheels driving the engine. And yes, this does burn the clutch a little. And yes, clutches are more expensive than brakes. Just be smart about your coasting. Use your engine braking when going down long or steep hills. Use neutral any time you think it's appropriate. You will learn by the car's feel; try to be in tune with what your car is doing. Dude.

 

if you actually read my post you would have seen I DO coast,,ALOT,,,,
and I bring up the extreme to point out that the question is TO vauge. You can't just say "coasting is OK" (or like you said TOTALLY)....ya gotta use your head and know when it's OK and when it's not (like the dog said)

 

My middle daughter made it VERY clear that coasting is not a smart thing to do. She just paid for a front end brake job cuz she thought she was saving gas by coasting downhill. Well how much gas does it take to save $190.00 ? This was a Toyota Echo and she only has had it for 10 months!!!!!!!!

 

Well I just got some information (learned a new thing or two..) about the disc brakes vs drum brakes and brake fading;

When braking for a long time with drum brakes, the drum got hot and when metal get hot it expands, when the drum expand the brake fades and you have to press the pedal in further to get the same amount of braking.

When braking for a long time with disc brakes, the metal disc expands and therefor gives more braking power and actually slow down the car faster.

And because of this fact more and more cars is equiped with disc brakes today. But disc brakes is a bit more expensive...

But this topic was about coasting in neutral...
I still dont think on it as unsafe to coast in neutral, but it is more logic to use the engine to brake (coasting in gear) for you to save the brakes, and get lower fuel usage at the same time.

 

I definitely coast, and my best fillup (~43mpg) was in a hilly city where I was able to coast in many situations and get free acceleration/momentum.

Several things have been said, I see it about 2 different scenarios:

1) Coasting on flat terrain - I do this all the time, towards a red light is a good example where I want to maximize my momentum. I think this is very safe, although you will be slower to accelerate should you need to avoid an accident since you need to engage first (although I find most accidents are avoided by braking, not accelerating).

2) Coasting downhill - Yes there is possibility of excess brake wear, so if its a very long hill sure stay in gear. But closer to the bottom of the hill I'd rather take the free acceleration/momentum to get better fuel economy.

 

If my foot is not on the accelerator, that means I have most likely put the car in neutral. As others have posted here, I have been doing this since I drove my first manual transmission car (a 1968 Rambler with 3 on the wheel).

Someone must have told me when I was learning to drive that it would save gas and/or the transmission and/or the clutch.

 

Coasting with the MT in neutral unloads the bearings and bushings in the drivetrain and can lead to undesirable wear on those components.

I voted no, but it's not necessarily unsafe, just bad for the drivetrain.

 

Well. I guess it's true! On the internet, people will argue about anything.

Here's a good one;

At toll booths, do you roll your window all the way down, or just enough to get your hand out and pay the toll?

On one hand, rolling it down just enough to stick your hand out will extend the life of your window motor and regulator, but then your arm and shoulder get twisted into an unnatural position, possibly necessitating a visit to a chiropractor.

Oh what to do, what to do!?!

 

Daily driving... always done it. I rarely slow down using the engine.

 

That's some funny - a$$ $hit.

 

just thought id add to this... when coasting in neutral my scan gauge reads about.25 gallons per hour... used to idle the engine... however... when coasting in gear... my fuel useage DROPS! to 0GPH!!!!!!!! this is because our good friend gravity is pulling the car along, turning the wheels, thus turning the motor... so the throttle can shut off, because it does not have to idle the motor to keep from stalling... SO! if you want good gas mileage (technicaly infinite while coasting in gear, my scangauge reads 9999mpg) coast in gear!.... is it unsafe to coast out of gear? i really dont know, but in these times of high gas prices... i will err on the side of saving me money! and coast in gear! and if anyone really wants to doubt me... ill make a damn video and post it on youtube proving my point! so happy coasting all!

 

I coast in gear out of habit when I come to a stop because of engine braking. I usually go from 5th to 4th, then to 3rd etc. and let the car come to a calm stop. Just before I actually need to use the brake pedal to finish things off, I'll clutch in and throw it in neutral as I gently roll to a stop. I'm always in neutral while at a red light stop, because of course, holding in the clutch for extended periods of time isn't a good thing. I don't know about those outside of California, but we get some nasty long red lights that will have you stopped well past the five minute mark.

If I get to a hill and have a long descent I'll just leave the car in fifth, or shift up to it if I'm not already there. I don't think it's illegal, wrong, or unsafe. I simply choose not to coast in neutral in the Fit (as I have with past cars) because it can be a pain to get it back into lower gear once you need to be.

I say coast how you want to coast, just do it responsibly enough to where you're not putting yourself or anyone else in harm's way.

 

+1 I always coast whenever there's a redlight or a stop sign ahead... been doing this ever since I learnt how to drive mt... dont see any harm in it

 

The computer is programmed to stop injecting fuel into the intake air stream when the engine is decelerating.
However, downshifting is a waste of time as the computer is programmed on any decel no matter what gear. So your downshifting, while it may save a tiny bit of brake wear, only wears out the clutch disc and throughout bearing by repeated actuation, both of which are far more expensive than brake pads.
Coasting down in neutral has no real impact on anything; there is fuel stopped til you get to idle speed where fuel resumes so if you coast in neutral with the engine idling you are using a tiny bit of fuel. Actuating the clutch one time is the same coasting in gear down to idle at stop or of coasting at idle down to a stop. The latter uses a tad more fuel.
Hey, it might be the difference between 39 and 40 mpg.