No. Try this IN SAFE conditions.

N going downhill. Do an emergency lane change.

6th going downhill. Do an emergency lane change.

Which has the most control?

 

I think that is quite a stretch, smart guy. Obviously if an oil light comes on, I'm not gonna ignore it. But if something happened stalling ONLY when I put the car in neutral at highway speeds, well then I wouldn't do it.

 

HOPE? I give up.

I HOPE you do not kill yourself or anyone else.

 

I've only done this 2 times in the RX-8 and I only did it a second time cause it turned off the first time. And your car should NEVER turn off when you are driving it, regardless of what gear you are in. And if it turns off only in neutral and you dont know the cause, what happens if it happens if you are in a gear? Then your even more fucked and then I have to think about all those emergancy situations we were talking about earlier.

 

Ok, if there is a Truck freaking tire infront of the lane you are driving in, your telling me your going to brake for it? Oh plz, thats the type of **** that causes accidents. I said I would get out of that lane by steering, whats the better solution? Break steering out of the way? :o

 

that's pretty funny! :D

 

O.k.

I called the CHP. It is a 1 point citation for driving on a downgrade while in N

it's VC 21662. Failure to hold a vehicle under control.

"it not only stupid but against the law"

 

Oh, ok, I guess we should all stop speeding now as well. And yeah, thats right officer, I was in neutral the whole time I was driving, you have such keen eyes. Plz, If you dont think I drive around in Neutral all day long why are you trying so hard to push on that subject?

I guess no one ever needed to know the car shuts itself off out of gear at a high speed, and I shouldnt worry about it. The car is only turning itself off, that shouldnt be more of a concern to me then cruising down the empty freeway in neutral.

 

I musta misread the title of this thread: "Here's How I Drive; Do You Approve?" Geez people, answer his question and stop moralizing. I got the same thing people talking about hi revs and dropping clutch and I was in their case about the dangers of street racing. Everyone got all over me and said, if you don't like street racing then read another thread, but if you're here then answer the question about dropping the clutch. so I left.

Ditto here. Regardless of your thoughts, from the thread I linked above it looks like less than use engine braking; more than half either coast with clutch in, or clutch out in neutral. So whether you like it or not, it is happening all around you and apparently we've all been in mortal danger all this time but we never knew it. Its a wonder the species has survived this long. This being the case, can we analyze the CAR not the DRIVER, and figure out why it stalls?

I would guess it's designed that way. Maybe strange that it stalls, but stranger yet that it restarts when you put it into gear. I think they did it on purpose. Could there be a lubrication issue coasting at high speed?

 

I guess someone does care or wants to know why the car shuts itself off, and can actually understand why I even mentioned it.

actually, no other cars that I have driven old or new does this. And Im pretty sure the car turns itself back on because, you jump start the car when you run the altenator again.

 

You're telling us it is illegal to use your brakes, and we should call the CHP and ask them for the law code that states "it is illegal to use your brakes, and instead we should use engine/transmission braking."

If I'm slowing down, I pop it into neutral, coast for awhile, maybe brake, and then pop it back into the appropriate gear. If anyone can explain to me why this isn't common sense, I'd be most appreciative. Its really bad that the car dies at high speeds; I mostly use the trick of putting it in neutral at high speeds when I'm speeding up to pass, and then want to come back down to a normal speed. Coasting in neutral and then engaging the throttle and proper gear seems most natural to me.

You need to see the dealer immediately...you don't want this happening at lower speeds too. And while it seems to be really popular to respond to posts with "let us know where to send the flowers" and the like, I have this to say: while mazda may not want you shifting for first at 80mph, they have to assume you're iq is below 3, and you have the ability to JAM IT IN TO FIRST AT 80 MPH, in the first place. This response yields to nothing short of the conclusion that we should all drive on tracks.

Get a clue please. Its his car. He does it, I do it, no one can tell me its 'wrong' mechanically, so please, we need to address this before the car actually does cause us to send flowers to him

 

No. It's illegal to have your car in Netural on a downgrade.

Stay in school and learn to read.

 

^^^^

would you mind showing the documentation on that?

nevermind, i'll take your word since you resorted to personal insults.

edit: and perhaps you can show where my reading of his post was wrong? asshat.

 

So what if its illegal? Your car shouldnt penalize you by shutting itself off for that. How would you like it if the car turned off for every traffic violation you did? Im sure you'd get into a hell of alot more accidents then having the car in neutral.

 

Ok this thread is going to end up locked now, cause people cant just keep it to whats relavent anymore. If I wanted to be lectured for putting the RX-8 into neutral, I would have asked or posted on it. If you want to continue on that subject, go start another thread and I would be happy to join it. As for now, I just want to know why my damn car shuts itself off.

 

Does your "damn" car shut off when you aren't coasting downhill in neutral?

 

No, the damn car doesnt.

 

I forgot to mention this since we are talking about extreme situations:

What do you advise to do when the throttle cable or gas pedal gets stuck open, while you are driving on the freeway?

Since, the car should never be put into neutral while driving, I guess you would say just break really hard and steer out of the way. :o

 

there's your answer. the reason no one else has the problem you are having is because no one goes into neutral the way you do.

think about that. that is why this thread has gone the direction it has. there is no real reason to do what you're doing..the only argument you or anyone has for doing it is "well, it's car, so he can do whatever he wants". That's an answer? Because you WANT to? That's not a reason.

 

See my qoute above and answer it for me plz.

 

"You're telling us it is illegal to use your brakes, and we should call the CHP and ask them for the law code that states "it is illegal to use your brakes, and instead we should use engine/transmission braking."

I am not tell you "asshat", the CHP is. I NEVER stated that is illegal to use your brakes, the CHP says is illegal to have your can in N on a down grade. I gave the VC in a thread "hence the learn to read comment"

 

Here's the post in case you cannot figure out the back button.

 

Put it in 6th gear -- that will help you save gas while avoiding all the negatives of putting it in neutral that have been mentioned here.

 

OK, now you're talking a reason that involves you saving money on gas versus a reason that involves a panic situation.

Obviously if your gas pedal is sticking, a last resort solution would be to put the car in neutral and then PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY. But that's not what you're talking about. You're saying that going downhill you throw it in neutral to improve gas mileage, and to also continue driving. These are two VERY different situations, and the latter is not what you originally were referring to.

Your argument is laughable. :D

 

Guys,
Whether coasting is stupid or not is irrelevant.

No car should shut off in this case. It does make sense that it starts back up, all cars do that, its called jump starting. At high gear and speeds, the jumpstart is very smooth.

(I used to have a car that could not maintain idle very well and would stall out when in neutral or with the clutch engaged. I got very good at roll starting it).