i have an automatic rx-8 and often, I am found sitting at traffic lights while gas is quickly being burned. does putting a car in neutral really lower the gas consumption?

 

No. How would it? If you are sitting at a traffic light and switch from D to N, your RPM's will stay the same.

 

Well, in an automatic, idling in drive with the foot on the brake runs against the torque converter, which does put a load on the engine, but as far as I know, the computer wouldn't inject more fuel. You should notice the RPMs increase a tad when going to neutral.

 

That's what I thought as well, but I think it's still a net push. I think the same amount of gas ends up going through the engine. I think. I was sitting back waiting to see other opinions.

 

well when you are coming up on a light you can slap the car in neutral and coast to the light...or basically anytime you are coasting slap the car in neutral and let it glide ((like down a hill)).....

 

In the manual, shifting into neutral will burn more gas than downshifting and coasting while in gear. If you can select a lower gear you might be able to replicate that in the auto.

 

Seriously? If youre that worried about gas mileage... sell the rx8.

 

^ its funny how sensitive people are and how they react when somebody talks about gas mileage. Don't think there is anything wrong with what he asked. If putting/not putting the car in neutral saves some gas then why not. Yes the rotary is very inefficient and a lot of people bought the car knowing that, but that doesn't mean one should not care about saving some gas if there is a possibility...

 

Rather than put an automatic in neutral, if you're going to be stopped for more than a minute or so (varying opinions on the "or so") you can turn the engine off. I remember one car in the '70s (may have been a VW) that had that feature built in. Come to a stop, engine switched off. Press on the gas, the starter engaged automatically. I came across one web site recently (Valvoline's I think) that advocated switch off / restart in general.

In the 50s, when automatics were relatively new, there were people who advocated shifting to neutral when stopped at a light for safety purposes.

I've never been big on excessively running the starter or popping an auto in and out of gear - something is wearing out each time. But during one of the 1970s fuel crises I would amuse myself with things like shifting at low rpm and coasting down hills to save fuel. I could get about 10% better mileage without getting too freaky.

But IMHO the entertainment of an RX-8 is not squeezing more miles per gallon out of it. The entertainment lies in squeezing more shrieks out of your passenger.

Ken

 

I do that, but the problem is that my coworkers no longer let me drive when we go to lunch. A blessing I suppose, I save on fuel costs.