Question regarding fuel consumption

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Discobluebell

Discobluebell

New Member
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5,325
Location
Essexcestershire (a non Native)
Is it true that if you put your foot on the clutch, but leave the car in an appropriate gear for the speed travelling, that you can save on fuel. Obviously this won't work going UP hills :lol: or for very long on the level :D Everyone here has a different opinion, esp as to whether the vehicle should or shouldn't be in gear and also how safe this is to do:eek::rolleyes:
 
you wont save much coasting down hill apart from loosing some control ,resting foot on clutch for longer than necessary will wear release brg and clutch
 
Using "angel gear" can save fuel but that is not doing the way you mention as previous post says will cause wear in clutch components . It is not that effective on low mass vehicles due to drag quickly overcoming the kinetic energy .
A few modern trucks have a automatic system that decouples engine when cruise speed is being maintained or exceeded by inertia, engine goes back to idle.
Due to mass eg 44tonne this can be quite effective , as it gets rid of engine braking .
Some early rovers had a freewheel sytem ( as indeed did Landrover on fwd)
 
Cruising won't do your clutch any good, and you lose tractability - the control of the vehicle you get from engine braking and rapid access to acceleration.
 
Personaly i do it all the time on the roads i drive every day. It won't gain you anything in the Ka bell because it hasn't got enough weight init as already said, and also being petrol when you take your foot off the throttle the injectors switch off untill the engine gets down to about 1300rpm any way. However with a diesle disco there's a lot of weight (kinetic energy) and they will coast quite well (howerever i beleive it is actually illegal to do this). Don't be tempted to just depress the clutch and coast this will as already said kill the clutch and release bearing. If your not 100% confident of what you are doing don't do it.
 
my 200tdi is quite happy at 35mph in fifth.on the level... even with an empty 4 wheel trailer on the back.... for fuel economy you need to be in the highest gear that the cars happy with at all times..... dont accelerate going up hill.... let gravity do the accelerating on the downhill bits..... think ahead and mentally throw the brake pedal away...... whenever you use the footbrake youre converting fuel to waste heat
 
My dad always coasts out of gear to save fuel and I find myself picking up the habit too. He never uses the handbrake either, so when he stops he puts it in gear. One day he came back from work and rolled home the last 300 yards along the flat street and got out. I went to use the car later and found he had forgotten to put it in gear when he stopped and the car was completely unbraked :eek: Lucky the road was flat and noone hit it! :eek:
 
if you are going to coast up to your junctions etc, stay in gear, stay off the clutch and coast until you really have to brake, but like earlier post, braking costs you more than reving so sort it out, brakes are for avoiding accidents :)
 
DMF could also = desperate mother ****er. If you're in the hood, innit (helps if you have a p38 decked on 26 inch chrome spinners to pull it off properly)
 
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