Dumb question - when do you use N in an auto?
Discussion
Pommy said:
Plinth said:
I put my Discovery in neutral when I need to push it
EFA
To be fair to the Disco, it has only broken down once in 16 years – turned out to be a soldered joint that had failed in the starter circuit.
I put it in neutral when it was towed (slowly) to the garage, though.
Plinth said:
Pommy said:
Plinth said:
I put my Discovery in neutral when I need to push it
EFATo be fair to the Disco, it has only broken down once in 16 years – turned out to be a soldered joint that had failed in the starter circuit.
I put it in neutral when it was towed (slowly) to the garage, though.
Ill take a leaf out of your Disco's book and stop now.
My torque converter auto uses about half as much fuel at idle in N as D, also the idle is a bit quieter. So I tend to knock it to N if I'm stopped for more than a few seconds.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
buggalugs said:
My torque converter auto uses about half as much fuel at idle in N as D, also the idle is a bit quieter. So I tend to knock it to N if I'm stopped for more than a few seconds.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
What a load of bI do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
ks." if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time"
This is just nonsense.
What bits?
Half as much fuel in N as in D? What like half a pipettes drop worth.
Pommy said:
buggalugs said:
My torque converter auto uses about half as much fuel at idle in N as D, also the idle is a bit quieter. So I tend to knock it to N if I'm stopped for more than a few seconds.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
What a load of bI do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
ks." if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time"
This is just nonsense.
What bits?
Half as much fuel in N as in D? What like half a pipettes drop worth.
But I drive a manual, so to me moving a lever one notch from D to N and back again doesn't seem like a particularly onerous task. Who knows though, maybe i'm wrong.
Matthen said:
Pommy said:
buggalugs said:
My torque converter auto uses about half as much fuel at idle in N as D, also the idle is a bit quieter. So I tend to knock it to N if I'm stopped for more than a few seconds.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
What a load of bI do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
ks." if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time"
This is just nonsense.
What bits?
Half as much fuel in N as in D? What like half a pipettes drop worth.
Half a pipette is 5ml of which in a 60 litre tank would equatte to 120,000 'pipettes' worth. You could be sat standing 20 times a day every day at traffic lights and it would take 6000 days or 16 years for you to get the benefit of saving 1 tank of fuel, or at £90 a tank or about 1 penny a day, if that.
If it takes 2 seconds for every D to N to D movement and you spend 40 seconds a day, or 4 hours a year to save £3.65 - or 91p an hour, or over 16 years you spend 64 hours to save £90.
You basically spend the equivalent of a week and a half of your life extra at work for £90.
I often put the car in N when I know it's going to be sitting stationary for 20-30 seconds, such as when sitting at traffic lights. Probably no good reason for doing that other than my own perception that it's slightly kinder to the torque convertor than having it push against the engine when you don't need to.
Ninja59 said:
Burwood said:
Who puts their auto in Park and doesn’t use the electronic/hand brake? My FIL does this. Can’t be good for the car. It creates a back and forth lurching effect.
Most modern autos wont allow this scenario.On turn off or door opening they go into park and EPB on.
corozin said:
I often put the car in N when I know it's going to be sitting stationary for 20-30 seconds, such as when sitting at traffic lights. Probably no good reason for doing that other than my own perception that it's slightly kinder to the torque convertor than having it push against the engine when you don't need to.
From what I understand the torque converter is designed to work at zero speed as its only a fluid link so you're not causing any wear at all, whereas if you change into neutral you are putting wear on the clamping band linings. I doubt it's worth worrying about either way but having watched the wavy hands american guy video ages ago I never use neutral and just leave the car in drive at all times (aside from when parked ofc).Tim bo said:
Mr E said:
When I forget which car I’m in, try to wipe the screen and put the damn thing in nutral at 70mph.
Yes I felt stupid
Yes, the car will let you reselect drive at speed
No, I haven’t done it again
Mercedes I'm guessing.Yes I felt stupid
Yes, the car will let you reselect drive at speed
No, I haven’t done it again
For additional amusement, I also drive a leaf which had a forward/reverse selector (it’s not a gearbox) where you’d usually find the gear selector. It’s round and silver. And similar to the command wheel in the merc.
Guess how often I’ve sat in the merc wondering why it’s not in drive, and why the music is changing while I’m trying to get a gear...
Pommy said:
No doubt? Actually i doubt very much.
Half a pipette is 5ml of which in a 60 litre tank would equatte to 120,000 'pipettes' worth. You could be sat standing 20 times a day every day at traffic lights and it would take 6000 days or 16 years for you to get the benefit of saving 1 tank of fuel, or at £90 a tank or about 1 penny a day, if that.
If it takes 2 seconds for every D to N to D movement and you spend 40 seconds a day, or 4 hours a year to save £3.65 - or 91p an hour, or over 16 years you spend 64 hours to save £90.
You basically spend the equivalent of a week and a half of your life extra at work for £90.
Yeah, but how much did it cost you to figure that out? Half a pipette is 5ml of which in a 60 litre tank would equatte to 120,000 'pipettes' worth. You could be sat standing 20 times a day every day at traffic lights and it would take 6000 days or 16 years for you to get the benefit of saving 1 tank of fuel, or at £90 a tank or about 1 penny a day, if that.
If it takes 2 seconds for every D to N to D movement and you spend 40 seconds a day, or 4 hours a year to save £3.65 - or 91p an hour, or over 16 years you spend 64 hours to save £90.
You basically spend the equivalent of a week and a half of your life extra at work for £90.
Pommy said:
Matthen said:
Pommy said:
buggalugs said:
My torque converter auto uses about half as much fuel at idle in N as D, also the idle is a bit quieter. So I tend to knock it to N if I'm stopped for more than a few seconds.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
What a load of bI do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
ks." if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time"
This is just nonsense.
What bits?
Half as much fuel in N as in D? What like half a pipettes drop worth.
Half a pipette is 5ml of which in a 60 litre tank would equatte to 120,000 'pipettes' worth. You could be sat standing 20 times a day every day at traffic lights and it would take 6000 days or 16 years for you to get the benefit of saving 1 tank of fuel, or at £90 a tank or about 1 penny a day, if that.
If it takes 2 seconds for every D to N to D movement and you spend 40 seconds a day, or 4 hours a year to save £3.65 - or 91p an hour, or over 16 years you spend 64 hours to save £90.
You basically spend the equivalent of a week and a half of your life extra at work for £90.
Curtailment said:
When you brake to a stop in almost any automatic bus or lorry, it goes into neutral after a second or so, and you feel it stop trying to tug against the brake. When you try driving off it re-engages the gear, nearly seamlessly.
I've never understood why automatic cars don't do the same.
I don't know how common this is, but certainly the Aisin Warner AF40-6 I had in my old Vectra (along with other GM cars as well as 6 and 8-cylinder Volvos and I think big transverse engine Toyotas) did exactly this over 10 years ago and you'd notice the idle rpm increase slightly as the load was taken off. The 7G in my old Merc doesn't seem to though.I've never understood why automatic cars don't do the same.
Wills2 said:
Pommy said:
Bloody hell just leave it in D and foot on the brake when stopped.
All this ‘put it in N’ when stationary and handbrake on is a load of tosh
Agreed, what farce over nothing. All this ‘put it in N’ when stationary and handbrake on is a load of tosh
Pommy said:
buggalugs said:
My torque converter auto uses about half as much fuel at idle in N as D, also the idle is a bit quieter. So I tend to knock it to N if I'm stopped for more than a few seconds.
I do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
What a load of bI do the same as that other chap too when parking its N, handbrake on to take the strain then P, no point having strain through the drivetrain when they when to the trouble of putting bakes on the wheels, also if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time.
ks." if you never use the handbrake when the car's a few years old there's a fair change you'll end up having to replace bits at MOT time"
This is just nonsense.
What bits?
Half as much fuel in N as in D? What like half a pipettes drop worth.
Fuel - 0.2 gal/hr vs 0.4 gal/hr it works out to roughly £1/hr difference when idling in my car, not that I'd bothered to work it out prior to the arrival of your curmudgeonliness, I just like to think about what I'm doing when I'm driving, I can get pleasure from driving efficiently just as I can from stringing a good set of corners together, which when you follow it through often ends up being the same thing.
I thought the use of the word b
ks was a bit strong for an opening argument, especially one with as little substance as yours.vikingaero said:
Wills2 said:
Pommy said:
Bloody hell just leave it in D and foot on the brake when stopped.
All this ‘put it in N’ when stationary and handbrake on is a load of tosh
Agreed, what farce over nothing. All this ‘put it in N’ when stationary and handbrake on is a load of tosh
.
Wills2 said:
Pommy said:
Bloody hell just leave it in D and foot on the brake when stopped.
All this ‘put it in N’ when stationary and handbrake on is a load of tosh
Agreed, what farce over nothing. All this ‘put it in N’ when stationary and handbrake on is a load of tosh
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