04-11-2016, 09:03 PM
Depending on the car and how new it is this may well be the case.
However, neutral, downhill , means no engine breaking and limited transmission losses, depending on the terrain you are travelling over you may well be able to use the inertia of the vehicle to overcome some gradients that would be totally impossible with the engine at closed throttle in gear. Therefore it is possible to save fuel by coasting.
The grey area of legalities on doing it however are another matter....
However, neutral, downhill , means no engine breaking and limited transmission losses, depending on the terrain you are travelling over you may well be able to use the inertia of the vehicle to overcome some gradients that would be totally impossible with the engine at closed throttle in gear. Therefore it is possible to save fuel by coasting.
The grey area of legalities on doing it however are another matter....