got a new car yesterday, motorway driving now at ~33mpg (now on petrol). at least work pays my fuel :D
the diesels i've had are much better on fuel, but bit pants now that diesel costs a lot more than petrol.

zza1pqx that's true all prius's I have driven in get like 45

STEVE

U.S. gallon 3.79 liters
U.K. gallon 4.55 liters

so a UK gallon is around 20% more volume than a US gallon

MAUSER 98

I'm not sure where u got your figures but ETHANOL gets about 75% mileage compared to gasoline so if you get 20MPG gas you will get around 15MPG ethanol give or take 1MPG.

In practice Ive used this in NON-FLEX FUEL cars(not sure if its a myth about damage so far no problems) and got between 70%-80% fuel mileage compared to gas.

draw back is some of the vehicles suffered from lack of power on E-85 but all seemed to go back or increase in mileage after one or a few tanks of 100% gasoline

SILENT TRIGGER

I'm guessing your talking of just letting the engine slow u down, instead of using the brakes and not downshifting to slow down. Basically just coasting to to slow down before braking to a stop.

Including downshifting ;)

You do know down downshifting drag on the clutch some! Beside cost more then replacing brake pads on your own or have some one does it for you!

I use to downshifting and till like 1-2year time in time frame had to pay out like USD-300.00-600.00, getting the clutch replace (3x I had it replace had the car like 6yrs) and if the wheel house is not damage do to the clutch came apart or breaking up inside.

Once I had to replace the clutch & wheel housing totally, dang hop replace a clutch generic broke up inside had to replace all item dealing with the wheel (clutch housing)
Gone to the dealership got the real deal and another shop dig-up the clutch house for it that was still good.

I don't see how downshifting gears(I'm talking manually and abruptly) to slow down would be any better on gas than using brakes. I know if you just let off the gas and let the engine slow u down its better on gas as opposed to staying at speed then stopping fast with either brake or downshifting, because the greater the distance you slow down the greater the mileage will be since for that distance your using very little gas.

I think the more you use natural forces(wind, atmospheric friction) to stop the better the mileage will be

i draft behind 18 wheelers lol.... i also think though chief that you might have a problem with shifting...ive went through a gti for 120k miles on one clutch...

What can I say it was a 95 Honda excel compact 2d
I don't have it anymore trash it to a junk yard! Body started to rust out badly, sunroof glass lost it seal that kill it rain came into the car.

1x the clutch was old and needed to be replace so cost USD-650.00 1998 a year later dang them blow apart inside, seem it was not the real deal and the gone to a real Honda dealership they had a look at told me it was a generic part that was use in it and top of that it was not really the right one for it.

New clutch 600.00 plus all new housing for it that was 450.00.....basic I love driven like it was a sport car down shifting feel the power. It was a sweet car and great on fuel as will.

Really think if I did not downshift has much as I did it would last a lot longer.

I drove it like 1300miles (65mile one way to work) a week going to work, once a month like 1000mile turnpike going out of town something like 2300mile in a month total.

Love hitting the gas on startup and hitting the clutch slowing down fast

Down shifting does no extra damage to your clutch... Who ever is saying that needs some technical lessons.. If you don't downshift there's little gain from not breaking but using the engine..

filled up with £35 2-3weeks ago.. just about to crawl into the red and ive done 320 miles.. not bad.. would get more out of it if i was driving bit better.. sadly i like accelerating fast and not going in2 3rd gear until ive reached 25mph :D

i dont go above 50mph tho.. since im restricted (supposed to be 45mph, but have not been pulled over yet despite police being near me).. suppose that cuts down on consumption a little

i change to 4th @ 85 :D


speed limited ? learner or??

My car upshifting is:
1-10 1st
10-25 2nd
25-35 3rd
35-60 4th
60+ 5th

Downshifting is different:

1-4 1st
4-15 2nd
15-30 3rd
30-45 4th

It's not a matter of staying at speed and then downshifting, it's about letting of the gas and downshifting as needed to be off the gas as long as possible. :)

well yeah but I'm saying if u just let the car coast maybe even neutral ud be off the gas longer than breaking in any way

Neutral would be a misstake as the engine would take in petrol to keep running on idle RPM ;)

The problem with just letting of the gas and not downshifting is when you're in such low RPMS on the engine that it will stall, this is where you'd downshift to let it be off the gas for a longer time while still keeping the engine from stalling (above idle RPM).

Breaking with the engine (in gear and just letting off the gas) on a modern car means that you're not using any patrol :)

In neutral the engine is disconnected and therefor need's gas to be kept at the idle RPM.

so what your saying is when coasting in gear the gas shuts off or goes below idle fuel delivery?

What I'm trying to get at is. When downshifting don't downshift rapidly do so when engine and transmission RPMs are equal when u reach this point the shifter will go to neutral easily without use of clutch

With an automatic don't manually downshift let the transmission do the shifting.

In either case give yourself enough distance to use the engine/transmission to slow down as much as possible before braking according to traffic conditions

in northern ireland learners and restricted drivers are not allowed to go over 45mph :(..

im an R driver.. in march 2009 ill be taking the R plates down :).. then i can go a little faster

1. Yes it shuts off if the car is equipped with a catalytic converter.

2. Why would you want to go into neutral? Thats what you should avoid as much as possible, the engine will not brake aslong as you're in neutral as the Engine is disconnected from the driveshaft(unless it's a frontwheel drive as there is no Driveshaft, the Engine is still disconnected from the driving axel), the only thing redusing the speed of the car is simplified, air and tire resistence.

4. Of course, but brakes need to be "walked" at times to reduce problems and extra costs, so a hard breaking at times is a good idea. Breakdisks can disform if not used in a correct manner, especially cheaper variants.

Most people shift into neutral...which would save more gas than downshifting.

William

2. what saying is that is the way to find the most efficient downshift point