car in neutral at stoplight
Thread Starter
Lead Lap
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 519
Likes: 1
From: Minnesota
car in neutral at stoplight
i can't seem to come up with an answer to this question through searches on CL, so i'm gonna post this in hopes of getting some good feedback. since my last car was a manual, i got in the habit of putting the car in neutral at stoplights. i do the same thing with my automatic. for some reason, i feel that it's better for the engine that way. but the other day, when i was riding with a friend of mine, he suggested that maybe the wear and tear of shifting from d to n and then d again when the light turns green would offset any benefits of putting the car in neutral for the 1-2 minutes that i'm at the light. can anyone shed some light on what's the best approach, or if it even makes a difference at all???
Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,595
Likes: 105
From: CA, Mid OC
neutral
I don't think there's a benefit to putting an auto in neutral at a stop light. Also, your friend might be right. I think the constant chaging from a state of load to no load on the transmission could cause some additional wear in the transmission.
The benefit to putting a manual trans in neutral while stopped is a safety befefit as I understand it. It assures that you will not be propelled into traffic or the poor guy in front of you if your foot slips off the clutch. You could apply that reasoning to the auto as well, meaning that the car won't go too far if your foot slips off the brake, but that's not too likely because of the width of the brake pedal in an auto and the fact that you should only be using one foot while driving the automatic.
Personally, I would recommend leaving the auto in drive at stop lights.
The benefit to putting a manual trans in neutral while stopped is a safety befefit as I understand it. It assures that you will not be propelled into traffic or the poor guy in front of you if your foot slips off the clutch. You could apply that reasoning to the auto as well, meaning that the car won't go too far if your foot slips off the brake, but that's not too likely because of the width of the brake pedal in an auto and the fact that you should only be using one foot while driving the automatic.
Personally, I would recommend leaving the auto in drive at stop lights.
Driver
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 167
Likes: 1
From: Texas
No Benefit
I just talked to a mechanic in a transmission shop and he confirmed that there is no benefit to shifting your auto transmission to neutral at a stop sign. He did not think that there would be any harm in doing so, but definitley no benefit.
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