Really??? Putting it in Neutral doesnt save gas?

I always figured that the reason cars with MT get better mpg than AT was because they spend more time in neutral, so i figured I'd incorporate the same idea with my AT... So it really does nothing, eh?

Well, I do know one thing, when I'm at a stop, I feel less vibration from the engine when I'm in N, compared to when I'm in D.

 

Always running your baby on a fresh air filter will help keep MPG up too.

 

Really??? Putting it in Neutral doesnt save gas?

I always figured that the reason cars with MT get better mpg than AT was because they spend more time in neutral, so i figured I'd incorporate the same idea with my AT... So it really does nothing, eh?

Well, I do know one thing, when I'm at a stop, I feel less vibration from the engine when I'm in N, compared to when I'm in D.

I thought the same thing too, haha. I thimkt he reason the 5-speeds get better mpg is due to gearing.

Always running your baby on a fresh air filter will help keep MPG up too.

I was going to add that and forgot! Thanks. :thumbup:

 

putting it in neutral doesnt save gas because your car is running at the same [or higher] rpms ..... if its spinning faster, its taking in more gas to make it spin

if youre in a situation that you can put it in neutral, youre already using as little gas as possible ... which is just enough to keep the engine running (plus a lil extra since we run rich from the factory)

 

I thought the same thing too, haha. I thimkt he reason the 5-speeds get better mpg is due to gearing.

Yeah, now that I think about it, thats exactly the reason. That fifth gear allows the car to travel at higher speeds at a lower RPM.

However, it does save gas if I roll down a hill to a stop in neutral, right?

And another thing, engine braking: will i get bad gas mileage if i put my car in L when going down a really steep hill? I tried it yesterday, and the engine hits 3,000 RPMs. Since your not actually pushing the gas, is the fact that the engine is revving high account for eating up gas?

 

engine breaking doesnt cause bad gas mileage .... read what i said above, in terms of rolling downhill

i use a combination of my brakes and engine-breaking for steep downhill driving just because i dont want to wear my brakes down fast

 

ASG14, thanks for the post. I would like opinions on changing the wires, cap and rotor. The manual indicates that if the wire resistance is under 25k ohms that the wires are OK. What do you all think of the age of the spark plug wires? Should you change them even if they have acceptable resistance but they are old?

Kep

 

ahhhh....sorry to disappoint you guys when it comes to the 5-speed gearing thing...

the better mileage is not due to the gearing, but due to the fact that there is less power train loss without a torque converter.....that way, the car is basically always under less load

in fact, the 5th gear in the e153 makes you cruise at a HIGHER rpm in 5th gear than you would in the auto in 4th....I usually cruise at around 140kph on the highway, which was an even 3K with the auto. With my 5-speed, I cruise at 3.4K. Long story short, highway mileage is actually about the same, but in town mileage is better.

 

...Well, I do know one thing, when I'm at a stop, I feel less vibration from the engine when I'm in N, compared to when I'm in D.

My '95 LE I4 does the same thing; I believe that this is a motor mount issue.

 

yup, that means you need new mounts

 

Good initial post in this thread.

My stock Gen3.5 V6 XLE gets around 24 MPG highway with ECT turned off. I believe the V4 version gets between 25-30 MPG highway.

Things I do to save gas include never turning on my ECT unless I am severely pissed off at another Fwit in the road (which doesn't happen too often), and turning off my engine at rail road crossings while a long ass freight train is slowly going by.

The do-it-yourselfer-mod-kiddies may add a K&N air intake and filter (or another similar brand), perhaps swap out the exhaust, for that "deeper and richer" sound and the extra 4-7HP, but you know as well as I they get less mileage than a stock would too.

Let's face it, the newer Camry's have newer engine technology giving them more HP and Torque, but with more efficient gas mileage. I have to admit, I've been wondering if I should retire my gen3.5 and simply get a new Gen6.

 

My uncle has a Gen6, and i have to say that they really look amazing. It's really something to see how far the Camry has gone in terms of performance and appearance.

 

shimpi: no such thing as a V4

its an I4 ... inline-4 cylinder engine .... and i get 34mpg with it driving the way ASG14 described

 

Another reason manuals save fuel, probably a trivial amount, is because the ECU on many newer cars will cut fuel, and potentially spark, if the car is coasting in gear (flat or down hill). The way a manual works, it allows the wheels to drive the engine; so when you are coasting, you do not need fuel and spark to keep the engine turning. Contrary to what some people might think, this does not destroy the clutch because there is no slip. If it did, manual cars would have to go to neutral every time the driver lets off the accelerator.


It is basically the same reason why you can push start a manual, but not an automatic.

Since automatics cannot use the wheels to drive the engine, the engine must be idled during coast.

 

ahhhh....sorry to disappoint you guys when it comes to the 5-speed gearing thing...

the better mileage is not due to the gearing, but due to the fact that there is less power train loss without a torque converter.....that way, the car is basically always under less load

in fact, the 5th gear in the e153 makes you cruise at a HIGHER rpm in 5th gear than you would in the auto in 4th....I usually cruise at around 140kph on the highway, which was an even 3K with the auto. With my 5-speed, I cruise at 3.4K. Long story short, highway mileage is actually about the same, but in town mileage is better.

Very True :thumbup:


Also i get about 24-25 mpg, but i drive it like i stole it, so if i drove like a grandma id probably get 30

 

^ how do u get LESS than me?

 

but i drive it like i stole it,

 

Since automatics cannot use the wheels to drive the engine, the engine must be idled during coast.

The engine on my auto isn't idled during a coast in gear, the torque converter makes sure of that. I forget where the fuel cut is exactly, something like 900-1500rpm depending on coolant temps, but above that coasting in gear no fuel is injected. I can watch my coolant temps drop like a rock on mile plus long hills coasting down at ~55-70+mph.

WOT starts will help economy compared to accelerating slow assuming the same target cruising speed and no need to slam on the brakes, but it's a relatively small difference. Just remember, don't accelerate only to put on the brakes a second or so later, big no-no for good mileage. I tend to run a ~35/65 city/highway mix and can get ~34mpg in my 3VZ auto, so a manual four should be good for better than that. In an auto just try to keep the TCC locked up when cruising, don't brake much, don't speed, and 30-40mpg in an auto should be easy peasy. 40-50mpg in a manual, and 50-60mpg in a manual with taller gearing and an efficient driver, at least over the routes I tend to drive. YMMV.

 

Everything that has been said in here about why manual gets better mpg makes sense but im just using common sense here but this has to contribute to it too... manuals are alot lighter than autos usually like 50-80 pounds... so that helps...

 

George, i DID steal it ...

i go WOT everywhere

 

My mileage doesn't always make sense to me, I almost always get about 27-30mpg, whether I drive city, highway, whatever mix of the two, sometimes really conservatively, sometimes like a bat out of hell, I always stay in that 27-30 range.

And as someone mentioned a few posts back about engine breaking, I think the only extra wear it really puts on the car is just the extra shifts to keep it in a lower gear to slow the car down. If know I'm gonna be stopping I'll usually just leave it in whatever gear it's in untill the engine gets down to like ~1300rpm and starts lugging before I hit the clutch. That way I get at least a little free engine breaking without having to shift it any extra.

Also, I hate to sound like a newb even though I am one, but what's WOT? Wide Open Throttle?

 

yea, WOT = Wide-Open Throttle

 

shimpi: no such thing as a V4

its an I4 ... inline-4 cylinder engine .... and i get 34mpg with it driving the way ASG14 described

Yeah, it would've been safer if I called it a "4 banger".

I like actually keeping up with traffic while I accelerate from a stop or driving on the highway. If I have to go through the trouble as ASG14 described (such as keeping rpm's under 3000 while accelerating), it almost makes it seem worth while to just buy the new model camry.

However, I do agree with the proper tire inflation, no roof racks. Not sure about the downshifting technique. Of course in an automatic, I guess the equivelant would be disengaging the overdrive on the shifter.

 

aside from drafting a semi-truck at a very close distance, there is no way in hell stock 92-96 v6's of any make are going to hit 30mpg@70mph. ESPECIALLY the few manuals that are out there.
The 5 speeds are geared MUCH shorter than the A/T's on the v6...

 

aside from drafting a semi-truck at a very close distance, there is no way in hell stock 92-96 v6's of any make are going to hit 30mpg@70mph. ESPECIALLY the few manuals that are out there.
The 5 speeds are geared MUCH shorter than the A/T's on the v6...

Well, I got 30.1mpg over 960 miles on a weekend trip. Filled up at the same pump at start and finish, and was doing 70-80 nearly the entire time, 50% of which was AC or windows down, and 60 miles of it was Ottawa city driving that brought the mpg down a little to the 30.1 I got.