Should I shift to Neutral at Stoplights?

Should you disengage your vehicle from drive when you approach a stoplight in order to save gas?

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Should you disengage your vehicle from drive when you approach a stoplight in order to save gas?

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[aboredguy]

The point is to relieve the pressure on the transmission and power brake. It has nothing to do with fuel economy.

[TheUnendingJourney]

Leaving a car in drive won't affect fuel mileage at an idle, however, placing into neutral will promote a longer lifespan of the clutch packs for first gear. The same thing can be said about a manual transmission. You shouldn't sit at a stop light with your foot on the clutch, it puts a lot of unnecessary wear onto the throwout bearing, and is better to just leave it in neutral until you are ready to go.

[DVRMNaitor]

Did I just watch a video of a guy answering a question that he doesn’t have an answer for? 🤣

[Colin-ez]

I found there is no need to press the little trigger if you want to shift gear only between Drive and Neutral back and forth. It means the engineers just designed like that for people easily always shift gear from Drive to Neutral and back to Drive while waiting for stoplight.

[brianstevenson]

The idea of putting an automatic into Neutral at a stop has nothing to do with fuel economy. Although I am in the UK and we have slightly differing policies on driving, the logic is the same. When stopping at a junction or stop light where you beleive you will be there for more than a few seconds then you should apply your brake and select neutral. There are a few reasons for this. As you stated in your video when stationary and keeping it in drive, the gearbox is still engaged and wants to move, only your brakes are preventing that movement, so something has to give, that would be the internal clutch plates in the gearbox, they are taking that strain. Why, what benefit are you getting? releive the pressure on the box, give it a break. As to probably the more important reason in these stressfull times. It does not take much to cause road rage nowadays, one key issue is sitting at a junction behind a driver with his foot on the brake for some time, the driver behind has high intensity brake lights shinning in his or her eyes for along period, very annoying, again, why? It is only common courtesy to not do that to another driver. I should also add there is also the safety issue of being rear ended, causing injury to yourself, which may cause a loss of consciousness and you have left your vehicle in gear, just what is going to stop your vehicle causing further injury or damage to a pedestrian or other vehicle as it is out of control??

[SgtJoeSmith]

I drive a manual truck. At stop lights I put it in neutral and wait for people in cross walk to get in front of me then I slam gas pedal to the floor and roar the engine.

[michaellynch]

If you know you'll be stopped for more than 15 seconds it would seem like the better option to remain in neutral. Since you are completely stopped, shifting into drive gear would be the most strain in the process, while the amount of wear is maintained easing into the gear without heavily accelerating. Far less damage than holding back it's forward function if that process is maintained.

[rickybob]

I had been putting the AT in neutral mode when stopping at traffic light for the past 20 yrs and had no problem with my transmission

[GearTiger]

it's quite simple to understand, always D when you stop at red light, it's like when you take a heavy box in your hands and walking, and when you stop walking, you not put the box on ground for a short relax, you still take it on hands, will you tired?

[zepplin]

The reason I put Neutral in a traffic light is to prevent it from going forward without me depressing the brake and I can lightly engage the parking brake without pulling the whole thing till max. Putting the Auto trans in Neutral does not promote any serious wear and tear.

[aaronjaggan]

If its a long traffic light stop, I would put it in park since my foot hurts.

[lisamoss]

I thought the whole point of shifting into Neutral was to disengage the transmission, since when you sit in Drive with your foot on the brake you're keeping the car from trying to drive itself, since power is still being sent to the wheels, and that creates a ton of heat. By shifting into Neutral, you don't generate all that extra heat. They say heat is the ultimate killer of automatic transmissions.

[Volts]

I have a ScanGauge II. While driving a 1999 Suburban with a 6.5 Diesel engine I took note of the Gallons-Per-Hour figures the gauge showed when stopped at a red light (these are generally what the gauge read, the figures fluctuated):

In Neutral: 0.06-0.08 GPH
In Drive: 0.24 GPH

At the time, I didn't have the gauge well calibrated to the vehicle I was using (1999 Suburban with a 6.5 Diesel engine) but it still showed a reduction in fuel used. With that being said if the transmission shifter later breaks from the steering column like mine did (not due to the shifter itself in my case but due to the metal part in the column) it doesn't really help matters much. (The vehicle wasn't maintained well before I got it.)

[macxj]

I hope people will be enlightened with this one. Not all know the mechanism and therefore don’t care about the proper operation to preserve the transmission.

[abc-rw]

My CVT car is always trying to creep forward my right foot gets tired of pressing the brake pedal I've to put it in N .

[stevenmaginnis]

What if you don't want your car to stall? My car has stalled in drive at stoplights, and none of the repairs I've had done on it has gotten rid of the problem. Putting it in neutral has become a last resort, since my dealership can't cure the problem with a fix.

[RealistNda]

Granted it would save your clutch and all, but wouldn't switching to neutral as opposed to drive overtime, affect the idle air valve?

[arnand]

When in traffic light:
1. Red light: foot brake-hand brake-Neutral. Release foot bake and Relax your foot if you want.
2. Green light:Foot brake-Drive-Hand brake release-Gas/accelerator.
Safety Note: If the car behind you accidentaly hit your car hard at the back, the tendency of the impact is first push you in front then lift up your body backward. If your car is in Drive mode and your foot went out of the brake. Two things might happen: car will move forward automatically OR your foot will land in the gas accelerator which is more dangerous. For me it is safer to do the sequence I mentioned. This is just my preference.

[TuddecBMW]

I thought that letting your car in D and holding the brake was gonna damage your transmission, because it's supposed to be in D only when you drive.

[casparharte]

Wait so you sit there holding the foot brake? I had to drive an auto for one summer, I put it into Park at every light. Like what do I sit there with nothing stopping the car except my foot on the floor break. This must be wrong.