[shanewithay]

Originally Posted by curtis73

I'm not sure what the hills are like where you guys live, but most of the hills where I live require using the brakes regardless of whether or not you're in gear. But, shane, the answer to your most recent question is yes if we're talking about EFI. If your foot is off the accelerator, the computer will only inject enough fuel to maintain idle speed (lets say, 500 rpms). If you are coasting downhill in gear, the wheels and gears are pushing the engine at (lets say) 2000 rpms, so the computer injects zero fuel. If you put it in neutral, the idle returns to 500 rpms because the computer starts injecting enough fuel to maintain 500 rpms.

Much of this depends on the car, the amount of engine braking it provides, the angle of the hill, the gearing of the transmission, but if you are maintaining speed while in gear coasting with your foot off the gas, you use less fuel than popping it into neutral.

Exactly what I wanted to know. Hopefully you have saved me some money!!! Thanks so much.