We've all been there - you’re almost out of gas, you see the light blinking from the corner of your eye, and you panic. “How am I going to make it 5 more kilometres to my nearest Petro-Canada gas station? Eureka ! I’ll just pop it into Neutral and coast all the way!” Good idea? Not so much. Here's why.

First off, you always want to keep alert and be in control of your vehicle while you’re driving. If you are in Neutral and need to suddenly put your foot on the accelerator – maybe to avoid something – you won't have time to put the vehicle back into Drive and it will be too late. This is the same reason why you need to keep both hands on the wheel. In an emergency, you need to have full control over your car – that goes for braking, turning and accelerating.

Secondly, we want to debunk the myth that putting your car in Neutral saves gas. We here at PumpTalk are always looking for ways to save on fuel, but coasting in Neutral is not one of them. It's true that when you place your car in Neutral, the engine is idling and consuming a minimal amount of fuel. BUT, as you approach the stop light or destination you are coasting to, the engine beings to wind down further, and it then goes into survival mode - it begins to work harder to keep the vehicle from stalling. This happens at about 1,000 RPM and under.

At this point, you begin to use more gas than if you are in gear and just have your foot off the accelerator. So in the end, your efforts to save on fuel have been countered by your engine struggling not to stall. You can find a more detailed explanation in this Popular Mechanics article. 

Thirdly, you may also be causing stress or damage to your engine if you happen to put your vehicle back into gear while coasting. Shifting gears, even in an automatic, is done at specific speeds. If your vehicle is coasting in Neutral at 60km/hour and you put it back into Drive, your engine may not be in the right gear because it has not gone through its natural progression of shifting from low gears to high. This may not blow your engine, but can cause additional engine stress.

So when can you expect to use Neutral in an automatic vehicle? The most common uses of Neutral are when your vehicle has broken down or you have run out of gas. You may need to push your car to your destination to have it serviced or filled up. In this case, popping it into Neutral allows you to push the car. If you need to start your vehicle and are not able to put the vehicle into Park for some reason, you can put it into Neutral and start the vehicle. Neutral and Park are the only settings that allow you to start your car. And of course, you use Neutral when you are going through a car wash!

So when you see that low fuel light flashing and you think: “Neutral Time!”, think again. You may not make it to your destination if you do!

Did this explanation help you rethink how you use neutral in your automatic vehicle?

- Julie S.