posted 17 years ago
Back in the 60s I used to worry about the wear & tear of moving an automatic in and out of gear. It must have been tuned badly and clunked or something. I put my current car in neutral at lights because it vibrates in drive. 4-cylinders are notorious for that. Now that carburetors are a dim memory, it's efficient enough to shut most motors off. It may not be legal in traffic.
Google for "hypermiling" ... techniques that get double the manufacturer's mileage estimates. Some are quite dangerous, such as drafting semi trucks close enough to shut the motor off. Some just tick off the people around you, like leaving huge following distances to avoid ever touching the brakes.
Back in Kansas where everything is laid out in one-mile squares, I used to use one hypermiling trick all the time - plan your route for all right turns so you can turn on red and avoid idling at that light you were talking about.
A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of the idea. John Ciardi