chshwong

I would like to share my finding of the use of Neutral Gear.

I heard that it can be beneficial, or could be really harmful.
I heard that coasting on N, then go back to D, the shift can very much harm your transmission on an Automatic, as it was not designed to handle such sudden burst.

Another thing I read was while you're stopping, being on N will very much wear out your brake pads quicker because the engine brakes would be off.

I think these are reliable sources.
However, I read that it's ok on Manual, and on certain Automatics, so it gets model specific.

Do you guys know any of this for A4 2010 quattro tiptronic?
Whether coasting and braking with Neutral would cause any harm to the car?

Thanks!

Sly_North

• When you're stopped, the wheels don't move, the brake have almost no friction thus negligible wear
• When you're stopped, there's NO engine brake: the clutch is opened (well actually the torque converter is in stall, to be correct), otherwise you'd stall or damage your engine.

Using the N position should not damage your engine. The only catch is: when switching back to D, give the gearbox some time to apply the new settings. It's like when switching to R, the gearbox needs at least a full second to switch gear, otherwise there's a jog when accelerating.

GeneKam

what he said.

chshwong

But i'm not reffering to when you're stopped.
I'm referring to when you're stoppING, as in slowing down to a stop. At that moment, there's no engine brake on, which gives all the stress to your brake pads.

And swtiching from N to D at high speed...

i wonder how bad this truly is

Sly_North

Switching from D to N shouldn't cause any problem as all gear trains are disengaged: Automatic transmission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But I'm not sure the gearbox is prepared for switching from N to D while driving: if the electronic doesn't set the engine revs to match the wheel speed / gear ratio, it will probably hurt the torque converter given the difference of speed. The t.c. is able to work with different speeds between the engine and the output while accelerating (actually with engine speed > output - Torque converter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), but probably not with a large difference and in the inverse direction (output > engine speed). I'd not try that.

GeneKam

Well for switching to d at speeds, it's kinda bad. Think of a burn out. When you dump the clutch. It's pretty similar. If you start gassing even a bit earlier before the clutch engages. You hit it hard. Automatic has kind of mini clutches on gears sort of speak. So it's really bad. Automatic is slot more complex then manual so it's hard to explain. But it is very bad.

As for slowing down I'm not too positive. Exept that if your cheap you can get brake pads for 20$. Lots if dust and all but its better then hurting transmition.

747guy

i've blown an auto trany when my daughter accidently kicked the lever in N, and i placed the shifter in D while doing 120, trany realy didn't like it, made funny noises after that..and 2 weeks later trany was pooched. so leave it in D while your driving ... period. even when slowing down ( what if an emergency arrises and your not in gear ).

plg_cp

Seems strange...what would have been the correct thing to do? Pull over and come to a stop, then shift into D and go again?
Thinking of a manual, this sscenario happens all the time (e.g. every time you double-clutch) and it is no problem, you just obviously need to press the clutch when shifting into gear. You would think an auto would be smart enough to engage the clutch if you shift from N to D...?

GeneKam

auto takes time to regonize stuff. The thing is auto can do all that you ask it to, just not stock. IF you look around there are heavy duty automatic transmissions that are always used for things such as drag racing. They can take a lot of beating. The once in street cars arent made for that use. I hope this helps

wailshark

What is the point of doing this??

There is a reason for the shift lock. You don't need to depress the brake when shifting INTO neutral, but you do when you're coming out of it.