Neutral

[Solara916]

Okay, I did a search, and didn't find anything related to what I'm about to ask. This may be a stupid question to some if not most of you, but I just wanna find out the answer.

I've had a rental for the past month since my 00 Solara was in an accident. I've been messing around with it, and lately I've been putting the car in Neutral when ever I slow down to a stop or whenever I'm about to make a turn. My question is, am I causing any damage to the engine or transmission? I've noticed that the car slows down smoother, and it makes it a little more fun since you can't really shift gears and junk in an Automatic. My Solara is an Auto, and I just wanted to find out if there's anything wrong with playing with the Neutral gear, because I might start doing it when I get my car back.

Any help would be really appreciated.


-Alan

[Fresco Bob]

that only thing i can think of in the way of harming your engine would be from shifting from N to D, that could be hard on the tranny constantly engaging like that. also they say its illegal to coast in neutral, because if anything were to happen your reaction time would be severly delayed so if you had to punch it to get out of a bad situation you might not make it

[Solara916]

Cool, thanks man. Now I know not to do it when I get my car back.


-Alan

[michaels artic frost]

LOL. Word of advise. I had a Mazda 323 and it was an automatic and I drove it like a stick (Put it in neutral and reved up and put it in drive to go) I did that for few months and next thing, freaking transmission started messing up...LMAO..not really at the time. Anyways, that was my experience and I'd never do that again.

[Solara916]

Well I don't really rev it while im in Neutral. I guess I just like playing with the shifter, and pretending like it is a stick.

FYI...I have a Ford Focus as a rental, and this car is SO fun to drive. It's like a little go cart compared to the Solara. I'm not big on American cars, but I would seriously consider buying the ZX3 or the ZX5 as a commuter car.


-ALan

[Rudy]

but could you stand driving a car that absolutely ugly?

i considered an SVT focus instead of the solara, but seriously, those cars are so disgusting it's like driving a joke.

[Solara916]

I guess the car just grew on me. Considering other cars in its size and price bracket, I think it's a pretty good car. I'm not very fond of the Civic anymore, esp. since they changed the SI body style. Like I said, I'm not big on American cars, especially Fords, but the Focus and the Mustang would be the only 2 I would ever consider purchasing for myself.


I have the 2000 Focus SE, and I've also been driving a friends 2000 Civic, and to tell you the truth, I would pick the Focus over the Civic in this case.

-Alan

[Rudy]

oh no, the focus is a blast to drive. It's a really well designed car.

It just looks like it was sculpted from a pile of crap.

[Solara916]

HAHA...I actually like the body style to the Focus. I especially like the 2005 model. Guess I like crap.


_Alan

[Rudy]

yeah, me saying it's a POS is entirely an opinion. I mean someone has to like them, or else they never would have been made or sold.

[prowlerartist]

i drive my auto solara like a stick. I always downshift when i slow down and i havent had a problem with anything for 80,000 miles. Its been my experience that it is ok to play with the transmission

[MalBandito99]

I occasionally put my auto solara into neutral when at a full stop because I feel less vibrations from something, either the engine or the tranny. I dont know what it is, but I know I need a transmission flush or a tune up or something because when I bought the car 12k miles ago, it was not like this. But compared to other cars, at its current condition, engine idle sounds very very quiet. Toyota quality I guess. I can just imagine how it would be when its fixed, like the engine is totally off sounding.

[bassthrive]

I like playing stick in my automatic once in a while. Shift L -> 2 -> D o/d off -> D o/d on.

[all_red]

The Joy of 5 Speed

[Fresco Bob]

^werd