What is coasting?

You may have come across the term coasting while practicing for the theory test. But what is coasting and why is it not good?

In simple terms, coasting is when you drive for a pre-longed period with the car in neutral. This is mainly on manual cars.

What is neutral?

Being in neutral means that your car isn't in gear. This can be either because you have selected neutral whilst the car is moving, or you let the car roll with your clutch pressed down ( which is the same as being in neutral ).

Why is coasting bad?

When your car is in gear, the engine helps to control the speed which your car rolls when you are not pressing on the gas. This is especially important when going down hills. The lower the gear you're in, the slower the engine will try to make the car go.

When you go into neutral, the engine is no longer controlling how fast you go, you're then at the mercy of gravity and how steep the hill is. It would be like letting a skateboard roll down the hill. There is nothing controlling the speed.

But what if I just use the brakes?

You can use the brakes to control your speed when going downhill but they will be working a lot harder than if you have the car in gear. So having the car in gear helping to control the car's speed will make braking easier.

Coasting around corners

Coasting into turns isn't safe as the car may pick up too much speed. You never know what you may come across when you turn into a new road which is why you want to have good control of your speed.

But don't I need to press the clutch down when I'm stopping or changing gears?

Yes you do. When pressing the clutch down for a short time to change gears or stop, this isn't coasting. You need to do that to control the car and it's not considered coasting.

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Written by:

Mark Zondo