On a side note, cars generally consume lesser petrol in N then in D when at a stop, but I can't confirm that for latios. I do that though.
I agree. Verified on a SGP Jazz and a NAM Nissan Altima 2.4L with a Scangauge. I suppose the Latio will behave similarly. Too bad our Latio does not support Scangauge :-(.
There's an interesting footnote to this, the Altima consumed less petrol when stopped in D than in N
when it was still in warm-up mode. Maybe this has something to do with keeping the revs down when the engine is in open loop. But once the engine is nice and warm, the reverse is true.
I like to keep the gear shift at N when stopped. It saves a tiny bit of fuel, avoids heating up the torque converter and makes my little car feel like it has a V6 at idle... (i.e. hardly any vibration). Actually, I often switch off the engine at those stop lights that stay red for over 20s.
Another thing about higher tyre pressures. There seems to be an point of view going round that it is dangerous to use higher pressures on long highway drives because the tyre will overheat. However, the tyre with higher pressure has two things in its favour:
- it will suffer less deformation as it rotates at speed, and,
- it will possess lower rolling resistance
and therefore should heat up less than an underinflated tyre. Underinflation is far more dangerous at sustained highway speeds than mild overinflation (within sidewall limits). Higher pressures tend to lower the effort required to turn the tyres and results in somewhat lighter steering, which we may mistake for severely reduced grip.
