Can you coast a G2 Prius in 'N' while at high speed ? ( 60 + mph ) A.I. says it won't do any damage, but A.I. is wrong half the time. A.I. also says it's pointless though, since the ICE is not allowed to 'freewheel'. Also, I'm told that it would work no better than simply taking your foot off of the gas pedal at speed. It just seems so 'planned' that the shift knob is perfectly situated where you can easily shift with two fingers without taking your hand off of the steering wheel.
You can if you want, and it won't hurt a gen 2. The thing that confused the AI was that one of the motor-generators, MG1, can overrev at higher road speeds unless the engine is also running. So if your car happens to roll from below that speed to above that speed while you're in neutral, it has to spin up the engine—which requires not being in neutral. But that isn't a problem in gen 2, which will just decide you aren't in neutral for long enough to spin up the engine, and then go back to being in neutral. Taking your foot off the go pedal isn't the same, because the car applies a slowing force when your foot is all the way off. But if you just back your foot part-way off, to the point where you're not applying forward power or slowing force, people call that point 'glide' and that's what s lot of people do instead of fussing with neutral.
Thanks ! So aeromods just might help a G2 Prius after all ! From what I understand, there is a two second delay when you shift back into drive. Also, there is the safety risk of needing to accelerate suddenly while in N. But it's not the same as engine off coasting in other cars where you lose power steering etc and it can lock up on you. Is it even possible to engine off coast in a G2 Prius ?
I'm confused about that 'glide' point on the accelerator. So not entirely off the pedal, but somewhere in the middle ? Something like what people call "feather footing " it ? ( Driving like there is an egg under the pedal. ) I already do that out of habit, but it seems the ICE still remains on.
Gen5'er here. I think my car coasts really well-better than my last car a '22 MINI with DSG gearbox. And it too is very easy to shift into neutral, like your car. Even if you could ride the Eco/Normal line, (I can't), you're still looking at the gauge instead of the road. And a big plus, is when you start to accelerate at the Stop sign, you don't over-rev because you didn't shift into Drive.
The engine will be on sometimes, and not on sometimes. There are various reasons that feed into whether the engine is on. Above a certain road speed, the engine must remain on. You find the 'glide' point on the pedal just by noticing where you've backed off enough that you're not pushing the car forward, but not so far that you're holding the car back. You can search for the phrase "pulse and glide" on this forum and read a lot about it.
but why? N doesn't mean the engine turns off all the time (computer decides when) and there's no benefit, it doesn't even charge the battery.
All well and good if you're gonna have to apply the brakes. But if you can run it out, safely, it all goes to changing momentum-no transformation losses to charge the battery. That's the way I look at it.
While driving down a long slope on a highway I have observed the energy monitor sometimes go to all black arrows in "D" and light pressure on the accelerator. That's coasting above 60 mph for all intents and purposes, and the "N" hardly matters. It is possible though that the car was not showing accurate data, as when stopped that same display sometimes shows the ICE stopped when it can be heard running and vice versa. For a short while anyway.
