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Originally Posted by dlingner
The 06 HCH does pretty well in neutral when on downhill slopes. The tachometer stays near 2 while in D, but drops to 1 in neutral. Fewer rotations means lower fuel consumption. The drawback is that you don't recharge the battery as you would in D on the downslope. Without adequate recharging, uphill climbs aren't as efficient.
My HCH does great on flat roads, getting over 50 mpg in both city and highway. On hills, however, fuel economy drops considerably.
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Your tach may read higher in D than in N, but you are actually using more gas in N than in D when coasting down a hill. In D, your kinetic energy keeps the engine spinning and the ECU can seal the valves (to reduce friction due to pumping losses) and cut off the fuel flow. You can tell it's doing that because the instant FCD is pegged at 100. In N, fuel has to keep flowing just to keep the engine from stalling. In N, you won't see the instant FCD pegged at 100. I've tested this by coasting down a hill in D with the I-FCD pegged, then shifting to N; the I-FCD immediately drops as the engine starts firing again.