Are you employed as a safety manager or something similar? On all the forums I post on, I never seen one person so outspoken about safety and being safe...dont get me wrong I like to be safe just as much as the next guy, but you kind of remind me of the annoying safety/quality manager at my last job...

 

Rofl...

 

Nah, I just got a little (too much, apparently) common sense and want to share it with those that might not have enough.
Try reading these forums as an outsider and you'll see what I mean...

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When you read the basic questions as an outsider, they appear a bit more absurd...or is it just that I am getting old(er)?

One other point, with all the lunatic drivers (including cell phone gabbers who don't pay attention to the road) out there, interjecting a bit of safety might prevent an accident and save one life, possibly mine!

 

The funniest is the ****** who puts 22" wheels on a subcompact and is then shocked - yes, shocked that the gas mileage, ride, and handling went South.

And is then asking about whether the Turbonator, eBay magic spark plugs, and hypermiling will get his MPG back...

 

LOL yea I sorta see your point. I had a bad night at work last week and was looking for someone to take it out on, you were the first person I found...sorry.

Nothing wrong with preaching safety, unsafe guys like me can just ignore your posts and continue to not wear our seatbelts while we talk on the phone with one hand and put makeup on with the other while driving down I81 at 100MPH...well maybe not makeup, but you get my point.

 

No problem.
It's just that the road is different. If someone wants to tweak their computer or learn how to download a program, that's okay, but many of the things discussed here have a direct impact on the lives of others, and that's scary.
Check out the 'notes' on some folks mileage stats (boasting doing 39MPH on a four lane highway and driving near the white line so that other cars can easily get around, using the flashers to let other cars know that they should pass), these people are playing games with people's lives.
I read these confessions and can't believe what some will do in the name of saving a buck or two. Maybe a few voices of reason might be enough to convince some that safety on the road is a little more important than mileage.

 

I agree! I read and see some pretty idiotic stuff. Preach on! if 100 people ignore you and one person listens and it saves a life its well worth the effort!

 

To begin, Toyota does not recommend neutral coasting. That written, I tried it today and met with good success.

Pros:

The regenerative system is cut out of the loop allowing longer coast; the engine is not operating and neither is the electric motor.

When performed in the presence of sequential traffic lights, I am neither operating the gasoline engine nor the electric traction motor. I am in super coast and have 100 MPG continuous to the next light.

The technique is to spike and neutral cost by smoothly accelerating using maximum power on the display to five miles per hour over the speed limit. Completely release the accelerator, then shift to neutral. The vehicle will slow at one mile per hour on a neutral grade every ten to fifteen feet.

Caution:

This technique is best employed between traffic lights on relatively neutral grade where speed can be well controlled with physical brakes alone. Not on the expressway, not on a highway, not in heavy traffic, not in inclement weather, not on a downgrade or upgrade of significant duration or inclination/declination, and certainly not if the traction battery is low.

Note: Never, ever, ever turn the vehicle off. There is no reason to turn the vehicle off. When in drive, with accelerator released, the vehicle engine is not operating and the motor is regenerating. The vehicle will slow faster than neutral (because of the regenerative part) and is fine as a default operation for coasting.

Cons:

No battery recharging. The energy lost spiking will not be regenerated. To overcome this shortfall, when approaching a red light, shift back to drive and enable regenerative braking.

Increased wear on the physical brakes. Without regenerative braking, any and all braking force is from the disc brakes instead of regenerative braking.

Longer braking distance; no regenerative braking

 

This is possibly the stupidest idea I have ever seen - for benefit which is so minimal it is just ridiculous. Then again - I don't really think a lot of hypermiling either.

 

I have found a few places where the car will be in the EV mode. I then realize this may be a slight downgrade area so I slide the car into neutral. This saves the traction battery from being used. I do have to slide the lever back to drive to use the regen brakes properly. Never touch the start button when coasting as it could shut down the car and you would be steering manually, including the brakes.

Long 15 mile coast you may have read I did in earlier threads. I did make sure on a long coast down a mountain at night that my traction battery was charged up to 80% before doing the coast. It was cold that night around 7 pm so I had the load on the 12 volt battery of the headlights and heater set to low fan. The coast took about 20 minutes at various speeds due to the terrain coming down from the mountain.

Before I went to neutral I did drive around 44 mph to charge the battery up. I slowed to about 38 mph let off the accelerator to get the car into the EV mode, then slid the lever into neutral. The speeds ran from 42 mph up to about 72 mph on the steeper grades downhill. Their in the flatter foothills is a optical illusion where it looks rather level for 4 or 5 miles, but your moving along at 45 to 50 mph in neutral. Nearing town the car slows enough that I move the lever back to drive as the traction battery is now down to about 35%, although it charges back up rather rapidly. I did this 15 or so mile coast many times in my '07 TCH.

Their is a mountain range I use to drive over near Las Cruces, NM headed east toward White Sands and Alamogordo, NM where I live. It's a down grade maybe 8% to 10% about 3 or so miles total. I have coasted down that one which is rather fast.

I tried driving down it well more like coasting in drive and when the car reached '78 to 80 mph' I noticed it stopped charging the traction battery. It was like it completely released the engine, mg1 and mg2 and put itself in neutral even though the lever was still in drive.

The cars speed then went up to 88 mph as we sped by a large rock mountain to our right and we could see the desert floor a few miles down in front of us. I had set the cruise at 60 mph on the way down and hopefully once the car slows to that speed it would then drive us along at 60 which it did.

The cruise will not work when in neutral, and your brakes are very inefficient at those speeds as their not powered anymore. Better to say mechanical and very hard to press to slow down at those speeds. I don't mind the rather scary 88 mph peak speed coming down the mountain because I keep michelin tires on my cars.

I have since traded up to a '12 TCH XLE and have coasted down the long 15 mile coast two times so far when the car was rather new. The speeds were about 3 mph faster maybe due to the more aerodynamic body that toyota did for the redesigned '12 Camry. I have not tried the '12 TCH on the fast coast on the las crucis mountain as now all my doctors are local here in town were I live.

After I bought the earlier '07 TCH I had called some toyota dealers and got to talk to the certified techs on the hybrids. I was told the power split device is partially submerged in oil, also something about a oil pump runs off the axles and lubes something in the tranny. The chain or gears that drive the axles are also mostly submerged in oil and also throw oil up in the tranny. MG1 and MG2 are also submerged in oil for cooling plus they have coolant running though them for extra cooling. I may be wrong, but I think mg1 and mg2 may be not used when in neutral but I don't know how one would prove that.

The steering is done from the traction battery and is the reason to keep a eye on the traction battery level on any long coast. Don't let it go below 20% charge when in neutral. Put the lever back into drive so it can charge back up and very important to go to Drive anytime you need the brakes.

Coasting is easy for me, been doing it at times mostly in town for about six years now. It don't seem to hurt anything that I can tell. I am amazed how easy this car coast over the many gas powered cars I have owned. I found the car seems to coast farther when using LRR tires like the michelin Primacy MXV4 tires, 94H series. Another good one is the lasting michelin 'dynasty' tires. Try to keep your tire pressures around 36 psi cold minimum especially during the cold winter months.

Coast at your own risk, I simply told you my coasting experiences.