I can see that some people would not want to start shifting. At first, it was sort of un-natural for me, but the more I do it the easier it becomes. The true reward comes, when I stop for gas and the pump kicks off long before it should.
I live in a smaller size city, where many roads have a slight incline or decline. Because of the gear set up in the transmission, the Trax wants to slow down even on slight declines. That is where, I shift to neutral and let it coast. On level roads, I also do it, but not during rush hour.
When approaching red lights, I leave it in drive, and it slows down pretty well, which means using the brakes less.
I use an ecometer model 9105 to see what kind of gas mileage I can get. For example, on a slight decline with my foot resting very easy on the gas pedal, the meter usually reads between 50 to 70 mpg. If I shift into neutral, the meter jumps to between 130 to180 mpg. It does that because the engine is at an idle, and the speed of the Trax is about 35 mph.
If individuals out there are serious about using this method, they really need one of these meters to monitor what kind of mileage they are getting.
This past weekend, I took the Trax on a 20-mile trip out of town. The terrain was quite hilly. On one very steep hill with the Trax in neutral, I was getting readings of over 400 mpg and my speed was in the 70 mph range.
