Coasting in Neutral

[oldrnslwr]

So I have this hill coming home from work - in my Focus, if I crest the hill at 60 mph and shift into neutral, the grade is just right so I can maintain 60 mph while coasting for about 1.5 miles, then it flattens as I come up to the stop sign. Idle speed while I do this drops to about 800 rpm. I tried this in my Mustang (V6, AT) and the rpm stays at about 1500, won’t go lower until I slow for the stop sign where it drops to a normal 900ish. I don’t have a problem with that and I don’t try to coast in the Mustang anymore, but I just thought that was strange. Anyone have any insight on why the rpm stays up?

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[Falconetti]

Viagra?

 

[whirledpeaz]

Maybe the PCM wants to keep the trans front pump pumping enough when it knows the rest of the drivetrain is > a certain speed? Just a guess. By the way, Hello! fellow Tennessean!

 

[Double]

Its auto matching RPM to whatever gear 60 mph is supposed to be ?

 

[jasonstang]

That's normal. Most new cars raise the idle while engine braking so the car does not slow down too fast.

 

[Higgs Boson]

it's called Rolling Idle

 

[pigdoc]

In my EB 6MT, when I coast like that the rpm's drop to 800 or so.

 

[e30og]

I know the manual (as all modern ones do) holds an RPM a few seconds in neutral before dropping totally, may be the same thing

 

[BmacIL]

As others stated, that's normal. If vehicle speed > 0 it'll keep an elevated idle even in neutral.

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