Should You Shift to Neutral or Keep the Brake Pedal Pressed at a Red Light?

[LorenzoLynn]

The best practice when waiting at a red light is to shift to neutral (N) and engage the parking brake. Here are some additional details: 1. Turning off the engine at red lights: For exceptionally long red lights lasting a minute or even several minutes, keeping the engine idling will waste a significant amount of fuel unnecessarily. It is recommended to turn off the engine while waiting. Turning off the engine only consumes fuel during the restart, and the amount is minimal, roughly equivalent to about 10 seconds of idling. 2. Keeping in Drive (D) with the brake pressed: If the waiting time is less than 30 seconds, it is advisable to stay in Drive (D) with the brake pedal pressed. This is because the time is too short to justify the hassle of shifting back and forth, and the fuel savings would be negligible. Frequent gear shifting can increase wear on the clutch and transmission, and the maintenance costs for these parts far outweigh the small amount of fuel saved.