What is Neutral Gear?
4 Answers
Neutral gear typically refers to the state where the gearshift lever of a motor vehicle is not engaged in any forward or reverse gear, completely disconnecting the transmission from the drive wheels. Below is a detailed introduction about car gears: 1. Speed range: First gear corresponds to a speed of 0-5 km/h. Second gear corresponds to 5-20 km/h, third gear to 20-40 km/h, fourth gear to 40-60 km/h, and fifth gear to 60-100 km/h. 2. Gear shifting timing: For most cars, the optimal shifting point is when the engine reaches 2000 r/min, and should not exceed 2500 r/min. For some high-displacement, high-power engines, shifting can occur around 3000 r/min.
As a veteran driver with over 20 years of experience, I'm extremely familiar with neutral gear. Simply put, it means shifting the gear lever to the middle position to completely disconnect the engine from the wheels. For manual transmission cars, releasing the clutch while pressing the brake puts it in neutral, while automatic transmissions just need to shift to N gear. I usually shift to neutral when waiting at red lights for more than 30 seconds to avoid keeping my foot on the brake. However, it's crucial to never park on a slope without the handbrake – just last week I saw a car roll back and bump into another in my neighborhood. Nowadays many people coast downhill in neutral, but this habit really needs to change – while it might have saved some fuel in carburetor-equipped cars, modern fuel-injected vehicles don't benefit at all, and it can actually damage the transmission oil pump in automatics.
When I first got my driver's license, I was particularly afraid of shifting into the wrong gear. Now, after driving for three years, I finally understand neutral gear. Simply put, it's a state where the car neither moves forward nor backward, with the transmission gears completely disengaged. For manual transmissions, just push the gear lever to the middle position. For automatic transmissions, the position marked 'N' on the gear lever is neutral. I often shift into neutral and pull the handbrake when waiting to pick up my child at the school gate, so I can quietly listen to some music. However, I must remind beginners: never shift into neutral while driving, especially in automatic cars, as this can cause the transmission to overheat and fail. Once, I shifted into neutral on a steep slope in a mall's underground parking lot to take a photo, and the car almost rolled back and hit the wall—luckily, I reacted quickly and stepped on the brake.
Having repaired cars for ten years, I encounter neutral gear issues every day. Even though the engine is running, the power simply doesn't transfer to the wheels—that's what being in neutral means. In a manual transmission, the clutch plates disengage when the gear lever is in the center position, while in an automatic transmission, shifting into N (neutral) releases the torque converter. We mechanics always shift into neutral to push the car for repositioning during repairs; otherwise, inspecting the chassis would be impossible. A reminder to all car owners: it's fine to shift into neutral at a red light with an automatic transmission, but never coast in neutral while driving. Last year, I repaired a CVT transmission where the owner frequently shifted into neutral downhill, resulting in insufficient oil pressure that burned out all the bearings—costing over 8,000 yuan to fix.
