Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transmissions

Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by smileysteve on Thursday November 17, 2016 @08:20AM (#12977171)

Automatics don't engine brake the same way, the torque converter is only fully engaged when it has some pressure buildup, so it will slip (and not maintain fuel cut) when coasting whenever the wheel speed won't maintain the pressure.

To test, watch your rpm when you left off the gas, if it drops to ~750-1000 rpm, your torque converter is slipping (as designed) and not maintaining fuel cut.

To agree with you, I think the comments in this thread started from a manual transmission standpoint and then everybody thought it applied to automatics.

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Re:Fewer than 3% of cars sold in the U.S. have manual transm... by fnj on Thursday November 17, 2016 @01:27PM (#12979979)

It's not that simple, since everybody has had lockup torque converters (based on a computer-controlled clutch) for a long time now. As long as the TC is locked up, you have full engine braking. As you slow, it eventually drops out of lockup, you see the rpm drop to idle or close to it, and you feel the engine braking diminish (though you do still have a small amount, as the the transmission does have pumping and drag losses).

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