just to share information.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a1...-than-coasting/

Tl-dr;
Engine braking conserves more fuel. (higher fuel efficiency)
Use engine braking whenever possible and never coast in neutral. For safety and fuel economy reasons.
You save lives (coasting in neutral is always not recommended as you may overheat brakes, you may not respond as quickly if you need to suddenly accelerate to swerve, your speed may be too high)
You save brake pads (engine braking regulates the speed for you. it's perfectly fine for the engine as long as you dun engine braking in the redlines)
You save fuels (fuel injector cuts off fuel while you engine brake)
Win-win

Long information:
Newer cars with will have fuel injectors cut-off fuel when detected engine braking / zero gas pedal depression when car is in gear.
As the tire is spinning and your transmission is engaged, the wheels will provide rotational force to keep the engine running, and thus, the engine can choose to shut off the fuel input until it detects it needs a little bit fuel where it will pump in a little fuel and continue to cut off after that.
If you leave your car in neutral, the car will assume you are stationary, and continue to behave as though you are idling on neutral even if you're speeding down the slope.

You may try this with any cars that have real time fuel usage indicator (like Jazz / City / Almera). Go down a slope. engage a lower gear and let engine braking do its job, then lift off the gas pedal. You will notice the fuel usage will drop to 0 and occasionally blip up and then back to 0 again.

I have tested this with my persona on routes that I often drive. If I engage higher gear, and brake during descending, or in neutral and brake during descending, the fuel consumption is actually more than if I engage a lower gear and utilize engine braking during descending.

P/s: also to add on, driving under load while outside of power band range, also consumes more fuel. Try performing a genting run while keeping your rpm around 2-3k vs 3-4k. If you're trying to accelerate or trying to go up hill or ferrying full load of ppl, always try to keep your car in the power band range (3-5k rpm). You will get better fuel economy. Low rpm is meant for cruising (maintain same speed at slight decline or flat road)

This post has been edited by tctham: Jul 30 2019, 10:34 AM

What people suggest is to fully stop your car using foot brake, shift to neutral, pull handbrake. Lift off foot brake, feel the car settled, then shift to P. Try this and see if problem persists

This post has been edited by tctham: Aug 12 2019, 06:54 PM

Nope. Your sequence slightly different from the one i described.

You noticed after you engage P, then when you release foot brake, your car move slightly. Means now your car is resting on your transmission (P). So when you wanna disengage the next time, it's harder.

If you pull handbrake while in N. Let the car settle down (rest on your handbrake), then only you engage P, then the weight is not resting on your transmission, allowing it to disengage from parking lock easier.

Like what above poster said, always fully stop, engage to N and let car settle down to handbrake before shifting to P.

Give you an example. If you park on the slope, you shift to P before you pull handbrake, you will never know if your handbrake is pulled tightly enough or not. Hence, is it your parking brake supporting the car weight on inclination, or your transmission lock?

It takes time to change that habit but it's a good habit regardless what car you drive (unless you buy luxury cars like certain Lexus which engage parking brake for you)

my old car have this issue (but mine is somehow the cover will "kembang or some shit"). Basically. the sides of the cover rub against the car body (touching). So even if the spring does not break, when pulled from inside, the cover does not open.

Initially I tried to reshape the cover (pushing and etc), and it worked like a miracle (for a few weeks), then same shit happens again. Lazy and frus, I just take my car key, slip in the gap, and used the key as a lever to pry the cover open. I've done it for years. (maybe around 4 years), and then i finally sold the car. The car was around 8-9 yrs old when i finally traded it in.

not sure if you wanna head towards my approach.