[Vindicator3]

I used to love to "coast" in appropriate spots with my last car, which had a 6MT. Obviously, there I would just put it in neutral for as long as I wanted, if I wanted to coast.

My G60 540ix has a "coasting" mode as well. Hold the right paddle down for a couple of seconds and the transmission disengages, a "coasting" symbol appears on the dash (a car with an arrow above it), and (according to the manual), no fuel is consumed. The app also shows the percentage of time the car was coasting for each trip in the "my trips" list.

I was pleased to see this, and I do it all the time, but I'm not sure it's really working fully. I seem to have gone through three phases over time. At first, the coasting symbol would appear and the app would show a coasting percentage. Then I stopped seeing the symbol but the app still shows a coasting percentage. More recently, I don't see the symbol and the app shows a coasting percentage of zero.

Also more recently, when I hold the right paddle down, the transmission does seem to disengage, but from time to time I can then feel it re-engage and feel like it's downshifting the car even though I've done nothing to have it do so. Also if it's true that the car consumes no fuel when coasting (per the manual), I would expect the rpms to go to zero when I'm coasting (as they do when the engine shuts down when I stop at a red light), which is obviously different from what my old 6MT did but is pretty cool for fuel economy. Except that's not what happens and the rpms seem to hang at 1000 or so.

Some of this may be due to using efficient mode, as I did during the break-in, vs using standard/comfort mode, as I have been more recently (I don't expect it during sport mode). But I wonder if that's the case and in any event even going back to efficient mode I can't get the coasting symbol to appear anymore.

The genius I worked with was no help as he didn't even know that coasting was a feature.

Anyone have any thoughts or guidance?

[1987illini]

I also have a 540i. I drive in efficient mode often and I see the coasting symbol any time I let off the accelerator. However, I didn't know that you could coast while in comfort mode. I'll try it and report back in an hour or so

[RichardInCA]

Funny - I assumed that “efficient coasting” was an EV only thing

[1987illini]

Originally Posted by 1987illini

I also have a 540i. I drive in efficient mode often and I see the coasting symbol any time I let off the accelerator. However, I didn't know that you could coast while in comfort mode. I'll try it and report back in an hour or so

I tried coasting in comfort mode. It didn't show the coasting symbol but it did show that it was using regenerative braking to charge the battery whenever I wasn't pressing on the accelerator. . When I held down the the right paddle, it just shifted into 8th gear and the engine spun up a bit and I could feel the car slowing a little. My impression is that in normal driving in comfort mode, when you release the accelerator, the transmission goes into neutral and and regenerative braking occurs when appropriate such as going downhill to moderate speed. This is all just my observation, so I could be completely wrong.

[Vindicator3]

Originally Posted by 1987illini

When I held down the the right paddle, it just shifted into 8th gear and the engine spun up a bit and I could feel the car slowing a little.

One place I use it, for example, is getting off the highway onto an uphill ramp.

a) If I just take my foot off the accelerator, the car slows with both gravity and engine braking and I have to start using the accelerator again sooner than I want; or

b) If I take my foot off the accelerator and also pull and hold (for 2-3 seconds) the right paddle (to the point where the gear indicator changes from D8 or D7 or whatever to just D), I get less (or no?) engine braking and I can coast longer and faster before slowing to the point where I need to use the accelarator. This feels more like coasting even though I don't get the coasting symbol and the app will show 0% coasting when I get home and check it.

But like I said in the OP, I have started to detect what feels like a downshift now and again in scenario b where I didn't used to.

I do think that true coasting mode is supposed to only operate in efficient mode (a disappointing decision, I wish it operated in all modes), but I have somehow stopped getting the coasting symbol even in efficient mode while in comfort mode, it seems that I can still partially simulate it as described in b) above.

As an aside, a very good friend and former colleague of mine is an Illini '87.

[1987illini]

Go Illini!
Go Cards! (I saw your name above and I'm from STL)

[Vindicator3]

To make sure I wasn't imagining this, I drove home in efficient mode last night and tried to coast several times. It seemed to work, and the app shows a nice coasting percentage, but I still never got the coasting symbol on the dash so there's something going on there.

And I'd like to understand why coasting isn't (officially at least) available in comfort mode, and given that, what is or is not happening in comfort mode when I pull and hold the right paddle.