Okay guys any help on this would be appreciated. I was out this weekend and was going for a cruise in the jeep with the lid off and the sun shining having a good time. I came to a spot where normally I would put my previous cars in neutral and coast all the way down the hill. I usually gained speed at this point.

So here I am pumping it into neutral and it feels slow. I watched the speedometer and I was actually loosing speed, in neutral, coasting going down hill!

Has anybody else experienced this and does anybody know why? is there something I can do to make the jeep roll better?

 

I figured it was because of the friction on the gears even though not engaged. I can accept it as I love my jeep.......

It just feels wrong that a 4000lb vehicle going down hill slows down lol...then again I guess you wouldn't have to worry about being out of control lol....just engage everything....

 

So if you're going highway speeds, then yes, it will slow down, because the aerodynamics are the limiting factor.
If you're going slow, then there is something else at hand.
At 70, it takes about a 5% grade to keep a constant speed, not going faster or slower.

 

ya this all pretty useless unless we know what kind of a hill. I know plenty of hills I can gain speed on.

 

it was about a kilometer long and a down slope of about 20 to 30 degrees. Like I said other cars have gained speed on this one. And yes I was going about 50 miles an hour when i put it in neutral.

 

Theory: brick style aerodynamics

 

I don't know about your hill but coasting down anything in neutral is dangerous. If you had the need for a driving maneuver that required powering away from someone/something you would be ...... out of luck. In most states here coasting downhill is not legal for that reason.

 

Mud terrains have a much higher rolling resistence than a car tire does.

 

another theory... could the ESP be applying the brakes to prevent runaway scenario?

 

My manual with the ESP disabled 100% of the time has the same symptoms.