New York Preview: Mitsubishi to add "idle neutral logic" to Outlander

Next week in New York, Mitsubishi will reveal a new version of its Outlander crossover. The Outlander GT Prototype includes a new feature dubbed Idle Neutral Logic. According to Mitsubishi, this system shifts the transmission into neutral when the vehicle comes to a stop. While this system falls short of even an automatic stop start system, it is purported to save some fuel when the vehicle is sitting at rest. Going into neutral would reduce the load on the engine when idling but it's still using fuel. The reduction in fuel consumption seems like it would be minimal under most conditions, although Mitsubishi was probably able to implement it only with a software change and no hardware.

[Source: Mitsubishi]