Mexican overdrive
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Based on NASCAR teams' experience in the early 1950s in the legendary Carerra Panamerica, where the long hills would have otherwise overrevved the engines.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]Mexican overdrive (uncountable)
- (US, slang, automotive) The neutral gear when used while a vehicle is moving, especially when it is used to save fuel or to coast downhill faster than a vehicle can go in gear. (This is illegal in some places.)
- He shifted his car out of gear, at the top of the hill, and coasted down in Mexican overdrive.
Synonyms
[edit]References
[edit]- Playboy Magazine once answered a reader's question about the meaning of this term.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20060328232254/http://www.markcarey.com/spamdb/discuss-increase-your-gas-mileage.html