In an effort to save wear and tear on your vehicle and to save gas, it is good practice to disengage your clutch or shift to neutral when going down long hills.

Disengaging the clutch or shifting to neutral while going down long hills can actually create safety issues and is not considered good practice. When a driver shifts to neutral or disengages the clutch, they lose the ability to control the vehicle's speed effectively using engine braking. This could lead to a situation where the vehicle accelerates beyond a safe speed, making it harder to react to changes in traffic or road conditions.

Maintaining the vehicle in gear allows the driver to utilize engine braking, which helps control speed and can prevent overheating of the brakes. Relying solely on brakes to descend a long hill can lead to brake fade, which occurs when the braking system overheats and loses effectiveness. Therefore, it is advisable to keep the vehicle in gear to ensure better control and safety while driving downhill.