!!!Exhaust is burning my eyes

[Reverend]

Reason for hidious fumes in my car: ANTENNA DRAIN HOLE. Direct acces straight to cabin. I closed it with plastic tube and soda can cap. No fumes.

Located just above muffler.

[Captain Obvious]

I wish they had extended the fuel cut to a lower RPM. I think that's a big part of why these cars tend to be gassy smelling. 3200 RPM is pretty high, even 2800 is. Regualr driving gives no fuel cut most of the time. My 95 Pathfinder, apparently, cuts fuel when the throttle is shut at any RPM if moving. They learned.

I'm not sure why they picked the fuel cut points they did, but I find it "harsh".

By that, I mean... If you pull your foot off the gas at 3500 RPM and let the fuel cut feature kick in, the engine braking effect from 3500 down to 2800 is much more pronounced than if the fuel had not been cut off. Makes perfect sense since the engine is a complete load instead of supplying some power. In fact, once the RPMs drop and you hit the bottom of the hysteresis band at 2800 or so, you can feel when the fuel starts flowing again.

However, I'm used to the "normal" engine brake coasting effect like what occurs in other cars, and the fuel cut induced "uber braking" above 3200 is uncomfortable. It's too steep of a curve and I'm glad they didn't do that everywhere.

As for the Pathfinder... Is it automatic? In automatics, the engine braking effect is always smaller because there's slip in the hydraulic drivetrain. They might be able to get away with a full time complete fuel cut because the drive train slip will prevent you from feeling like you're gonna smash your face on the windshield every time you let off the gas.

(Have we strayed far enough from the OP's question yet? )

[bryand2]

Maybe just a little further