>>>Turning off the car is a bad idea for several reasons. First of all it takes so much MORE gas to start a car than it does to idle that you don't save any gas and actually use more. Second - in most cars the steering wheel locks when you do that so now you can't turn either. Plus now you are unable to accelerate should you need too - and any power steering and power brakes are now no longer power assisted. It's really a very dangerous and foolish thing to do if you ask me.
>>>As far as holding the clutch in all the way and coasting that's not too good of an idea either. The long term effect on your clutch parts (mostly the throw-out bearing in this case) is bad. Plus from a safety standpoint you're not supposed to do this either as now you have much much less control over the car. The only time you're should be holding in the clutch like that is if your stopped at an intersection or in traffic somewhere. In those situations you're not supposed to take out the clutch and idle in neutral for the same reasons - you now have no control over the car if something happens (if you get hit or need to move right away to avoid a problem).
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>>I'm not sure I quite buy all that. With the clutch in and coasting, I can brake very quickly if I have to since the clutch is already in and as far as moving quickly, it's easier and more reflexive to let go of the clutch than to depress it.
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>>As for as the throw-out bearing, I don't really think that's an issue unless I start revving the engine up while I'm coasting. At a stop, yes, I generally have the clutch depressed and the car in 1st gear.
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>That's how I drove for the last 35 years, having been taught along the same , and now I'm learning to shift out and wait. I think the last clutch could have lasted a few years more (and yes it was a Corolla, and read that as "16 years instead of only 14") if I didn't do that. The technical idea behind the "keep the pedal down" was to save the pad from wear, because every time you clutch in or out it slides and gets filed away a bit. The spring usually outlasted two pads or more.
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>Well it's changed, they're making far better pads nowadays, so they outlast the spring. And, as I had it explained by a technician, pressing and releasing the spring doesn't cause so much fatigue in the steel as does keeping it pressed. So I had to replace the clutch earlier, with the pad still quite usable.
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>So I've changed my style, staying with feet off the pedals while waiting for the light - at least when I know my turn isn't in the next 15 seconds. When I'm not sure whether I may need to move soon (start-stop-start driving in a sloooow lane), then yes, clutch to the floor, in 1st or 2nd (I have a 6 gear now, 2nd is almost just as good unless uphill, specially if you aren't standing still).

Interesting. I'll have to do some research. I'm driving a VW Jetta, and VW engines have a tendency to last forever regardless what I do. Unfortunately the body begins to disintegrate long before the engine wears out.