2009 Sport Shift Q: to N or not to N??

[PetesAMV8]

Greetings all - I silly Q perhaps. I've had two different lots of advise with the sports shift and the preferred approach sitting at traffic lights - some advise would be great.

So - in this little city I live in traffic lights take a LONG time to change, so you can end up there for 30 sec. to 2-3 minutes. Should I take the car out of gear while I wait or is that not necessary (D to N)? An AM mechanic said I should put it in neutral (D to N), others have said not necessary as it completely disengages when at a stand still with your foot on the break. Obviously I'd like the clutch to last a long time - so any advise on the correct approach?

When the car reverses (or forward) and engages the 'crawl' (can't say I like that very much) and you touch the breaks - it disconnects the clutch and you have to wait a moment or two for it to reengage. So I'm not sure it the car goes into a 'Neutral' or it's simply the same as leaving it in gear and holding the clutch down. Clearly leaving it in gear with the clutch depressed to a long time isn't great.

Cheers-
pete

Edited by PetesAMV8 on Friday 9th June 14:35

[quench]

Yes, put it in neutral. It's an automated manual, as you know. You wouldn't sit at a light for 2 or 3 minutes in a manual with your foot on the clutch and the car in gear, would you?

[Gday2]

I use neutral at red lights and have 58000km on the clutch/car, still going strong.

[dwell]

I also as a matter of routine pull both paddles to select neutral as I come to a halt at lights or in heavy traffic. Dave

[DB9VolanteDriver]

The simplest advice is to do as you would normally do if you had a clutch pedal.

[PetesAMV8]

Brilliant - thanks all.

She's a bit of a different beast to drive - the brain says 'auto' so remembering to use the hand brake catches me out. Also day dreaming at the lights and forgetting to put it back in gear. I think being 'buttons' is what throws me off.

Cheers- and happy Friday... off for a pint of the good stuff.

[V8VTim]

Minor point as the English Grammer police but I think it's brake not break.....?

[PetesAMV8]

Yeah - as a university professor you would think I'd be perfect

[DB9VolanteDriver]

V8VTim said:

Minor point as the English Grammer police but I think it's brake not break.....?

In that vein, is it not 'Grammar'?

[Dal3D]

Sitting with your foot on the brake for any length of time won't do the discs any good from a warping point of view in any car for that matter.

[dalecan]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

V8VTim said:

Minor point as the English Grammer police but I think it's brake not break.....?

In that vein, is it not 'Grammar'?

Lol

[JohnnyFive]

Dal3D said:

Sitting with your foot on the brake for any length of time won't do the discs any good from a warping point of view in any car for that matter.

If they're not hot, you'll be fine. How do you think a handbrake works?

[Dal3D]

JohnnyFive said:

If they're not hot, you'll be fine. How do you think a handbrake works?

Rear brakes tend not to have the surface area as front brakes, but I get your point

Sitting with brakes on at lights can really annoy the car behind too - especially at night. There's absolutely no need for it over a few seconds if the lights are about to change. One of my pet gripes for which I apologise for moaning about.

[dbs2000]

JohnnyFive said:

If they're not hot, you'll be fine. How do you think a handbrake works?

Have to agree, 90 mph to a stop at lights to then hold the brakes on could be an issue but that seems unlikely.