Parking in gear or in neutral

Parking in gear or in neutral

Author
Discussion

Jambo85

3,311 posts

87 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
quotequote all
moneymakestheworldgoaround said:
CanAm said:
Which gear was it in and how steep was the gradient?
1st and not very steep, but was parked in a carpark so couldnt turn the wheels towards a kerb.
Seems unlikely tbh, many cars will roll in higher gears but never seen it in 1st.

To answer your earlier question it holds the car on the engine friction.

moneymakestheworldgoaround

4,079 posts

174 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
quotequote all
Jambo85 said:
To answer your earlier question it holds the car on the engine friction.
This is what I thought, although I know from experience that it doesnt hold and will roll away until it hits something.

Rovinghawk

13,300 posts

157 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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Pica-Pica said:
kieranblenk said:
In fact whenever I've driven other cars I tend to park in gear as habit and had several people get in and the car lurch forward after I've left it in gear!
It is their starting procedure that is wrong.
No- on others' cars I'd automatically check but in my own car I know how I leave it & don't expect anyone else to fk it up. That's not a fault in my starting procedure, it's a fault in their not leaving things as they find them.

Hol

8,358 posts

199 months

Monday 17th December 2018
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Burgerbob said:
Slightly surprised at the number of people on here who leave the car in gear. It is very rare that as a passenger I ever see a drive who has left it in gear.

I only ever do on steep hills, ferries, or my motorhome which I park up in gear, handbrake off but for long periods at a time.
I think the conclusion to take from all this, is that people do whatever they do based on personal experience, rather than a specific dogma.

a) They have driven manual cars from an era when handbrakes degraded very quickly and don't trust them..
b) They can feel/already know their handbrake wont hold on that particular incline.
c) They or someone they know, has had an expensive handbrake failure.


If you've never seen a problem occur with a handbrake, then mistrusting one is an alien concept.




RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Monday 17th December 2018
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V8LM said:
Or the mentality of not depressing the clutch when you start a manual car, clutch switch or not.
+1

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
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GroundEffect said:
But foot on clutch is a catch-all solution. It doesn't matter if it's in neutral or not. Seems sensible to me.
Yes it is a fail safe in that sense, but it's an irritation that millions of people have managed without by the simple expedient of checking the box in in neutral before starting. This is pretty much a muscle memory for me, I don't even think about it.

Also irritating if you are working on the car and want to reach in and start it (in neutral).

Pica-Pica

13,621 posts

83 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
quotequote all
Rovinghawk said:
Pica-Pica said:
kieranblenk said:
In fact whenever I've driven other cars I tend to park in gear as habit and had several people get in and the car lurch forward after I've left it in gear!
It is their starting procedure that is wrong.
No- on others' cars I'd automatically check but in my own car I know how I leave it & don't expect anyone else to fk it up. That's not a fault in my starting procedure, it's a fault in their not leaving things as they find them.
Re-read my post.

wst

3,494 posts

160 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
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I'm an in-gear person. I'm apparently also quite firm on the handbrake, which I guess improves the grip of the handbrake while it's good... and increases the long term risk of failure.

It's pretty much automatic to me to give the stick a waggle before cranking the engine - as long as I make sure it's out of gear for winter "start engine before I scrape the windscreen" starts...

cmvtec

2,188 posts

80 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
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I passed my test 12 years ago aged 17 and have always parked in gear. It isn't something anyone taught me to do, it's just something I've always done.

My car is an auto these days, but I always use the handbrake in that, too. My girlfriend goes off it with me when I park her car in gear, it's not really something I consciously do, however. She's the opposite if she uses my car and just leaves it dumped in park without the handbrake. It irritates me no end. I've seen handbrakes fail on 3 cars and the damage caused when they do. No thanks.

gazza285

9,780 posts

207 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
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Jambo85 said:
...it holds the car on the engine friction.
Engine friction? What engine friction?

Compression and, to a lesser extent, the valve springs, but not friction.

bobbo89

5,151 posts

144 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
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I passed 11 years ago and always leave it in gear. Can't understand why anyone wouldn't just as a peace of mind fail safe...?

Jambo85

3,311 posts

87 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
quotequote all
gazza285 said:
Jambo85 said:
...it holds the car on the engine friction.
Engine friction? What engine friction?

Compression and, to a lesser extent, the valve springs, but not friction.
Yes agreed, oversimplified to the point of being wrong smile

cologne2792

2,126 posts

125 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
quotequote all
Saw a video yesterday of the new Ranger launch from Ford US, in which the ever so insincere salesman referred to the six speed manual gearbox as a " Millennial Deterrent "

I almost always drive manuals and leave them gear when parked.

I'm beginning to feel old.

AC123

1,115 posts

153 months

Tuesday 18th December 2018
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Car in gear on a slope normally.

Don't leave any machinery in gear any more though. We once had a tractor that started itself (rain water shorted the solenoid) and drove into the silage clamp. The wheels kept spinning and wore through, but thankfully no other damage.