What happens if you put in park when driving
What happens if you put in park when driving
Author
Discussion

Sogra

Original Poster:

471 posts

242 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
I dont plan on doing it but on my BMW with auto it has a press button for park that sometines when I pull on the drive I press before I have fully stopped and it stops dead. This got me thinking what would happen if I did it at say 20, 30 ,80 etc

When I am driving cant help resting my fingers near it - so very tempting, on other autos I have had to move the lever so not the same.

Sog

Matt UK

18,084 posts

231 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
It will be locked out

C36 Nico

753 posts

168 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all

kwk

562 posts

209 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
I think there is a fail safe to stop it selecting.

MarkP1973

100 posts

166 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
you'd hope there'll be some safety measure to stop it happening at unsafe speeds. But, my friend, there's only one way to find out. Make sure you video it when you do it at 70mph and report back.

Major Fallout

5,278 posts

262 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
I would also like to know the answer to this, along with two other questions.

What happens if you push the handbrake button at speed?

And

What happens if the traction control comes on and you're using cruse control?

anonymous-user

85 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
Then see if you can slam it into reverse.

C36 Nico

753 posts

168 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
MarkP1973 said:
you'd hope there'll be some safety measure to stop it happening at unsafe speeds. But, my friend, there's only one way to find out. Make sure you video it when you do it at 70mph and report back.
hehe I had a similar type of arguement with a friend of mine, he was ridiculing the Jason Bourne movies and claimed the scene where he unhinged the gas stove and proceded to shove a newspaper in the toaster was unrealistic and bawlocks.

Told him " oh yeah, why dont you try it then? Expecting a promt report in 5 minutes"

mini1380cc

2,949 posts

202 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
Major Fallout said:
What happens if the traction control comes on and you're using cruse control?
cruise disengages, as it also does if you change gear.

em177

3,149 posts

195 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
C36 Nico said:
rofl

jamei303

3,084 posts

187 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
I used to wonder what happened if you selected reverse at 70mph in a manual car but then I found out redface

DCLXIV

362 posts

166 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
With a 'by-wire' selector, it'll go into neutral above 5mph or so. It may be more interesting with a mechanical system.

Big News

1,937 posts

210 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
I'm not sure whether my Volvo stops me doing it at high speed, but I've absent-mindedly thrown it into Park when I was doing a couple of MPH whilst parking and it didn't half stop quickly!

Jonny_

4,720 posts

238 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
No idea if it's still the case but autos of 30+ years ago used a toothed wheel on the output shaft and a pin or hinged bar that locked it in a fixed position.

Engage this while in motion and it's down to the weakest link in the chain: locking pin, wheel, gearbox casing, output/drive/prop shaft, diff, or just violently and suddenly lock the wheels.

m44kts

801 posts

231 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
Big News said:
I'm not sure whether my Volvo stops me doing it at high speed, but I've absent-mindedly thrown it into Park when I was doing a couple of MPH whilst parking and it didn't half stop quickly!
Yeah, a mate of mine thought it'd be hilarious to jump in my car and drive away, (850 T5 Auto) only to have never driven an auto before, only to put it in park at about 5 mph, the gearbox made a horrible grinding noise and the car lurched violently to a stop. To this day, I'm amazed it didn't do any serious damage to it.


NightRunner

12,424 posts

225 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
A friend of mine forced his manual into 1st on the motorway - to see what happened.

BANG!

Somehow got a new 'box under warranty!

Major Fallout

5,278 posts

262 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
mini1380cc said:
Major Fallout said:
What happens if the traction control comes on and you're using cruse control?
cruise disengages, as it also does if you change gear.
Thank you thumbup

Lefty

21,511 posts

233 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
C36 Nico said:
MarkP1973 said:
you'd hope there'll be some safety measure to stop it happening at unsafe speeds. But, my friend, there's only one way to find out. Make sure you video it when you do it at 70mph and report back.
hehe I had a similar type of arguement with a friend of mine, he was ridiculing the Jason Bourne movies and claimed the scene where he unhinged the gas stove and proceded to shove a newspaper in the toaster was unrealistic and bawlocks.

Told him " oh yeah, why dont you try it then? Expecting a promt report in 5 minutes"
Your friend is right.

Krikkit

27,938 posts

212 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
Surely if you did manage to put it in park (on an older box) it'd just rip the parking Pawl off the box casing and let it rattle round, while having the box in neutral?

Manual gearbox is a different job though, I'm pretty sure that if you did manage to engage it the MA box in my car would just chew the reverse idler to bits... That or the casing would just fly apart.

fjord

2,143 posts

168 months

Monday 4th March 2013
quotequote all
C36 Nico said: