Parking supercars on hills
Discussion
I believe it's a commonly held view that the Gallardo's handbrake is pretty useless. I believe it's also the case that many, if not all, Ferrari handbrakes are similarly ornamental in value... So what does one do about parking on a hill? It it enough to leave the car in gear, and if one parks pointing down a hill should one leave the car in reverse rather than first, or doesn't it make a difference?
MitchT said:
I believe it's a commonly held view that the Gallardo's handbrake is pretty useless. I believe it's also the case that many, if not all, Ferrari handbrakes are similarly ornamental in value... So what does one do about parking on a hill? It it enough to leave the car in gear, and if one parks pointing down a hill should one leave the car in reverse rather than first, or doesn't it make a difference?
leave the wheels angled towards the kerb so if the handbrake does fail it will not travel far
one of the worse offenders for this was the Lotus Esprit. I have no trust in any fly off handbrakes, they seem almost ornamental.
It doesnt make any difference what gear you leave it in - the gearbox and clutch have negligble rolling restiance - after all if they had enough mechanical resistance to hold the car stationary on a gradient against gravity imagine the frictional losses on the move. What youa re actually doing by leave the drivetrain engaged is locking the entire drivetrain against the compression resistance in the cylinders. With the engine off all the valves are closed, then when you engage the clutch the crankshaft trys to turn and crank the pistons (which is why you get that intial inch or so "rock" as the pistons try to compress, then the compression builds up and "holds" the pistons in place and stops the crank turning any further. (which is why it is not good advice to try it with a car with no engine in it asd i once did
)
The "park" setting on a auto transmission simply does a similar job as leaving it in gear, it locks the torque converter which holds the trans against the engine compression same as a manual.
So to answer the question, it does not make any difference if you leave it in reverse or not, you will usually feel a small turn as the crank compresses then the car will "hold". Putting the car in a higher gear should make no difference as higher gears have less torque therefore can exert less pressure on turning the crank.
When it comes to strength of handbrakes vs torque of cars my audi S8 rocks. i had the handbrake on full and drove off down the road, got to about 50mph. thought the car felt a bit sluggish then realised the handbrake was on full, let it go and the car tore off like a greyhound with mustard on its balls!
makes you wonder if audi can make a handbrake that can hold back 360bhp and almost the same torque at 50mph why they cant get a gallardo to sit still on a hill!
it is quite flat in saint agata. they obviously cant be bothered to go to the hills to test if it works or not
It doesnt make any difference what gear you leave it in - the gearbox and clutch have negligble rolling restiance - after all if they had enough mechanical resistance to hold the car stationary on a gradient against gravity imagine the frictional losses on the move. What youa re actually doing by leave the drivetrain engaged is locking the entire drivetrain against the compression resistance in the cylinders. With the engine off all the valves are closed, then when you engage the clutch the crankshaft trys to turn and crank the pistons (which is why you get that intial inch or so "rock" as the pistons try to compress, then the compression builds up and "holds" the pistons in place and stops the crank turning any further. (which is why it is not good advice to try it with a car with no engine in it asd i once did
) The "park" setting on a auto transmission simply does a similar job as leaving it in gear, it locks the torque converter which holds the trans against the engine compression same as a manual.
So to answer the question, it does not make any difference if you leave it in reverse or not, you will usually feel a small turn as the crank compresses then the car will "hold". Putting the car in a higher gear should make no difference as higher gears have less torque therefore can exert less pressure on turning the crank.
When it comes to strength of handbrakes vs torque of cars my audi S8 rocks. i had the handbrake on full and drove off down the road, got to about 50mph. thought the car felt a bit sluggish then realised the handbrake was on full, let it go and the car tore off like a greyhound with mustard on its balls!
makes you wonder if audi can make a handbrake that can hold back 360bhp and almost the same torque at 50mph why they cant get a gallardo to sit still on a hill!
it is quite flat in saint agata. they obviously cant be bothered to go to the hills to test if it works or not
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