Can you do the following with a car?

[otispunkmeyer]

thats what i do usually, wether i put it in gear first or not, i always usually fire up with the clutch pressed all the way in.

and when parking on hills, i leave it in gear just incase the hand brake ******

 

[axnff]

Few years ago there was a woman whose van rolled into a lake. She had put it in park, not knowing the parking gear was either fragile from misuse or already broken. She wound up burying her three kids.

I grew up in a town consisting of a bunch of short but steep hills. I knew one family that would break the parking gear on every car they owned within three years. They would park on the hill out front, put it in Park, and let off the brake, letting that tiny gear take all the wieght of the vehicle with passengers. It would hit so violently it would bounce back several inches. Took them four or five cars before they figured out what was going on.

The parking lever serves the same purpose as leaving a manual in first gear: the brakes should hold well enough to keep pressure off the tranny. If they don't then it's there as a safety measure.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Yeah, almost all modern cars have clutch switches for safety so you have to put the clutch in to start the car. I found out the hard way one day that my old Jeep doesn't though.

Does that prevent you from push starting? I guess not, it probably just locks out the starter relay

 

[Banzai042]

Originally posted by: logic1485

Originally posted by: randal

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
I leave the car in 1st or reverse with the parking brake on and press the clutch while starting. I would never leave a manual transmission in neutral when parked and I would never park without using the parking brake.

ZV

Odd, on my auto Ford F150 I almost -never- put on the parking break unless I am on a steep hill. How does that boil out for other people that drive autos?

Autos never need to use the hand brakes. I don't even know why they give hand brakes, becase autos are supposed to lock the weels in place in P anyways.

Those of us that don't let our cars do the horribly difficult/inconvenient work of shifting for us rather like having a parking brake since there isn't really anything else that functions as such in a manual.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Mine requires the clutch all the way in to start.

 

[mitaiwan82]

Originally posted by: axnff
Few years ago there was a woman whose van rolled into a lake. She had put it in park, not knowing the parking gear was either fragile from misuse or already broken. She wound up burying her three kids.

I grew up in a town consisting of a bunch of short but steep hills. I knew one family that would break the parking gear on every car they owned within three years. They would park on the hill out front, put it in Park, and let off the brake, letting that tiny gear take all the wieght of the vehicle with passengers. It would hit so violently it would bounce back several inches. Took them four or five cars before they figured out what was going on.

The parking lever serves the same purpose as leaving a manual in first gear: the brakes should hold well enough to keep pressure off the tranny. If they don't then it's there as a safety measure.

hmm that's interesting to know....I have the habit of using the handbrake on all the cars I drive since that's what I've been watching my parents do since a young age. I always like how an automatic car doesn't wobble if you use the hand brake when you put it into Park and release the foot brake.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I've owned 4 standards and 1 automatic. I always use the e-brake, even in the automatic. When I park the standards I usually leave it in neutral, on a hill I leave it in 1st though, just incase the e-brake decides to fail.

Every standard I've owned require the clutch to be engaged to start the vehicle, and I thought all standards were this way.

 

[antyler]

My father bypassed the switch on my manual so i dont have to have the clutch in nuetral, Any gear FTW

 

[iamaelephant]

Holy crap, I can't believe some of you automatic drivers actually don't use the parking brake and just leave the trans in P. That is so mind bogglingly stupid it's beyond comprehension.

 

[clickynext]

Even if you had a car where the clutch didn't need to be pressed to turn the key, I doubt there would be enough power upon ignition to start the car at all with it in gear.

 

[iamaelephant]

Originally posted by: clickynext
Even if you had a car where the clutch didn't need to be pressed to turn the key, I doubt there would be enough power upon ignition to start the car at all with it in gear.

You couldn't start the car while it's in gear but you can certainly get it moving. I prefer manual cars that allow you to use the starter while in gear incase for some reason the car breaks down in a really bad place like railroad tracks or the middle of a bridge, at least you have the option of moving the car to a safe position using the starter.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: mitaiwan82
I always like how an automatic car doesn't wobble if you use the hand brake when you put it into Park and release the foot brake.

The "wobble" is the transmission slamming into the single tooth that locks it.

ZV

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Falcon39
Holy crap, I can't believe some of you automatic drivers actually don't use the parking brake and just leave the trans in P. That is so mind bogglingly stupid it's beyond comprehension.

I always use the parking break with my automatic car. I can't see why people don't since it takes less than 1/2 a second to set it.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: clickynext
Even if you had a car where the clutch didn't need to be pressed to turn the key, I doubt there would be enough power upon ignition to start the car at all with it in gear.

Low range ftw.

My truck came with a clutch bypass switch -- nice when it's 20 below outside..just lean in and fire it up..after making sure it's in neutral, of course.