>> Shouldn't you just use the lowest gear - does the direction make any difference?
Yes. If someone tries to start the car uphill it won't go far.
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Didn't Vauxhalls have a fault whereby the handbrake let go and cars were rolling off down slopes. I always leave mine in gear even when it's on the flat.
Another annoying thing my daughter was recently taught was to go into first gear when entering a junction even if the car is still moving! I think (it was a long time ago) but I was taught to only go into first if the car had stopped.
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I believe that only going into first when the car is stopped dates back to when it was common practice by makers not to put synchromesh on first gear.
Hence going into first when moving usually produced crunching noises.
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Didn't Vauxhalls have a fault whereby the handbrake let go ...
No, Citroëns did, a few years ago. The 'parking' brake operated on the front discs, so if they were warm when the brake was set, they gradually released as they cooled down. Presumably the fault is now fixed, or redesigned?
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Turning the front wheels in towards the kerb if parked on a hill is also a good idea, but I rarely leave a car in gear as the handbrake should be up to the task.
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Turning the front wheels in towards the kerb if parked on a hill is also a good idea
I think the perceived wisdom is to park on full left lock when pointing downhill, and full right lock when pointing uphill - assuming there is a kerb.
Living in Cambridgeshire, there's not much call for it :-)
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Always left in gear, takes no effort and it's a bit more peace of mind. Don't understand people who are worried about starting the car in gear, any instructor who doesn't teach people to push the clutch in when starting the engine is a moron.
Rarely change down when slowing either - I brake to whatever speed I want to be doing and shove it in a gear appropriate. Puzzles me when other people shuffle their way back through the gearbox when approaching a junction or something. Approaching roundabouts, it's usually from 5 -> 2, or 1st if I have to stop.
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I agree with you David. I know sometimes there is no need to leave it in gear but equally I see no reason not to. I always have and always will leave my cars in gear. A bit like locking them really, most of the time it wouldn't matter if you didn't but just occasionally it might..As for those who think this puts undue strain on the drivetrain, well, all I can tell you is that it has never harmed any of my cars in well over a million miles of doing it.
Having said all that, my wife can't bring herself to leave her car in gear and has never had one run away either so it is probably just a habit thing which doesn't really matter.
I can't help doing it though.
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Very sensible. A lot of people use a gearchanging technique very suitable for a motorcycle where you have a sequential gearbox and have to go up and down through all the gears. Nothing wrong with a 2 to 4; 3 to 5 and any other variation suitable to engine and road speed. When you know you have to stop, leave it in 5th or whatever, slip into neutral when stooped and engage 1st to move off. Re the old 1st gear crash boxes - double declutching was the need there. I once had lessons on an old Bedford petrol coach with no syncromesh on any gear. The instructor maliciously always took the trainees to a very steep hill which the old crate could only get up in 1st gear. Sorted the men from the boys as he used to say. The graunchings and stallings were a sight to see. To stop it rolling back, the handbrake lever needed 2 hands as well. No power assistance.
I agree with you 100%. Brake pads and linings come cheaper than clutches and gearboxes. Also your point about depressing the clutch when starting - apart from not risking a start in gear it takes off the weight of the gearbox especially in cold weather, making life easier for the battery.
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Some Vauxhalls do/did have a handbrake fault. Watchdog featured it over several weeks, basically you could put the handbrake on but the ratchet didn't necessarily drop into the 'groove' and could sit on top of the teeth then at some later stage it just let go.
Xantia's did have the fault which was 'cured' by removing the first few teeth of the ratchet so the handbrake has to be more 'engaged' before the ratchet will hold it. As noted it was due to the discs cooling and contracting.
My C5 rolled down the drive once due to the same problem. Usually I park in gear but on arriving home I was listening to the radio so sat with the engine on whilst listening so I didn't leave the car in gear. Fortunately there was no damage to anything but now I'm meticulous about checking the handbrake and pointing the wheels into the curb. Most obviously my fault even though the handbrake was on.
Steve.
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Nothing wrong with a 2 to 4; 3 to 5 and any other variation suitable to engine and road speed.
Agree with you except to be careful where reverse is. Some ford boxes have reverse in the "sixth gear" position, there is some sort of mechanism that stops you going straight from 5th to reverse, but if you try going from 2nd to 4th and go too far you could go into reverse.
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An old Bedford petrol coach with no syncromesh on any gear ...
Went for a spin on the Yellow Duck round Liverpool on Wednesday. For the uninitiated, that is a wartime GM amphibious vehicle - this one allegedly built in 1942 and took part in the D-day landings. Anyway it was amusing seeing how many seconds were required between gears (I think there were 4 but may have been only 3).
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My next door neighbours rolled down the drive and into the dual carriageway some 10 days ago. I could hear beeping and looked out of the upstairs window, and I wondered why he was stopped across the lanes and then realised there was no-one in it. It took a few seconds to make sense of the view. Eventually a bus driver got out and wet to the house and he sheepishly returned it to the drive. It could have caused a terrible accident.
I bet it tells you to put the car in gear in the manual, but most people don't read them. maybe there should be an interlock before you can remove the key, like most/all automatics need to be in P to remove key, or to start the engine.
Edited by Hamsafar on 26/06/2009 at 15:59
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Didn't Vauxhalls have a fault whereby the handbrake let go and cars were rolling off down slopes. I always leave mine in gear even when it's on the flat.
Only Vectra C's I believe.
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There was a thread on this here in discussion a week or so ago, and those who STILL don't leave a car parked in gear should read this thread on technical:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=67...7
I honestly can't understand why people rely on a parking brake alone!
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Only Vectra C's I believe.
Yep. tinyurl.com/ce7nu5 (link points to Vosa's recall website)
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It's a bit of a game leaving some of the automated manuals in gear, it's so natural to put them in neutral before turning off, those creatures not normally having a 'park' feature.
They often come with a nice electric handbrake too.....oh joy..;)
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