parking in gear

[Flat Black VW]

Originally Posted by whaap

Think about that one for a minute. If you think parking a car in gear on a relatively flat surface causes tension on the gears what do you think push starting a car does to the gears? Tension is not causing any harm. Enough tension to shatter a gear is not going to happen and for sure you're not going to bend a gear because of tension. If a car were on a severe slope and left in gear only, it could start rolling down the hill turning the engine over as it went along its way.

Not saying it would definitely cause tension on the gears but there is no reason not to use the handbrake also.

[clayrush]

I dont. because to many times if i let someone drive my car they forget it is in gear, let out the clutch after starting up and the car jumps. I dont want to risk it smakin in to somthing. Hell i have left it in gear and not realize it and hand the car jump forward on me. :P

[pinoyplaya]

I only do it in hills. Otherwise, I forget I parked in gear... then when I start the car... boom. I let go of the clutch and kill it

[70NYD]

Originally Posted by Flat Black VW

You should always use your handbrake also, parking on just the gears can cause unnecessary tension on the gears. The odea of parking in gear is to be a backup in case the parking brake fails.



1 or R shouldn't matter, if your in gear it would need to be turning over the engine to roll regardless of which gear your in.

Either way, I only use the parking brake unless on a steep slope, ive had manual cars with remote starts for the past 6+ years so parking in gear was a no no. Never had a car roll.

Handbrake is a cable, cable can fail. It shouldn't but can
I put it in reverse if I'm facing down hill, in a habit, as I was told when I was younger it is harder for the engine to turn backwards due to compression. Although later I found this to be bs lol still a habit
Depending on the slope and your engine, you can get the engine to turn over fairly easily if I gear and you release the brake, hence why gear is really useless..
Like I said I REALLY have to get out of that habbit

[dori.]

Originally Posted by Concept-Three-LED's

Gear + Brake always.

^this

[akuhei]

The only time I dont leave it in gear is in my garage, and that is because in the mornings I can sometimes forget to put it into the right gear...and I dont want to pull forward through my generator and tool bench...x.x

[Dispect]

sorry guys but im new to manual cars so please excuse this dumb question but what does in gear mean? like 1st, 2nd 3rd gear? i thought you were suppose to park in reverse when you car is facing downhill and 1st gear when facing uphill? thanks!

[RazorHawk]

Auto tranny, I wont vote, but I always park in park. LOL! It is so much easier to get the key out!

[einzlr]

Originally Posted by Dispect

sorry guys but im new to manual cars so please excuse this dumb question but what does in gear mean? like 1st, 2nd 3rd gear? i thought you were suppose to park in reverse when you car is facing downhill and 1st gear when facing uphill? thanks!

It means "as opposed to neutral" (which allows the car to roll freely if the handbrake is not applied), and generally implies 1st or reverse. As you can see in this thread alone, there is much disagreement as to which is the best gear, if any, to use. In some jurisdictions, parking the car in gear is required by law so that kills any argument about drive train stresses right there

[motofan]

I drive manual cars for over 10 years. Before 09 incident, I almost never park in gear and never had a problem. But one day in 09, I somehow forgot to pull the hand brake in a parking lot at a Mercedes dealer. Well, the car slipped and ran over a high kerb and went into a mini golf course. I was 2 inch away from needing to repair my entire right side and missed a light pole slightly. It could be much worse if my car turned or had not been stopped by the 2nd kerb and hit a bunch of Mercedes...

Lessen learned and I always park in gear since.

[Want.FR-S]

The Globe and Mail posted a news article here back in 2010 about a young son crashed $180,000 dollar Porsche through their garage door because the father, an auto-journalist, parked the car in gears.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...0602/?page=all

I had some odd experiences where the tech parked the car in gears and I don't. So after I started the car and release the clutch, it lurched forward, and almost hit some thing be it like a pole or bumper of the car in the front. That is the reason why whenever I pick up the car from service I always need to check the shifter to see if it is in gear.

Just make a habit to always use the hand-brake, for manual or auto, before you leave the car.

[JonnyRocket]

Originally Posted by Flat Black VW

1 or R shouldn't matter, if your in gear it would need to be turning over the engine to roll regardless of which gear your in.

Originally Posted by einzlr

As you can see in this thread alone, there is much disagreement as to which is the best gear, if any, to use.

Automotive engineer here, let me clarify something: it DOES matter which gear you park in.

Lets all do a quick experiment:
1) Park your car on a flat surface.
2) Put the car in 1st gear with the parking brake off.
3) Get out and try to push your car forward. Note how much effort it takes.
4) Hop back in the car and put it in 6th, with the parking brake off.
7) Once again, try to push the car forward. Note the force required.

What you should notice is that it's much easier to push the car in 6th than in 1st. This is because of the gear ratios. I won't go into specifics, but 6th is whats called overdrive meaning the output shaft spins more quickly than the input whereas 1st is under-drive and the engine (input) spins more per wheel revolution than the output shaft of the transmission. Therefore pushing it in 1st means you have to spin the motor more (essentially by hand), which means more resistance, which is why it's harder to move.

When parking your car in gear (this should always be done BTW), ALWAYS leave it in 1st or reverse (because 1st and reverse typically have a near identical ratio). And setting the parking brake is just a good habit to have. You should hop in the car and put your feet on the brake and the clutch, start it up, release the hand brake, and go!

Cheers!

[jmaryt]

Originally Posted by jarviz

Just curious as to how many people actually park in gear. Do you always park in gear or just on slopes?

always in gear with e-brake set!

Originally Posted by whaap

I always park in gear. If I am on any kind of slope I will also set my hand brake.

[whaap]

Originally Posted by Flat Black VW

Not saying it would definitely cause tension on the gears but there is no reason not to use the handbrake also.

Read post #4 again. I agree about using the hand brake. That is if I'm parked on any kind of a slope. If I'm not on a slop there's no reason to use the hand brake. Also, when I say I park my car in gear, it will be in 1st gear.

Also, your post #12 doesn't say it wouldn't definetly cause tension on the gears.

Communications is the biggest problem in the human race.