Parking in gear (6MT)

The parking brake on my last car didn't work for the last two years I owned it. So I always parked in gear. I would always put it in reverse assuming that God forbid if it got towed with the front wheels on the pavement, it would be going backwards (FWD).

So now I have a new JSW 6MT. It has a working parking brake, but I'm so used to parking in gear (and like the extra level of security) that I put it in reverse when I park outside the garage. I park in a parking lot 4-5 times a week that is large and tilted...if my car started rolling it would not be good.

Is there any downside to putting the car in reverse while parked? I usually do it after the engine has been turned off.

You should always leave it in gear and also put the parking brake on.

No downside.

The only thing I like to do, is put the parking brake on first, let the car sit against the parking brake, and then put it in gear as a backup.

This way the car will not rest against the transmission.

I do the same thing in an automatic, so the car doesn't rest against Park.

It should be a habit to keep your car in gear when parking, the ebrakes on these cars are not to be trusted. When I first got my car I parked in a steeply inclined parking lot with just the ebrake on and 30 minutes later it had moved almost a foot! The guy who tows your car should should not be an idiot, but all of us can't be lucky all the time..

So what do towtruck drivers do when they snatch the car from the back? Just drag it and spin the engine?

Thats why whenever I park in a sketchy spot, I turn the steering all the way in one direction.

sabtastic said:

It should be a habit to keep your car in gear when parking, the ebrakes on these cars are not to be trusted. When I first got my car I parked in a steeply inclined parking lot with just the ebrake on and 30 minutes later it had moved almost a foot! The guy who tows your car should should not be an idiot, but all of us can't be lucky all the time..

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Consider yourself lucky, within the first 2 weeks of owning my car the parking brake didn't hold and it rolled off the back of the parking lot at work. Over a year later and people still joke about it. Now I always leave it in gear and then apply the parking brake.

corvettecrazy said:

Consider yourself lucky, within the first 2 weeks of owning my car the parking brake didn't hold and it rolled off the back of the parking lot at work. Over a year later and people still joke about it. Now I always leave it in gear and then apply the parking brake.

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Why are you concerned about towing? I've been driving for 22 years, and my car has never been towed.(unless I arranged it with me there).This involves parking in downtown Atlanta alot over the years!

Donald

People that park in neutral with only parking brake are idiots. This statement is true. Who wants to challenge it?

People who don't maintain their vehicle so that their parking brake works consistently and effectively are idiots. This statement is true. Who wants to challenge it?

No, I don't actually believe this, but your name-calling of idiots is way off-base. BTW, On base is where I learned to apply the parking brake and put the Duece-and-a half in neutral. The reason for this is that if it's in gear and the mechanical fuel shut-off isn't pulled and locked, it is possible to bump the truck and it could start.

Will this happen on an electronically controlled engine? Of course not.

But how about that towing scenario with the front wheels on the ground and the transmission in gear... How fast will the engine be turning as the tow truck pulls the car down the road?

If you're being towed without your knowledge, it's your fault. You parked illegally or really pissed someone off. No sympathy from me.

Examples listed above, cars can roll away trusting only the parking brake. Thankfully somebody wasn't hurt or killed. With the car in gear, it would never happen. This is a fact. I'll risk getting a car started being bumped any day out of the week.

Whenever i park my car, i put it in either 1st gear or reverse depending on the angle of the grade so that if i does roll, it will spin the engine forward, thuse having a greater engine braking effect inline witht he compression cycle.

i stop the car, apply the parking brake strong enough to hold the car securely, release brake and rest car on the parking brake, shut off car, push in clutch, put in desired gear, release clutch.

no stress on the drivetrain and i have peace of mind

LandCruiser said:

People that park in neutral with only parking brake are idiots. This statement is true. Who wants to challenge it?

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No me. When I park I always put the car in first and let the car weight rest on the tranny and only set the brake if I'm on an incline.

The process of setting the brake and then putting it in gear like you do on an auto is pretty idiotic, as well. If the weight of the car is resting on the gear, then the shifter is holding the car in that gear making acidently bumping the car to neural impossible.

If find it incredible that we are not suppose to say what we feel because our true felt opinion might hurt someone feelings. I swear, America is turning into one giant Vag.............

Back many years ago when I was in high school I worked in a parking garage, we parked all the cars, no self parking. We were required to have all cars in gear and with the manual brake engaged. From that experience I would say anyone who does not use both, even when parked on level ground, would be very foolish.

Ol'Rattler said:

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The process of setting the brake and then putting it in gear like you do on an auto is pretty idiotic, as well. If the weight of the car is resting on the gear, then the shifter is holding the car in that gear making acidently bumping the car to neural impossible.

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Showed these comments to my service advisor and he said that you sirs are the Idiots....go figure.
3 DSG's to date and was advised on every delivery to engage the E brake first then shift to P. Especially on inclines, even the slightest of inclines. Saves the selector pin on the shifter iirc.
Easy test, pull into an inclined spot, stop, engage P and remove foot from brake pedal. You will feel the car roll and rest on tranny. Then start the car and shift out of P and you will feel resistance usually followed by a loud clunk, the steeper the incline the harder to shift and louder the clunk.
Now repeat but before shifting to P and releasing the brake pedal engage the E brake firmly then shift to P and release foot brake. Wow listen to that, No clunk!!! Hmmm...didn't roll to rest on tranny...hmmm
Do it your way for ten years and report back pls. or do whatever comes out of your arse, makes no difference to me.

You should put the car in gear before you shut off the engine since the synchros are already aligned.

This is what happens when you don't have your car in gear.

AND you don't have your parking brake on.

AND you are on such a slight incline that the car doesn't roll until after you've left it and walked away!



See the cruiser on the right? Cathedral City, California's finest.

See the red Toyota Matrix? The personal car belonging to another of Cathedral City, California's finest!


Pardon the sideways pic:



What happened was that I parked in the parking ramp, and forgot to set my parking brake. I got out of the car and walked away. I have no idea if the car started rolling right that moment I stepped out, or what, but I never noticed the car move as I stepped out and closed the door.

The car rolled across 3 wide-open lanes of parking ramp before hitting this cop's personal car....on the other side of the parking ramp.

Could have been worse, I s'pose. The damage was mostly confined to the bumper skin and taillight. There was only a really small paint scuff right next to the taillight that needed to be touched up, so that meant that the quarter panel was all clear-coated all the way up over the doors and down the A-pillar.


I had my Mk4 Golf for 284k miles, and wasn't in the habit of leaving it in gear. A few too many times I was sitting in a parking space and let out the clutch, forgetting I wasn't in neutral, and lurched and stalled the car. If you had one of those earlier TDI's you know that they stalled with a 'bang.' So I was in the habit of putting the car in neutral when I parked, so I wouldn't do that. Never had an issue, but I don't think I ever forgot to set my parking brake.

I'm now in the habit of leaving my car in gear, just in case.

Imagine this true story:

Truck with trailer with Bobcat on it parks on a hill, truck on the downhill side parking brake set. Operator backs Bobcat off trailer and as the weight shifts, the tongue lifts the back end of the truck up far enough so the wheels came off the ground and the truck started rolling down the hill.

I never heard how the story ended.

I just thought I would throw that out there for funsies because it really has no point here.

Or push the clutch then push into gear then release clutch... the clutch will completely seperate the motor from the tranny allowing for a seamless shift...

I learned to drive in British cars and they were notorious for e-brake cables sticking. Because of this I rarely set my parking brake. However, this backfired on me in January when driving to Detroit: my co-driver stopped for fuel and set the brake on IBW, and it was reluctant to release. Cables are 2 years old. We disconnected it from the caliper so as not to drive to Detroit with a dragging brake.

My wife got me into the habit of always leaving cars in reverse when parking. It's pretty flat where I live so the parking brake isn't often necessary. The only time I set it is when parallel parking. I leave the car out of gear to prevent transmission damage if someone bumps it.

Guess I'm an idiot.

Ol'Rattler said:

No me. When I park I always put the car in first and let the car weight rest on the tranny and only set the brake if I'm on an incline.

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IMO this is opposite of how you should do it. Let the weight of the parked car rest on the parking brake, not on the motor mounts.

-J