Parking Brake on or off everytime you park? And other things we do out of habit.

[Briebee72]

This lady at the gym literally just takes off once she starts her car. Like damn, i wonder if she lets her car heat up in the mornings.

They take off so fast makes ya wonder did oil even get to everything before they started to drive?

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[Fjc]

Parking brake, always, whether it’s an auto or manual.

 

[Airborne5.0]

This lady at the gym literally just takes off once she starts her car. Like damn, i wonder if she lets her car heat up in the mornings.

Modern day cars do not need a warm up period. 10-15 seconds is enough. Drive it slow and keep rpms down you're fine. Idleing at cold is actually worse for your car.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

If I had my windows down on my drive I usually do a courtesy tap on the switches before I exit the car. Just to be sure the windows are full up.

I also set the ebrake every time.

If I’m in zero hurry I usually switch the car to accessory, get my music going, windows down and then once my preflight checklist is complete, fire the engine up and slowly taxi out of my parking spot and prepare for takeoff.. you know?

 

[RLMJR58]

Friends dad used to say “ the transmission is not a Kick Stand for your car” use your parking brake.

 

[Linkster1666]

It's a process. Pull up, stop, put the car in park/neutral, roll up the windows, turn the stereo down, turn off the wipers as needed, turn down and turn off the HVAC. Ensure everything is off in park/neutral, brake is set if manual. Turn the car off. since 1975.

 

[Robracer]

Only use with manual
You track boys be careful if you are a aggressive driver and come in the pits DO NOT pull the e brake up until rotors cool down your pads will stick to the rotors.

 

[Spike-S550]

Always use the parking brake except when I park in my garage and switch off A/C lights and wind up windows to conserve Battery power prior to turning off engine.

 

[jcsa007]

I’m 80% sure that you should always put the car in N then put the E-break on and then put in it park so that the car rests on the E-break. If you don’t, then you may notice the lever kick into gear to hard

 

[kent0464]

I always use the parking brake wether it’s a stick or auto, over the years I’ve seen too many Ford’s try to roll away. Ford has had issues with the autos popping out of gear, pin and/or pawl related. Even my 17 F150 had a recall for the 10 speed saying it could possibly come out park.

 

[Norm Peterson]

What habits do you have and why? and are they really viable on today's cars?

Almost never use the parking brake unless I'm going to get out of the car with the engine running or am parked on a clearly noticeable slope. I started driving in New England in the 1960's in cars built in the 1950's, where rusted/frozen/stretched P-brake cables were fairly common occurrences. At best, there's only so many times you can adjust a stretched cable.

On shutdown, unless I'm making a stop immediately off the highway the last hundred yards or so are very gently driven and I don't rush to shut the engine off. Highway stops, I let the engine idle for a few seconds, longer in the turbo car. I do leave the transmission (all my cars are MT) in the gear that would result in the lesser consequence should the clutch suddenly engage due to linkage or hydraulic failure. Sometimes it's 1st, sometimes reverse.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

I should of asked how do we start up our cars out of habit as well LOL. I always get a kick out of the people who are so impatient they have the car moving before they are even fully in the car and have both feet in. My grandfather was like that in his truck. He literally had the truck already in gear and moving before he even had the door closed. It was like lightning he turned the key and shifted into drive all in one motion.

Starting in warm weather or once the car has been driven a bit, it's get in, step on clutch pedal, start engine, then put transmission in neutral before putting my seatbelt on. Turn off TC and any TPMS warning in the '08 GT or VDC in the WRX. By then, the oil will have at least started to circulate.

Keep in mind the environment that I came into driving from . . . you'd have had your keys in your right hand, so you'd be looking for a place to put them before moving the shift lever . . . might as well just put the ignition key in the ignition switch. At that point, just start the damn car and then get on with the rest.

I now have a car that's push-to-start, but since I still push a button on the fob to unlock it I've still got something in my right hand as I get in. That car now has a totally non-standard hook near the start button so it's simpler to push the button while my hand is right there to do so. There is an advantage in having all of one's cars work as similarly as reasonably do-able.


Norm​

 

[Biteme_NFS]

Almost never use the parking brake unless I'm going to get out of the car with the engine running or am parked on a clearly noticeable slope. I started driving in New England in the 1960's in cars built in the 1950's, where rusted/frozen/stretched P-brake cables were fairly common occurrences. At best, there's only so many times you can adjust a stretched cable.

On shutdown, unless I'm making a stop immediately off the highway the last hundred yards or so are very gently driven and I don't rush to shut the engine off. Highway stops, I let the engine idle for a few seconds, longer in the turbo car. I do leave the transmission (all my cars are MT) in the gear that would result in the lesser consequence should the clutch suddenly engage due to linkage or hydraulic failure. Sometimes it's 1st, sometimes reverse.

To add to this... What I was taught (working on cars since I was 12). The "Emergency Brake" (AKA Parking Brake), was exactly that, in case of Brake failure you have an E-Brake. I have had to use it more than once, that said there are reasons to use it when you park.

1. "Rusted / Frozen" this typically happens because of Non-Use.... If you never use it, and then find your self in a situation where you need it, good luck.

2. "Stretched" Normal wear and tear, replace the cable if there is no adjustment left.
Note: you will also find that you have to engage it further as the pads were down.

3. And I don't know if it is still the case with modern Disk Brakes... But, with drum brakes, the use of the E-Brake also helped keep the (Rear) brake shoes adjusted as they wore down..

4. On MT's you're not only saving stress on the gears and shafts in the transmission. You're also saving stress on Diff gears and U-Joints / CV Joints...

All of that said, You've probably figured out, that I use my E-Brake every time.

 

[Norm Peterson]

1. You're most likely to experience 'frozen' when the p-brake was applied and left overnight. 'Rusted' will happen regardless of use/non-use. Only needs water to find a way in.

2. Cables have a finite life. You can either use that up fast, or not so fast. Seems a little silly to use any of its life up when you're parking in places where there is zero tendency for the car to roll. If you don't live on the flat land, I can see where your natural instinct would be to use the real p-brake.

3. Some disc brake p-brakes mechanically operate the normal service brake pads through a mechanism internal to the caliper. In some cars these mechanisms have a known tendency to over-adjust, and as brake drag increases, the pad material expands slightly causing more drag. Been there a couple of times, once to the point where I had to remove the shim to buy a little running clearance. Both times I was on the road.

4. Loads on drivetrain components from providing the p-brake function are far below what they can experience in normal driving, and they only happen once per use as a p-brake compared to one stress cycle for every drivetrain revolution during driving. It's a complete non-issue.

Keep in mind that I don't "never use the p-brake", because there are times and situations when I do. It's just not my default activity when shutting a car down and getting out of it.


Norm

 

[oneheadlite]

Never use it.
It is flat at my house.
When I drive the Mustang to my moms house, driveway where I park is flat as well.
Only other place the car is parked is when I go to pick up my Grandson.
You guessed it; flat as well.............

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