I was taught to always park my MT cars in 1st gear or reverse (depending on the slope) just as extra insurance against the car rolling away. Recently, a friend riding with me saw that i leave the car in 1st gear, with the clutch fully depressed and the parking brake set, while i turn the engine off. He asked me if it was bad for the transmission to have it in gear while turning the car off and i said "duh.....i didn't think it was, is it?" he said somebody told him it is damaging and that i should have the stick in neutral when turning the engine off. THEN put the car in gear. i really have no idea whether or not this is true. anybody? thanks

 

go back and ask your friend why he thinks it will damage the car. and specifically what will it damage.
It won't damage a thing.

 

ok good to hear

 

In the manual for my Jazz it is clearly stated that you should park your car either in 1st gear in uphills and in revers in downhills.
But I have a CVT so I have to leave it in Park, and that is a mechanical lock of the transmission and wheels.
So wichever transmission you use, Honda want us to park in gear.

 

I was taught to put a M/T in 2nd that way if your foot comes of the clutch it will stall before trying to go anywhere.

Oh, and of course I always put on the parking brake.

MikeyG

 

as everyone has stated, these are all good ways to do it. I personally pull the ebrake up first, as to hold the car from moving any inch and then put it in first, clutch still in, turn off the car, that way, no added weight or strain is put on the tranny UNLESS e-brake failure occurs and then the transmission will lock in gear, preventing the car from rolling down a slope. Always have it in gear =)

 

Funny, I was always taught to leave it in neutral and then set the brake. Always drove me nuts when I'd take it into the shop and folks would leave it in first gear. I wonder if I'm missing something...

 

I really don't think it matters either way unless you're on a ridiculous hill.

 

your car/transmission is strong to bring your car uphill. Why can't it keep it static in place? It's definitly strong enough to keep it still.

 

This is more of an issue for automatic transmissions. A lot of wear and tear can buildup if you park an automatic car (especially on a slope) and put it into park and letting it bounce on the pin in the tranny, as a opposed to putting the pressure on the e-brake, by putting it into neutral first, then pulling the e-brake, relaxing the brake pedal slightly to see if the e-brake is gonna hold and relax pressure off the tranny. Putting into park, then turning off the car.

This is a little different for manual trannys of course. But not matter how you slice it, its gonna be better to put more pressure/wear&tear into the cheaper part, the brakes. The transmission should for sure be setup to catch it if the brakes should fail.

 

For a car with a manual transmission, I always park, kill the engine with the key, and then put it in REVERSE.

 

even when you're facing uphill?

 

Here in the North Western part of Indiana, we don't have hills. There are slight elevation changes. And to counter act that, you simply turn the wheels so that if the car moves, the curb stops it. Now along the Ohio river and south of brown county in Indiana. There are some fantastic roads to drive.

 

Nah it won't do anything.

Usually though if I'm parking facing down a slope, I put my car in reverse and turn the wheels into the kerbs so that it's got another thing stopping it.

And if I'm parked facing up a slope, I put it in 5th gear and then turn the wheel so the wheels are facing into the road, letting the back of the wheel hit into the kerb to stop it from rolling back.

 

This is exactly what I do. It's what I was taught to do since I began to drive a stick. No problems, and I've never had a car run away on me, either!

 

shouldn't you be putting in in 1st gear, not 5th gear. i thought it's supposed to be either 1st or reverse, depending on the direction of the slope you're parked on. and there was a reason to use 1st and reverse

 

First and reverse have the lowest gear ratios, meaning the compression of the engine has the most mechanical advantage over the force of gravity pulling the car down the slope. In fifth, the advantage is the other way around, meaning the engine can do less to keep the car from moving. The engine can still be turned over, even if the ignition is off. its just easier in higher gears.

 

i always thought because you're using 5th gear, it would take longer for it to move if it were to?

 

No, expolsivpotato got it rignt.
When driving in a low gear, it takes lots of engine turns to move the wheels a little. That's why you redline at ~30 mph in 1st gear.

In high gear it takes quite a bit of wheel movement to move the engine a little - exactly the opposite

You want the engine to keep the car from moving when parked, so you want every little movement of the wheel to make the engine compress.
Hence you should always park in 1 or R depending on the hill direction....

 

First is better. YOu want a powerful engine brake. If you've ever engine-braked, u'll know which is stronger from keeping u going downhill.

The gear ratio of Fifth means the road/wheels has more leverage than your engine. First means the engine has more leverage than the road/wheels. Andy also explains it right.