ragin

Using your parking brake is a given. Do you put in gear or not?

NC Silver

Yes, after I've engaged the parking brake.

Laxplaya11385

if im' on any sort of hill, yes. (i'd guesstimate, anywhere over 5 degee incline)

subinf

unless i forget, yes i leave it in gear

Dr.P

NOP, never (unless obviously I am on a steep hill) & I hate it when the mechanic who works on my car puts it in gear when they deliver the car to me

subinf

^-why is that? I've run into some people that get pissed when the car is parked in gear.

dmfgrf

I leave mine in 1st w/ the brake. Yes, I'd rather have the parking brake holding the car than the little teeth on the tranny so I pull it first then stick it. I even do it in my garage where it's not going anywhere. Habit.

chfields

I learned the hard way about not putting it in gear with e-brake on. I left it in neutral and just used the hand brake and the cable broke, It was on a slight incline, barely noticeable, but found my car half way down the block. luckily it was the middle of the day and no one was parked on the street. I have never parked my car without being in gear since......

clsdave

How many automatic owners do you think use the parking brake and leave the transmission in neutral? There is a reason that most new automatic cars have both a transmission lock requiring the key to be turned on AND the brake pedal to be pushed to take it out of park. It's not so it can't be stolen! Would you get under your car with only the parking brake on?

Do your self and everyone around your car a favor and use both! It's not work the risk of 3,500 lbs moving on it's own. Using only one and having a failure or just not be engaged as well as thought is usually a big problem. The likelihood of both used correctly and both having a problem at the same time is probably less then being struck by lightening.

Ever think about your liability when you leave you car with the windows down or the doors unlocked? Or leave your kid or dog in the car even if you are standing close by? Sometimes it doesn't take much to release either if there is not enough force on them. Either deliberate or accidental release of the shifter and parking brake could end in a terrible situation.

I don't know why Acura does not have a transmission lock on the manual transmissions. I had a 1972 Camaro 4 speed manual that had to be in reverse to take the key out of the ignition. Much like the way autos have worked for years.

There is no good reason to leave a manual transmission out of gear with the engine off!

P.S.
Sorry for the rant! Just trying to save some unnecessary grief!

PPLAPW

^ I agree, for the most part I park in gear unless I forget. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Kandyman

Leave in gear opposite to incline (if applicable) *and* use parking brake.
Leaving in gear alone is not sufficient. Unlike AT's which lock, an MT can be moved/rolled in the direction of the gear.

I use the parking brake even with AT's. Habit from driving MT's and also because I believe a car should be held in place primarily by brakes, not the transmission. Then put the car in gear (or Park with ATs) for added security.

SouthernBoy

I always use first gear and the E-brake on my '04 manual TL. I do NOT pull the E-brake up tightly since this is not a good thing unless parked on a hill. But I always use first gear when parking, regardless.

your_mom

I always leave it in gear (1st or reverse, as applicable) with the parking brake on.

Mike 06 TL

Parking a manual transmission car WITHOUT putting it in gear is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Where in the hell did some of you learn to drive???

mn2trance

Only on a hill. If it's a flat surface, it's just the e-brake.

SBTL

Please tell us how you really feel about this...

I couldn't agree more!

ragin

This is my third MT car and I've always parked with it in gear (1st).

The other day a visitor was at the house and noticed my new TL. This visitor used to be a mechanic. They walked over and noticed that I had it parked in gear. Grunted in disgust and jumped on their soap box about the tiny tranny teeth holding the weight of the car. Mind you it was in the garage on a flat surface with the parking brake pulled.

SouthernBoy

Gentlemen, think about this. Those "tiny" gear teeth transfer the engine's torque and horsepower to the transmission output shaft, and at times they do this under full load (as in WOT) conditions. Hey.. and sometimes we shift kinda hard and fast which, when the clutch comes out quickly, causes the tires to lose traction with the pavement. How much force do you think is going through the drive train then?

Now seriously.. do you think for a moment that the amount of torque created by your car on a little incline is greater than that which the engine sends through the transmission? Also, in first gear there is the least amount of stress on the tranny when holding the car.. 6th gear would cause the most stress. Remember, the stress is opposite when it comes from holding the car as compared to when the engine is powering the car.

So use first or reverse when parking your manual transmission TL. Actually, reverse might be better in that it is a lower gear then first (4.008 versus 3.9333), but I still prefer first gear. Habit, I guess.

Nicki

I always leave it in 2nd gear with the pkg brake too. I feel if a car parking in back of you or in front of you pushes your car while they are parking- with your car in 1st gear it would be worse then leaving it in 2nd. Maybe it don't make a difference but I always leave it in 2nd, out of habit i guess.

Andrew McCarthy

I always leave it in reverse.

neuronbob

When I owned a MT car, it was always in first when parked with the e-brake. Habit, and it makes sense.

urbaita1

Same here, always e-brake then 1st. If I was on a downhill slope, I would also turn my wheels toward the curb. If uphill, away from curb.

HQTL6SPD

what kind of car? sounds like a domestic hehe...

sammieboy

do you put the e brakes on, then turn the engine off and put it into 1st or put it into 1st and kill the engine????

druthadamaja

i've only put it in gear on hills, but now this makes me think that I should put it in gear always...thanks for posting this ragin

urbaita1

I don't think you'd like the result if you put it into first BEFORE you kill the engine. For me:

1) E-brake
2) Kill engine
3) Put into first

1995hoo

As a general rule I do it in the following order, especially if I park in my driveway, which is on a slight hill:

1) Park the car.
2) Shift into neutral.
3) Foot off clutch, right foot on brake.
4) Set hand brake.
5) Right foot off brake.
6) Pull up hand brake further if needed.
7) Left foot on clutch; shift into first unless facing downhill, in which case shift to neutral.
8) Curb wheels if parallel parked on a hill (omit this step otherwise).
9) Turn off car.

Steps 5 and 6 evolved specifically because of the TL—I found that when I park in my driveway (to wash the car, or if my other car is in the garage), unless I give a really hard yank on the hand brake, the car will roll back even if it's in first gear. I'd rather not yank the brake really hard, so I set it and then set it some more.

jennarocks

I am floored that its taken 2 pages to say 'Yes, leave it in gear, 1st or Reverse, when parking a MT'

Some do it only on inclines... the way i see it is, some habits are good. The habit of putting your car in gear all the time is a good one.