Idiots + cars = LOL

It's a bit silly. I've always used both. Redundancy is a good thing, but I never thought of leaving it in gear as the primary means for keeping the car in place. This also extends to automatics. It's not like they're charging you per pull/button push.
 
Both the handbrake AND the gear.

In my mind, for some reason, the handbrake is actually used to stop the car, while the gear is used to stop the car more if the handbrake is weak (which can happen with older cars).

For extreme slopes (very rare), handbrake, the relevant gear that would make the car move uphill, the steering locked towards the curb or hedge.
 
Fascinating. Why are manual drivers afraid to use the parking brake? I don't understand the idea of putting it in gear instead.
My parking brake doesnt hold any more, I have to put it in gear and apply the brake. On steep hills, I will shift to 4Low so it doesn't roll away.
 
Both the handbrake AND the gear.

In my mind, for some reason, the handbrake is actually used to stop the car, while the gear is used to stop the car more if the handbrake is weak (which can happen with older cars).

For extreme slopes (very rare), handbrake, the relevant gear that would make the car move uphill, the steering locked towards the curb or hedge.

I very rarely use the handbrake unless I'm parked on a slope. When I park I leave the car in the next gear I am likely to use to get it out of the space. Living so close to the coast here everything is pretty flat, and if I park on a slope I make sure the wheels are pointing such that the car will roll into and be stopped by the kerb should anything else go wrong.
 
I very rarely use the handbrake unless I'm parked on a slope. When I park I leave the car in the next gear I am likely to use to get it out of the space. Living so close to the coast here everything is pretty flat, and if I park on a slope I make sure the wheels are pointing such that the car will roll into and be stopped by the kerb should anything else go wrong.
I admire your trust in your car. Many roads around here seem flat but they are actually not, for a long bit, and you only notice when you notice the car won't stand still without braking; I would live in constant fear of my car trying to get somewhere else without notifying me first...
 
Fascinating. Why are manual drivers afraid to use the parking brake? I don't understand the idea of putting it in gear instead.

1. If it freezes, the parking brake cable might freezes in the cable guide, making it impossible to disengage the parking break
2. The parking at my work, is on a (slight) slope. It happens often people arrive and put the car on parking break...discs cool down, losing width, making the parking break useless, and the car starts rolling an hour after they arrived. (They even closed some parking spots because parked cars kept rolling into them)
 
I admire your trust in your car. Many roads around here seem flat but they are actually not, for a long bit, and you only notice when you notice the car won't stand still without braking; I would live in constant fear of my car trying to get somewhere else without notifying me first...

Maintenance helps. Plus pointing the front wheels in the correct direction, towards the kerb when pointing downhill, away from the kerb for uphill, should be standard practice for any half decent driver.

1. If it freezes, the parking brake cable might freezes in the cable guide, making it impossible to disengage the parking break
2. The parking at my work, is on a (slight) slope. It happens often people arrive and put the car on parking break...discs cool down, losing width, making the parking break useless, and the car starts rolling an hour after they arrived. (They even closed some parking spots because parked cars kept rolling into them)

Or if you have a second car that only sees occasional use, as with the MX5 which saw little use 2 weeks out of every 4 when HWF3.0 and I shared a commute, there is a tendency for the parking brake to jam on.
 
The handbrake on the Smart would stick if I didn't use it, being a manumatic you couldn't leave it in first so you had to put it in reverse and turn off the engine, this locked it in gear. Bob didn't like sitting for months and the handbrake mechanism was sticking, having the disc brake conversion on there is still better than the original drum.
 
Or if you have a second car that only sees occasional use, as with the MX5 which saw little use 2 weeks out of every 4 when HWF3.0 and I shared a commute, there is a tendency for the parking brake to jam on.
Or, these days, if you have a car.
 
Someone needs to call John Wick.
 
Good, he will be easier for Wick to find him now.
 
Back to the handbrake discussion:

We used to have a (manual) Hilux at work that sometimes would move a bit by itself just after parking it in gear, even on level ground.

I remember several times leaving the car and seeing the damn thing in the corner of my eye slowly rolling away, I turn around and run back and the damn thing stops before I get to the drivers door.

I have no other explanation than that the engine liked to stop in such a way that it was really easy to turn like a quarter of a crank revolution or something.
 
I have no other explanation than that the engine liked to stop in such a way that it was really easy to turn like a quarter of a crank revolution or something.

Could it just be tons of slack in the rest of the drivetrain? Could you feel slack being taken up when moving off?
 
Could it just be tons of slack in the rest of the drivetrain? Could you feel slack being taken up when moving off?

It sometimes rolled like 30 centimeters or so after I turned it off and left it in first, exactly like gravity overcame the friction of the engine until it met a compression stroke, so to speak. It's hard to explain, but I'm positive it wasn't just slack in the drivetrain. I've never seen it before or since but I ran back to the truck thinking "fuck fuck fuck" enough times to know it did actually happen and wasn't just me seeing things.
 
I've never seen it before or since but I ran back to the truck thinking "fuck fuck fuck" enough times to know it did actually happen and wasn't just me seeing things.

He’s delusional, take him to the infirmary!
 
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