when i first started driving and studying for my license test, this is what I learned as well. Turn your wheel towards the curb if facing down hill, and away from the curb if facing uphill. This would have been almost 15 years ago.. and I was studying out of a exam guide that was only 2 or 3 years old at the time.

When i went to take my driver's test and did the parallel park thing, I did what I was supposed to do (according to the book). We were on a hill, facing up and I parked within 6" of the curb and turned my wheel out. My license taker person (who was a pretty cool guy, wanted me to turn on the a/c and offered me a soda - which i declined since i was too nervous to do anything but drive) waited until i shut off the car, asked if I was done then told me that I did ok except I turned the wheel out the wrong way. I had the book in the car so I showed him where it said to turn the wheel out.

He said that was technically correct and wouldn't dock me points off the test but he told me that turning the wheels out uphill only stopped the car from rolling out into the street. He said that you should always turn the wheel towards the curb because in the case of an accident where a moving vehicle hits your car from front or back, your car will less likely be pushed out into the middle of the road and will probably roll into the curb or onto the curb, generally less dangerous unless you happen to be a pedestrian on the sidewalk. if you are up hill and your wheel is facing towards the curb AND your car rolls back, it should only roll back (and hence stick out on to the street) a little bit since it'll roll back until the back wheels hit the curb. he made sense and i've done it that way ever since. granted my car has never been hit while i was parallel parked nor has my car ever rolled after i parked it.. but just thought I'd share.

I don't know what the current "rule" is on this as far as drivers license exams go so check your resources first.

 

ok this is easily explained...... Your motor is a whopping 1.5.... this is a small engine people.... the feeling of "LOCKING" the engine when in 1st, is only the car having to fight the compression of the motor in order to turn the engine. Well a cylinder will have a little leaking "blow by" around the Piston, but you dont normally see this cuz the engine is compressing and decompress hundreds of times a second...... but when you give it 5-10 seconds with enough torque on the motor, it will slowly start to leak pressure around the piston, causing the engine to slowly rotate.... well when that piston passes top dead center (TDC) the only thing thats gunna stop the motor for rotating is the next cylinder thats going to compress, once your engine does it's 180' of rotation to get to the next compression, so that explains that pulse you feel.... If anyone here has riden a large 4stroke dirtbike, you'll know what i mean.

So moral of story, it will roll no matter what gear your have any manual trans in.... it just needs the right amout of torque. So use that parking break!!! I stop the car, put on parking break, let off break to check for roll back, then i put it in first, and then relase the clutch..... only way to be sure!!!!

 

Does all this mean if you ever lock your keys in the car while the key is in "run" (even if the engine is off) it could probably bump-start and start idling down the hill... if you were 1st while pointed downhill, or reverse while pointed up hill that is.

Runaway scion!

To me, the parking brake was always the first line of defense and parking it in gear was just a secondary backup in case the parking brake wasn't set right.

 

I feel like a dork. my bad

 

Reven,
You put your food on your break and then criticize others for misspelling? Chow down on that! Or read what you post, use the preview button or are you too busy to use it, or the parking break?

That is how lazy we are in AMERICA! We will not even use our parking brake, EVEN WHEN PARKING!! By law, you must engage your brake, you would not get your license in the first place if the inspector knew how lazy you really are.

Yes, set the brake and let the weight of the car rest on the break, then put it in park or first. Get your breaks adjusted if you need to. Otherwise you deserve the large repair bill needed when that locking pin breaks, and you deserve jail time when your run away car kills a child playing on the sidewalk.
That pin, in automatic transmissions, is about the size of a bobby pin, it is strong and made of titanium. It only costs about $85 but the cost of installation is much more. Very common repair for women and lazy guys, who like KOJAK, just slap it in park and let the weight of the car rock back and forth on that pin. This earks me to no end, but I will stop here.

 

geez it took time to sort that out with some bad advice....until ChrisLimEditionXB's post..than Tomas gave the techie answer the rest gave me a headache

 

Well aft some people realized, of thier mistake of makeing me feel bad , for not knowing what i was talking abt... i felt better and gald that i was able to help out some people ...

OH and thanks to Sciond for letting me konw i was of some help....

 

nice read, good to know this info for when i get my xB(will be my first manual trans)

 

Whatever you do, DON'T put your FOOD on your BREAK as the lonley raven did in his original post.

 

Thanks for the compliment, Sciond, glad I could help a little.

 

only car i'd ever park without the parking brake was my 69 bug sooo light it didnt NEED it. i still used it but a few times it was parked with just the gear. my 3450 pound supra was too much for it's high compression 3.0 to park with just the gear. i'll stick with e brake.
if my e brake was to fail oir get weaker over time i'll
A) adjust it , and
b) start using the first gear as well as the e brake combo

 

I see sooo many people neglect the use of the Parking brake and I don't understand why. . . they no longer call it E-brake for a reason. . . it is a PARKING brake.

Manual or not, parking without the parking brake on is a bad idea. . . even on a flat surface. In the event that someone were to hit your car (like some granny backing into it with her SUV), there is a chance that the motor may turn over and start. All in all, it's good insurance and good habit.

 

In an automatic, I usually park without the pbrake unless I'm on a hill.

In a manual, I always park with it, and not with the transmission in gear. Why? Because I never remember and end up starting it in first.

How can your engine start if there is no fuel supply and no electrical system turned on? It's not a hand-cranked diesel or something.

 

wheel chocks if that hasn't been said before

 

That makes sense. . . dunno what happened with my buddy's car. . . it was a POS though. It started rolling and actually started!

But regardless, it's always good practice to use the parking brake, and if you do park it in gear, it's good to release the pressure off the tranny before you put it in gear.

 

Geesh xBHAWK - need a teddy bear today? You seem... hmm, I dunno... a bit angry. Just had to say, for the record, I'm a woman and actually set my parking brake... imagine that... I've owned 4 cars, 2 automatics and 2 manuals, and have never ruined a transmission.

 

Can we just leave it at that? haha...I mean, if anyone summed it up simply and easily...it was this guy...rock on glasses guy! I dont think we need anymore explanations

 

I feel like responding to this in depth.... but I'm too lazy.... curse my American blood!!

 

just put the car in 1st, then pull the e brake.

 

ur really a woman i couldn't tell from the comment....
lol just playin