Question bout using e-brake for parking..

[milfdoer]

so i recently bought my GTI which is a manual transmission.
question is "do you need to use the e-brake all the time for parking?"
I've always left my other car in gear, mainly 1st gear, and never used the e-brake.
friend told me that it puts stress on the gear and that its still not safe from the car rolling away.
just thought id ask this since ive never heard about that.

[feels_road]

Best is to leave it in gear and use the parking brake.

However, if someone lives some place very flat I could understand people getting lazy about it.

There is no stress on the gear box.

[Gunbu]

I've always been in the habit of pulling the the e-brake (aka the parking brake) when parking. Especially on inclines.
Although I hear you don't want to jam it on right after some spirited driving and braking, as you could potentially warp the rear rotors.

[milfdoer]

yea where i live everything is pretty much flat for the most part.
yes there are some places where there are hills and i use the e-brake for those situations.
but i just wanted to hear from other people n get opinions.

thanks guys..

[milfdoer]

oh by the way Gunbu, im from Cali too.
im from LA

[rmchung]

I use the hand brake all the time. Rarely leave it in gear unless it's on some incline...most of where I'm at is flat.

[Gunbu]

oh by the way Gunbu, im from Cali too.
im from LA

Cool man. Maybe I'll see ya out there in that beautiful rush hour traffic.

[deanf]

Never used the parking brake until I left a Dodge 3500 in a parking lot thinking it was in gear . . . well it wasn't.

Rolled across the lot and came to rest up against one of those demo outbuildings that Home Depot has in their parking lots. No damage, but still . . .

Always use parking brake now. Flat, hill; manual or auto. Doesn't matter.

[milfdoer]

Cool man. Maybe I'll see ya out there in that beautiful rush hour traffic.

sounds good breh..
do you go to any local meets by any chance?

Never used the parking brake until I left a Dodge 3500 in a parking lot thinking it was in gear . . . well it wasn't.

Rolled across the lot and came to rest up against one of those demo outbuildings that Home Depot has in their parking lots. No damage, but still . . .

Always use parking brake now. Flat, hill; manual or auto. Doesn't matter.

damn that sucks. I've heard a couple of stories like yours wer people forgot to leave it in gear. luckily thats never happened to me. every time i park, i shake the stick to make sure its in gear. its just a habit of mine.

[E CODE]

Gear and brake all the time.... I once parked on something I thought was flat... and wasn't. Caught the car rolling towards a parked car before I tugged the ebrake up a couple more notches....

[Aonarch]

I always leave mine in gear and with the e brake on.

I've chased a few rolling cars in my day.

[NwarDez]

In gear and with e-brake on here too.

The only time I'm ever worried is if a family member has to drive my car for some reason and they forget I keep it in gear.

[roger2050]

Cool man. Maybe I'll see ya out there in that beautiful rush hour traffic.

Checkin in from LA/LB

[evosky]

im DSG and always use parking brake. in fact, any car i drive, i always use the parking/emergency brake.

[absoluteczech]

im DSG and always use parking brake. in fact, any car i drive, i always use the parking/emergency brake.

this.

if not you're putting all the load on the transmission.

[Aonarch]

this.

if not you're putting all the load on the transmission.

And that is bad mmmkay.

[Squirrel Nuts]

I leave the car frame on the ground and in gear.

[absoluteczech]

mmmkay six.

[coneklr]

For some reason I thought this thread was going to be about doing J-turns into a parallel spot haha. A few months ago a guy left his car in neutral and pulled up his parking brake in an old crappy accord. My dad and I were getting out of the car for lunch and I look up and there is an accord headed straight for my parents A4. I sacrificed myself in front of it and it only barely scratched the bumper (and my leg). Dude walks out and starts to get into his car to drive off like he had left it there the whole time. Didnt even notice it was resting against our Audi until my dad went, hey dip****. Needless to say cops were called haha.

I always use parking brake and leave in first (though sometimes i forget when backing in and leave in reverse ha.

[lon888]

Always use your parking brake - it keeps the rear brake pads in adjustment.

[Aonarch]

[Alfi]

Be wary of the HHA. Ive had the car roll a bit in a p lot when i got out quick and thought everything was parked and what not. I only had the brake pulled but the HHA was engaged.

I use them both when parked on inclines and the brake alone when not

[ddaarr]

Over the weekend I park the car on an incline.

Car parked in gear, e-brake. Start car no gear, remove e-brake and car stays for a second them rolls back. Is this a safety feature?

[evosky]

Over the weekend I park the car on an incline.

Car parked in gear, e-brake. Start car no gear, remove e-brake and car stays for a second them rolls back. Is this a safety feature?

yes it's called hill hold

[Otosedrev]

I was taught to always use the hand brake AND leave it in gear (1st or R) when parking. Most especially in an incline. If you leave it in gear and no brake on an incline, only the air compressed in some of the engine cylinders is holding the car, and I do not want to rely on that.
If you only use the brake and no gear, you may risk not pulling the brake tight enough, like some people described here.
So, I use both. The safer the better.
And even with automatics too (AT, DSG, CVT, Hybrid...), it is best to use the parking brake on big inclines. They have a mechanism with a parking gear that locks the transmission in P, but then you put all the load in that one tooth in the parking gear. Even though they are designed for this, but...

[milfdoer]

yes it's called hill hold

i knew i wasnt trippin wen this happened to me the other day.
i was on a street with an incline n i let go of the brake n i didnt feel the car roll back at all.
now it all makes sense.

[milfdoer]

Checkin in from LA/LB

any local meats around the LA area??

[Smoky_Llama]

I leave the car frame on the ground and in gear.

There's your goddamn parking brake!

Seriously though, ever since I came home one day to find my neighbors 911 in my parents flower bed a few years ago, I always leave it in gear and pull the handbrake. Even with my dsg I set the brake.

[milfdoer]

^^ woah!! that sounds intense.

[rhodri45]

I leave the car frame on the ground and in gear.

i actually laughed out loud, am i really the only person who thought that was funny?

nice though, bags must be great

[Blaylock1988]

I'm curious, if you leave your car in gear (without the e-brake), and someone smacks into the back of your car hard enough, could it bump start the car and away it goes?

[gravis86]

I'm curious, if you leave your car in gear (without the e-brake), and someone smacks into the back of your car hard enough, could it bump start the car and away it goes?

Lol no. The ignition would need to be on for the car to run. Otherwise people would have an easy time stealing cars, wouldn't they?

If the key isn't in the on position, the spark plugs won't fire, fuel pump won't supply fuel, etc.

[milfdoer]

i actually laughed out loud, am i really the only person who thought that was funny?

nice though, bags must be great

i got it too. but it took me a sec. haha

[BMP_3918]

I leave the car frame on the ground and in gear.

me too