Gernby

As I said before, I do use the parking brake when I park on an incline (and every time I raise or lower the top).

Gernby

This seems odd to me as well. If the car is facing up hill in 1st gear, then the force on the engine (if the parking brake fails) will try to turn the engine backwards. Not that turning the engine backwards is a bad thing, but it may not provide as much compression in that direction. I think I would do just the opposite (1st if facing down hill, reverse if facing up hill).

slalom44

Putting it in reverse when parking downhill (and in 1st when parking uphill) causes the cylinders to hold the car due to a "vacuum" rather than the compression of gases in the cylinders. I'm not sure why a vacuum works better than compression, but I'd guess that the rings would be less inclined to a gradual leakdown.

I've learned from experience on other cars that this method works. And if I'm parked steeper than I'm comfortable with, I usually stick a pebble under a wheel. I don't have to remember to remove it, but that really makes a difference.

Gernby

[QUOTE=slalom44,Dec 14 2004, 11:25 AM] Putting it in reverse when parking downhill (and in 1st when parking uphill) causes the cylinders to hold the car due to a "vacuum" rather than the compression of gases in the cylinders.

rworne

It has to do with the gearing. There's a reason why it has to be 1st gear (or as an alternative, reverse).

The compression and the friction are what prevent the engine from rotating, and it doesn't take very much of it. The gearing is supposed to make the job of spinning the rear tires easy for the engine, but it can also make spinning the engine from the tires rather difficult.

In these two gears, many engine rotations are required for each wheel rotation (3.11 or thereabouts in an '04).

It's easy for the engine to get the wheel spinning at this ratio, since more work is going into each rotation of the rear wheel, but it is hard as hell to get the engine spinning from the rear wheels.

The gear with the highest ratio should be used when parking, this should be 1st gear in the S2000 (other cars may have reverse at a higher ratio).

Gernby

Nobody disputed that. I just disagree with the practice of using 1st when pointing up hill, and reverse when parking down hill. That seems backwards.

rworne

I wasn't disputing anything, I just decided to chip in with my worthless opinion.

warpspeed

After hard braking or stop and go traffic it's not recommended using the hand brake as it may warp the rotors.

WPS

would it be okay if i use 3rd gear rather than 1st? usually i throw up the parking brake and push the gear forward to 3rd. any reason why i should use a different gear instead?

tripleblackS2K

Yes... third gear has much less a mechanical advantage over the wheels (vs first gear) and thus, the car would easily overcome the compression and roll down a hill if kept in third.

First gear, the car would stay put. Third gear, it would roll much easier.