wwwracer

Is it good practice to warm the car down for 1-5minutes after
driving? For the last week or so i have been letting the engine
warm down because i heard it helps prevent heat soak. it this true?


Another question. Do you guys leave your car in gear when you park it or do you
leave it in neutrual? I know one guy with an EVO who doesn't use the e-brake, he just leaves the car in gear. What's the best way to park the S.

xviper

I've not heard it called "warm down" before. Usually, it's called "cool down".
No matter, we know what you mean. Unless you have just been "on it" hard, there is no reason to have a cool down period. In fact, if you've running it hard, just drive it easy for last 1/2 mile before you get to where you're going and shut if off. It's more important for turboed cars to have a bit of a cool down period just to get some of the heat out of the turbo before shutting it off. For NA cars (and S/Cd cars) this is not that critical. I think you'd get hotter coolant idling for a while before shutting it down. It doesn't really matter because right after you shut the engine off, your under the hood temps will rise dramatically anyway.

I park the car in first (use reverse if pointed downhill), ebrake applied. I come to a stop in 1st and while the brakes are still on, I pull the ebrake, turn off engine. If you are on an incline, this gives you two ways of holding the car. If you just use the ebrake, you may be lax one day and it could roll down a hill (after the brakes cool). If you only use the "leaving in gear" way, one day you might forget or you may not have put it fully in gear (and it'll pop out) and your car will roll down the hill.

Squeezer

since the s2k isn't turbo'd you don't need to let it warm down. this was for cars with turbo's, to let the oil cool the turbo, normally you'd use a turbo timer. and you can leave it in gear or use the e-brake, doesn't hurt either way, but usually I put it in neutral and use the e-brake, cause sometimes i'll star tthe car and take my foot off the clutch and forget its in gear and have the car jump and stall.

MadDane

Viper,

I've heard the two sides of the coin so many times now.

1) Never leave it in gear, that way if someone backs into or taps your car it won't damage the gears.

2) Leave it in gear for the same reasons you mentioned.

Just my 1.5 cents.

wwwracer

thanks guys(especially xviper)

mikegarrison

The answer is a bit different if you have been on the track. If you just finished 20-30 minutes of hot lapping (especially if you only got one or fewer cool down laps), it is best to leave the engine running for a few minutes when you pull into the pits. That keeps the oil and water circulating. Cool down laps are better than trying to cool the car down in the pits, but track time is limited and you may not have the option. Many people also prop the hood open to encourage better cooling.

Also, at the track NEVER set your e-brake. That's a really bad idea with hot brakes. Street driving does not get the brakes hot enough for this to be a concern, though.

After street driving I usually park the car in neutral and have the e-brake engaged. Just habit. On hills I try to turn the wheel in the appropriate direction to protect the car from rolling down the street.

xviper

If you set your ebrake properly, even if your car was rammed, the rear wheels shouldn't turn, thus not harming the drivetrain upstream. If they ram your car that hard, even with the ebrake off, you're going to have bigger worries than damaged tranny gears. Think about the tranny gears having to move nearly 3000 lbs of car when you drive aggressively. Don't you think the gears can take it if someone rams it?
To each his/her own. Have you guys seen the threads on here about owners who come back to their cars after being parked for a few minutes to find their cars at the bottom of their driveway? There have been more than just a few of these.
Park it in gear, don't park it in gear. Use the ebrake, don't use the ebrake. It's your car. It's the guy your car rolls into that you might have to explain it to (or the mom pushing her baby in a stroller you squash).

felonyruckus

At the track don't use your e-brake because it causes your rotors to warp. Street driving I tend to use just the e-brake on flat surfaces and in gear facing uphill and in reverse pointing downhill.

pwr2al4

Wow, I'm pretty surprised to hear that many of you guys dont use both the E-brake and leave the car in gear. When I first got the s2k for some reason it seemed to have a much "weaker" E-brake than the 3 series I had previously and I always use both. I think just as a matter of safety you should always leave the car both in gear with the E-brake fully set. A car popping out of gear or an E-brake starting to slip after the brakes cool are both reasonably common occurences, or at least common enough to justify always using both as not to accidently roll the car into a little old lady standing at the bottom of the hill.

On a related note, never ever leave a car you just took out for a test drive in gear, many care salesman dont drive stick very well, or sometimes at all and are sometimes required to drive the car back onto the lot at the dealership and they will definitely have no idea that most people leave the car in gear while parked. I actually watched a cheesy corvette salesman bash a Z06 into a curb after a customer left it in gear after a test drive.

dut

- a turbo timer for a supercharged car...