Neutral at a red light?

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
When stopped.. the car needs to be in neutral and the hand break up. If you dont put the hand brake up, you do not have control of the car. You can put it in first and keep your foot on the clutch, but neutral and brake up is the way to go.



edit.. we are talking about s stick shift, right?

If you're using the parking brake at a stoplight, you need to have your license revoked.

ZV

:thumbsup:

 

[DainBramaged]

I put my car in neutral sometimes but mine is a manual.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

brake with right fut, clutch down with the left and just wait......i know i should have the handbreak on and then have my foot on the gas, and the other on clutch (prefereablly not pressed in, jus waitng in neutral) but its a pain in the ass puttin the handbreak on everytime u need to wait. i jus hold with the foot break and keep the clutch down

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

I don't get why you'd choose the handbrake over your regular foot brake at a traffic light? It serves exactly the same purpose, yet with your handbrake your reaction time will have increased and nevermind a pain in the arse as well.

At first when I couldn't feel the engage/disengage point of the clutch I'd have the clutch in at all times at the light. Now I'd slip it in right before the light changes. Is leaving the clutch fully disengaged such a bad thing as to cause premature wear?

What is a throwout bearing? Anybody got pics, never seen one before.

 

[Bullhonkie]

Originally posted by: PeeluckyDuckee
I don't get why you'd choose the handbrake over your regular foot brake at a traffic light? It serves exactly the same purpose, yet with your handbrake your reaction time will have increased and nevermind a pain in the arse as well.

At first when I couldn't feel the engage/disengage point of the clutch I'd have the clutch in at all times at the light. Now I'd slip it in right before the light changes. Is leaving the clutch fully disengaged such a bad thing as to cause premature wear?

What is a throwout bearing? Anybody got pics, never seen one before.

Throw-out Bearing

Google is your friend.

 

[jagec]

The ignorance is high in this thread....this guy got it right, though:

Originally posted by: Polishwonder74
For an automatic, idling at 500 - 700 RPM won't hurt your torque converter at all. It's designed to slip at that speed. As silly and stupid as automotive engineers are, *cough* *cough* BAD MANAGEMENT!! *cough*, they don't have a problem with that.

For a manual, I'd drop her into neutral if it's a particularly long light. Not only will your foot be less tired, you won't be abusing your throwout bearing as much.

As for the parking brake, there is NO need to engage the parking brake unless you drive a manual on a steep uphill and have reason to believe it'll be tough to get going (you're still new at it, the car is weak, you're pulling a heavy load).
Other than that, it just complicates matters and makes it harder to perform emergency maneuvers if some guy is coming up to your bumper at 50MPH.

 

[KK]

I just throw it in park and wait.

 

[Jeff7181]

Brakes? Neutral? Just open the door and drag your foot!

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Brakes? Neutral? Just open the door and drag your foot!

lol...do the ghetto BMX-style and press your sneakers against the tire.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Brakes? Neutral? Just open the door and drag your foot!

lol...do the ghetto BMX-style and press your sneakers against the tire.

That's only for emergencies.

 

[UnbannableTroll]

neutral

 

[ManyBeers]

Correct ...it is hard on the throwout bearing and the pressureplate to ride the clutch,not the clutch plate or (friction disc)

 

[KarenMarie]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
When stopped.. the car needs to be in neutral and the hand break up. If you dont put the hand brake up, you do not have control of the car. You can put it in first and keep your foot on the clutch, but neutral and brake up is the way to go.



edit.. we are talking about s stick shift, right?

If you're using the parking brake at a stoplight, you need to have your license revoked.

ZV

Why?

That is how I learned to drive in the UK.. stick shift... if it is in first, the clutch needs to be engaged to prevent stalling. that is bad. If it is in neutral, then the handbreak needs to be up. I was told that just using the footbreak in neutral was not good enough to keep control of the car if cornholed.

That is how I was taught. Been driving that way for years and years.


edit: been driving since 1988.. but that was auto. I just left it in drive with my foot on the break. Been driving stick shift since 1998.. and use method above.

 

[meltdown75]

hand in your license ASAP.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: Evadman
Putting your transmission in neutral at a stop light is against the law.

In which state?

 

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: passivex
Okay so I know nothing about car but can anybody tell me if it's safe to put your car in Neutral when waiting for a green light (as opposed to leaving it in Drive gear and braking)? Of course, I'd still brake but leaving it in Neutral feels like I'm putting less stress on the car.

No leave it in gear. Running it in N does nothing but cause extra wear on the linkages by putting it into N and drive backa nd forth.

 

[TitanDiddly]

Originally posted by: KarenMarie

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
When stopped.. the car needs to be in neutral and the hand break up. If you dont put the hand brake up, you do not have control of the car. You can put it in first and keep your foot on the clutch, but neutral and brake up is the way to go.



edit.. we are talking about s stick shift, right?

If you're using the parking brake at a stoplight, you need to have your license revoked.

ZV

Why?

That is how I learned to drive in the UK.. stick shift... if it is in first, the clutch needs to be engaged to prevent stalling. that is bad. If it is in neutral, then the handbreak needs to be up. I was told that just using the footbreak in neutral was not good enough to keep control of the car if cornholed.

That is how I was taught. Been driving that way for years and years.


edit: been driving since 1988.. but that was auto. I just left it in drive with my foot on the break. Been driving stick shift since 1998.. and use method above.

I'm confused- the brakes on the wheel don't have anything to do with the drive system or clutch- they're directly attached to the rotors. Regardless of what the clutch, engine, or handbrake are doing- they'll stop the car if applied.

 

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: passivex

But really? The car can handle it better than I can? When I kept it on Drive mode and my have my foot on the brake, the car keeps trying to move forward (which it is supposed to). When I put it in Neutral, the pressure on the brake is released so shouldn't it be better? Right before the light turns green, I usually shift into Drive mode, released the brake then hit the gas.

No its not bad for it. when you apply the brakes the TC will just spin. Stop thinking abou it so hard. Automatics have been doing it since the 60's without problem.

 

[chowmein]

lol, sometimes i switch to N when i'm driving my sienna auto

 

[KarenMarie]

Originally posted by: PhasmatisNox

Originally posted by: KarenMarie

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: KarenMarie
When stopped.. the car needs to be in neutral and the hand break up. If you dont put the hand brake up, you do not have control of the car. You can put it in first and keep your foot on the clutch, but neutral and brake up is the way to go.



edit.. we are talking about s stick shift, right?

If you're using the parking brake at a stoplight, you need to have your license revoked.

ZV

Why?

That is how I learned to drive in the UK.. stick shift... if it is in first, the clutch needs to be engaged to prevent stalling. that is bad. If it is in neutral, then the handbreak needs to be up. I was told that just using the footbreak in neutral was not good enough to keep control of the car if cornholed.

That is how I was taught. Been driving that way for years and years.


edit: been driving since 1988.. but that was auto. I just left it in drive with my foot on the break. Been driving stick shift since 1998.. and use method above.

I'm confused- the brakes on the wheel don't have anything to do with the drive system or clutch- they're directly attached to the rotors. Regardless of what the clutch, engine, or handbrake are doing- they'll stop the car if applied.

ok.. it was explained to me thusly...

If I am at a light... I can leave it in first and hold down the clutch. If I get cornholed and my foot slips off the clutch while in gear, the car will stall. It wont go far. Or, I can put the car in neutral, pull up the hand brake.. if I get cornholed, it wont go far. I should no put it in neutral and rely on the foot brake cause if i get cornholed, i the car will move... foot slippage. I might not maintain control.

According to the BSM they say this:

. When stopping in traffic, should I select neutral or can I select first gear and hold the clutch down?

This depends on how long you anticipate being stopped. If the traffic is continuous `stop-start' then it's okay to hold the clutch down and wait in first gear. If the delay looks like being longer, apply the handbrake and select neutral between waits.

 

[saber800]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Brakes? Neutral? Just open the door and drag your foot!

lol

 

[Sukhoi]

From what I remember from my tractor design class last semester, a clutch has to either be wearing the throwout bearing or the "anti-throwout" (I can't remember the name) bearing. When you're driving normally it's wearing the anti-throwout bearing, and when you have the pedal pushed in it's wearing the throwout bearing.

Now, does the throwout bearing wear much faster than the anti-throwout bearing? If not, I would expect it would be better to keep the clutch pushed in at lights. That would tend to equalize the wear between the throwout and anti-throwout bearings.

Am I missing some logic in my thinking? Also as Evadman mentioned, I believe it's illegal to put a car into neutral while driving (down hills, at lights, etc.).

 

[AudiPorsche]

All safety schools tell you to keep it in gear.

you are supposed to keep it in gear with foot on clutch while stopped, incase of an accident. An accident will cause your foot to come off the brake/clutch. If in neutral your car will go flying, but if its in gear it will stall out and you will be stopped by the transmission.

Most people put it in neutral to save the throw out bearing, but for safety reasons it will be way more dangerous.

 

[Sukhoi]

Uh KarenMarie, think about this for a minute. Your handbrake controls the rear brakes. Your foot brake controls all four wheels. Now if that isn't enough, think of what happens when you get rear ended. Likely the rear of the car would get lifted up atleast somewhat. Hence there will be minimal frictional forces provided by the rear tires, and your handbrake isn't going to do a damn thing and your front wheels won't have any braking force either because you didn't have the foot brake depressed.

 

[KarenMarie]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Uh KarenMarie, think about this for a minute. Your handbrake controls the rear brakes. Your foot brake controls all four wheels. Now if that isn't enough, think of what happens when you get rear ended. Likely the rear of the car would get lifted up atleast somewhat. Hence there will be minimal frictional forces provided by the rear tires, and your handbrake isn't going to do a damn thing and your front wheels won't have any braking force either because you didn't have the foot brake depressed.

Ok... I know what I was taught, and I understand what was said here... so I decided to look a little bit further...

I got in touch with VeggieFrog's boyfriend... he got his license a year ago... he would remember... he agreed with me 100%... that is what is taught in the uk... and if you dont do that, they will fail you.. that is what is on the BSM site, that is what his instructor taught him, that is what I learned... so...

Then I read Sukhoi's post... And I decided to ask an expert... So, I did... and my b/f (mechanic for years... owner operator for years... heavy equip mechanic for years) said that Sukhoi is mostly correct... the handbrake is for the rear wheels... but the front breaks should be for the whole car.... And I explained the scenerio Sukhoi did above, about the car lifting if rear ended, and their being useless... and he agreed... depending on the force of the hit. He said that if you are paying attention to driving, instead of playing air guitar, talking on the phone, eating lunch, doing your hair and drinking coffee... you should be able to control the car by just the foot brake while in neutral. He said the BSM is a bunch of hooey if that is what they are insisting on.

Then he went of on this whole thing about proportional valves, master cylinders and a whole bunch more, until a glaze came over my eyes and I realized that I had no clue what he was talking about, but he sure is attractive while he rambles... but that another story...

cliffnotes:
I was misinformed and wrong and wanted to own up to it.
Thanks is all.