MINI2 - MINI Forum - View Single Post - Were you notified about handbrake recall? (only RHD MINIs)

retroom · Jan 18th, 2003, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KenL
I thought the clutch would protect the gearbox

In the UK we use our handbrakes religiously but that's not the case in the US. Is that because it's OK to leave an auto car in "park" without the handbrake?

The clutch is there to help you change gears it doesn't protect anything. If you leave it in gear when parked the clutch is engaged so the force of any blow will transmit through the drivetrain.

People in the US who don't use the parking brake don't know any better! I caught my wife doing it, with both a manual and automatic tranmission, I asked her to use the parking brake all the time.

Also a good rule of thumb, with an automatic transmission, is to set the parking brake first before putting the transmission into "Park".

retroom

Jan 18th, 2003, 05:24 AM	#18
retroom MINI2 Senior Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Sunnyvale, Ca. Local Time: 07:12 PM Posts: 559 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by KenL I thought the clutch would protect the gearbox In the UK we use our handbrakes religiously but that's not the case in the US. Is that because it's OK to leave an auto car in "park" without the handbrake? The clutch is there to help you change gears it doesn't protect anything. If you leave it in gear when parked the clutch is engaged so the force of any blow will transmit through the drivetrain. People in the US who don't use the parking brake don't know any better! I caught my wife doing it, with both a manual and automatic tranmission, I asked her to use the parking brake all the time. Also a good rule of thumb, with an automatic transmission, is to set the parking brake first before putting the transmission into "Park". retroom 2003 MC,LY/W, sport package, wht wheels, cruise, chrome, Kaleido cloth/black, OB computer