Nearly lost the 2 tonight...

[inky]

Going by a very vague memory here but I'm sure I saw somewhere that if you park on a slope, you should steer your wheels just for this eventuality. So that if your handbrake cable does fail, your car might roll forwards / backwards but only in a curve, hopefully into the kerb.

Or it might have been a dream. I have been eating a lot of cheese lately.

*EDIT* I too subscribe to the school of Handbrake & In Gear, any good mechanic who has driven mine has the sense to check first before turning the key.

[Leon.]

That's a good point inky, and if you steering-lock the wheel too in the same process it makes the car more difficult to nick without the keys

[inky]

Even harder to nick when you've got a snap-off wheel

[inky]

The posts in this thread remind me of the time I was a passenger in a mate's Chavalier going through Canley in Coventry. There's a long road with smaller roads leading downhill onto it, we were coming along about to turn right up one of these when we saw a car slowly coming down towards the junction.

So as you do, mate flashed the car to let him out thinking he was going to turn right. As we got closer the car just kept on going going about 10 mph, straight over, up the kerb and into a wall.

As we turned right up the hill this bloke came out the shop with a pint of milk and a puzzled look on his face, trying to work out where his car had gone

[Stretchermunkey]

I'm a paramedic, and always leave the truck in gear when parked, a collegue of mine jumped in his truck at the scene of an accident, started it without checking in was in neutral first and jumped forward pinning the drive of a rapid response car between the ambo and the rear of her car where she was loading equipment...

[Blokey]

I'm amazed people jump in to a car and start it without checking it's in neutral or at least dipping the clutch! It's been a while since I took my driving test (and it was that easy one where you only have to know which way up the car should be and which way is forward ) and even back then they hammered in to me - always check the gear and clutch before starting.

I mix between leaving it in a gear to run the engine backwards (reverse facing down hill, 1st facing uphill), having the handbrake on and turning the front wheels in to the curb (downhill) or away from the curb (uphill) - My missus (and that's official now ) tells me off for (amongst other things ) leaving her car in gear.

B.

[jonb-]

The S2000 you have to have the clutch in to start, and I've always done that.

I think all Hondas are like that, good idea

Not in my shopping trolley Civic, but it is a good idea.

My CTR didn't do it either.

My 350z does, however and i've /almost/ been caught out starting the car on a cold morning by just leaning my foot into the car to dip the clutch. It's fine starting it but when you drop your foot off the clutch at fast idle the engine has plenty more torque than just the starter on it's own to make sure it doesn't stall and drives off by itself. A friend did this on a trackday where you don't leave your handbrake on, quite funny watching this car drive off down the pitlane on it's own for a few more laps.