Auto box question . . . . . ?

Gilly said:
Idiot? Get off your high horse dude, there's no need for it here.

This is the reason I said it depends how long you're there for. No need to use the handbrake if you're going to be setting off a couple of seconds later.

Can't see how brakelights would dazzle anyone :/ Maybe you should back off a bit?
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Actually, at night with a high level brake light, he was right and you were wrong...

Its a very common complaint, almost as big as complaints about foglights...

The highway code "do not use your lights in anyway so that they dazzle people"

Roadcraft "engage the handbrake and neutral" although with an auto you can leave it in drive as long as you keep your foot off the throttle and cover the brake pedal in case...

People with blue eyes especially are particularly susceptible to bright light in their face at night...

:D
 
Gilly said:
Idiot? Get off your high horse dude, there's no need for it here.

This is the reason I said it depends how long you're there for. No need to use the handbrake if you're going to be setting off a couple of seconds later.

Can't see how brakelights would dazzle anyone :/ Maybe you should back off a bit?
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hes actually right even if hes expressing himself a bit stong.
it does come under dazzling lights just like misuse of fog lights :p

loads of others have said the same as you did, why take it personally?
 
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im in canada atm and yes, ppl sit on their brakes

most of the cars dont have handbrakes either. they are emergency foot brakes.
 
An interesting point for the "use the hand brake and don't be an idiot" brigade, is that every BMW 5 and 7 series I've had, has had such a feeble handbrake it is incapable of holding the car against the creep.

In my circle of friends we have dubbed BMW hand brakes as "bing bars" as all they do is make the car go "bing" and display "hand brake" on the dashboard.
 
Rilot said:
An interesting point for the "use the hand brake and don't be an idiot" brigade, is that every BMW 5 and 7 series I've had, has had such a feeble handbrake it is incapable of holding the car against the creep.

In my circle of friends we have dubbed BMW hand brakes as "bing bars" as all they do is make the car go "bing" and display "hand brake" on the dashboard.
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Okay, but lets not tarnish every other car with the BMW inadequacies

;)
 
I quite often don't bother using any brakes at the lights. Unless the car is creeping on a slope , or if someone is approaching from behind After I have stopped I will rest on the foot brake until they have stopped behind me.
 
If brake lights blind you, whether in the day or at night, you really shouldn't be driving lol.

I can honestly say that I have never been bothered by rear brake lights, ever.
 
Someone at work complained that the brake lights on my A8 were too bright. They are big LED clusters.
 
The LEDs are very bright and if they are mounted high they can be dazzling. However, when stopped I reckon people can just look away a bit and not be too bothered by it :)
 
One thing to note though is that holding the car with the footbrake is going to use fuel - it's the same as holding a manual on the bite point of the clutch. Obviously the effects are negligible unless you're doing it for a long period of time. Personally when I had the Omega, if I knew I would be waiting for a while I used to knock it into neutral and apply the handbrake.

Doesn't matter much either way though IMO :).
 
Clarkey said:
car will use just as much fuel at idle tbh, negligable difference.
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As I said ;). But every little helps on an already thirsty car. If you've got an instant consumption readout on your trip computer you'll see what I mean.
 
Wear and tear if you keep shifting the gearbox from N or P or whatever - best just to keep foot on break. Sometimes I go into N and just leave it and it balances, other times its N+ hand brake, only because I get bored.....damn I miss manual :(
 
From what i have experienced, read ( never had a manual tbh ) If waiting for a long period in traffic etc you should take an auto out of gear to stop over heating of the auto box. Personally if i know i'm going to be waiting for more than 20 secs i will knock into neutral and apply the hand brake, 10 secs just neutral and sit on the brake, less than 10 sit on the break. :)
 
Spanker, what you're doing is actually creating MORE wear and tear on an automatic transmission.

Autoboxes are meant to be taken out of Park, put into reverse to back out of the driveway, then put in Drive and LEFT THERE until you are at your destination, where you will again put it back in Park and exit the vehicle.

Changing the shifter position for every red light from Drive to Neutral releases all the clutch packs in the transmission. Dropping it back in Drive and planting the go pedal when the light turns green slams everything back into place and creates excessive wear. Leaving the transmission in Drive and holding the car with the foot brake is the recommended and proscribed way to wait for a light. If someone behind you is dazzled by your brake lights, as said before, they can look away.

Over here if you release your foot brake (thereby extinguishing your brake lights), the person behind you will most likely assume you are moving forward to take off. Because whether it's an auto or a stick, we hold the car with all four tyres (the foot brake) instead of trying to hold it with the two weakest brakes on the car (the rears on a FWD). If you hold a car on flat ground with the hand brake on your driving test over here, it's a failure item for the previously mentioned reason. If you're holding with just the parking brake and someone slams into the back of you, you've got the two weakest brakes and the two tyres with the least amount of weight on them to stop you from being shoved either into the back of the car in front of you, or into the intersection if you happen to be the first in line.

Also if you're the only one at an intersection and you don't have your brake lights lit and someone rear ends you, over here you can be found at fault for not properly indicating that you were stopped!! Doesn't happen too often, but it can. Normally it's the person that rear ends' fault.......


Now someone will come along and start in with the newer design of "Triptronic" and auto/manual transmissions that are an entirely different animal...... :)
 
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