Stopping in an automatic

helios

Hi all,

I have a full foreign licence with 5-6 years experience in an automatic. I was out today with a driving instructor getting up to speed (no pun intended) with the Irish rules as prep for my test.

This is the situation: I was told by the instructor that if I'm stopping at a red light (for example) to put my hand brake on, put the car into neutral, and take my foot off the break. When the light turns green and the cars in front start to move off, I should put the car back into Drive, gently press the gas, and then release the hand brake to start accelerating.

I was told specifically that this was the correct way to do it in an automatic transmission car for the actual road test. Is that the case? I know it's correct for driving stick shift, but it seems odd that the technique would be used for an automatic transmission car...

thanks!

Alanstrainor

I can't see any harm in doing it that way tbh, i guess it makes sense, if you think about what would happen if you were rear ended in a line of traffic, if the car is in neutral with the handbrake the car isn't going to move forward by it's own accord, ie in drive, the car may creep.
I would listen to your instructors advise and do it during your test. Like i said, there's nothing you can be marked down for doing it that way, it seems to be the safest way of operating an auto.

Wishbone Ash

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I would listen to your instructors advise and do it during your test. Like i said, there's nothing you can be marked down for doing it that way, it seems to be the safest way of operating an auto.

I'm afraid I would tend to disagree.

Automatic gearboxes are designed to be left in Drive. Changing it to Neutral causes unnecessary wear on the gearbox. I would apply the park brake during lighting up hours to reduce glare on the driver behind but I wouldn't in daylight unless I'm going to be stopped for a considerable time.

In my opinion, putting an auto into Neutral defeats the whole purpose of having an auto.

I'm open to correction on the above but it's my 2 cent worth.

S.I.R

from what i learned, when coming upto the red light, you come off the accl. pedal , let it roll, lightly brake , change to N and then le the abs kick in and come to a stop.... everyone know does that with an auto box.... never heard different

Ciaran500

S.I.R wrote: »

from what i learned, when coming upto the red light, you come off the accl. pedal , let it roll, lightly brake , change to N and then le the abs kick in and come to a stop.... everyone know does that with an auto box.... never heard different

Are you joking?

Wishbone Ash

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Are you joking?

+1

Alanstrainor

S.I.R wrote: »

from what i learned, when coming upto the red light, you come off the accl. pedal , let it roll, lightly brake , change to N and then le the abs kick in and come to a stop.... everyone know does that with an auto box.... never heard different

I think who ever told you that sat in an auto for the first time and decided to mix manual driving with auto driving to make the most over complicated and dangerous way of slowing down ever!
I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous.

I'm afraid I would tend to disagree.

Automatic gearboxes are designed to be left in Drive. Changing it to Neutral causes unnecessary wear on the gearbox. I would apply the park brake during lighting up hours to reduce glare on the driver behind but I wouldn't in daylight unless I'm going to be stopped for a considerable time.

In my opinion, putting an auto into Neutral defeats the whole purpose of having an auto.

Just after looking up some info there, and it seems you're right, It would cause wear on the gearbox changing to neutral, when in "drive" the torque converter absorbs the engine’s propulsion force but does not transmit it all to the gearbox, ie no wear on the gearbox. Shifting from neutral to drive would cause minor wear but wear non the less. Well there you go, you learn something everyday.:pac::pac::pac:

J_R

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm afraid I would tend to disagree.

Automatic gearboxes are designed to be left in Drive. Changing it to Neutral causes unnecessary wear on the gearbox. I would apply the park brake during lighting up hours to reduce glare on the driver behind but I wouldn't in daylight unless I'm going to be stopped for a considerable time.

In my opinion, putting an auto into Neutral defeats the whole purpose of having an auto.

I'm open to correction on the above but it's my 2 cent worth.

Half Right. Leave in Drive. However fully applying the handbrake whenever your vehicle is stationary is even more important on an automatic.

The safe Rule is apply the handbrake fully whenever you pull up

chris85

S.I.R wrote: »

from what i learned, when coming upto the red light, you come off the accl. pedal , let it roll, lightly brake , change to N and then le the abs kick in and come to a stop.... everyone know does that with an auto box.... never heard different

shocking, must be a joke

DaveM-sport

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm afraid I would tend to disagree.

Automatic gearboxes are designed to be left in Drive. Changing it to Neutral causes unnecessary wear on the gearbox. I would apply the park brake during lighting up hours to reduce glare on the driver behind but I wouldn't in daylight unless I'm going to be stopped for a considerable time.

In my opinion, putting an auto into Neutral defeats the whole purpose of having an auto.

I'm open to correction on the above but it's my 2 cent worth.

Copletely the wrong thing to do.
Lets say you come to a stop in traffic and put it into park.
Then somebody else comes along and stops behind you. When you select drive again, you will go through Reverse to get to 'D', This could confuse or cause a nervous driver behind you thinking you are about to reverse up on top of them.

The other reason why you shouldn't select park is because the park mechanism is a tiny little tooth that engages on a gear inside the gearbox.
If you are rear ended, even very slightly to the point of some minor bodywork, the parking gear will be broken from the impact and will be very expensive to fix.

The correct way to stop at lights is to come to a stop with the brakes.
Pull up the handbrake ans leave your foot off the brake so your not annoying people behind you with the glare from the brake lights.
Leave it in 'D' unless you are going to be stopped for a considerable amount of time or have a car with enough idle torque that the handbrake alone will not hold the car from creeping.

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm afraid I would tend to disagree.

Automatic gearboxes are designed to be left in Drive. Changing it to Neutral causes unnecessary wear on the gearbox. I would apply the park brake during lighting up hours to reduce glare on the driver behind but I wouldn't in daylight unless I'm going to be stopped for a considerable time.

In my opinion, putting an auto into Neutral defeats the whole purpose of having an auto.

I'm open to correction on the above but it's my 2 cent worth.

DaveM-sport wrote: »

Copletely the wrong thing to do.
Lets say you come to a stop in traffic and put it into park.
Then somebody else comes along and stops behind you. When you select drive again, you will go through Reverse to get to 'D', This could confuse or cause a nervous driver behind you thinking you are about to reverse up on top of them.

The other reason why you shouldn't select park is because the park mechanism is a tiny little tooth that engages on a gear inside the gearbox.
If you are rear ended, even very slightly to the point of some minor bodywork, the parking gear will be broken from the impact and will be very expensive to fix.

The correct way to stop at lights is to come to a stop with the brakes.
Pull up the handbrake ans leave your foot off the brake so your not annoying people behind you with the glare from the brake lights.
Leave it in 'D' unless you are going to be stopped for a considerable amount of time or have a car with enough idle torque that the handbrake alone will not hold the car from creeping.

Read my post again Dave - I made no mention of putting the gear selector into Park!

'Park Brake' is what you refer to as a 'handbrake'.

guil

S.I.R wrote: »

from what i learned, when coming upto the red light, you come off the accl. pedal , let it roll, lightly brake , change to N and then le the abs kick in and come to a stop.... everyone know does that with an auto box.... never heard different

ha ha what a joke

DaveM-sport

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Read my post again Dave - I made no mention of putting the gear selector into Park!

'Park Brake' is what you refer to as a 'handbrake'.

Sorry, my apologies;)
Just was a similar post on PH, so I kinda read yours as if you meant the parking gear too:o