Hi all,

I parked my 08 MCS on a slope this morning. I left it in 1st gear and didn’t think to apply the handbrake since it wasn’t too steep of a slope. When I came back 5 minutes later the car had rolled back three feet. Is this normal/to be expected or is there something wrong with my car (e.g. the clutch)?

I can go ask my dealer but I don’t know if I’ll be able to trust his answer.

Thanks,
Dertef

 

Could be a clutch but when engaged in first gear your car has plenty of weight to turn the engine over being that the compression within the cylinders is the only thing holding your car stopped. Also keep in mind that becasue for gear is a 3+:1 ratio, your car theoretically weighs 3x more as far as the egine is conserned. So think of your car being 8000 pounds and all thats holding it back is 4 little 10:5 compression cyinders with only .4L each

 

I had that happen to me on an old air cooled VW beetle with a worn out engine. As the compression would leak down in the cylinders it would roll back one engine revolution at a time. At first I thought it was one of my friends fooling with me. Then I happened to look out the window & see it happen.

Not sure what your cause is/was, but DO set the hand brake.

 

If there is a curb, turn your front wheel into it.

 

That's why they have PARKING brakes.....lol

Also, remember that turbocharged cars have a lower compression ratio than NA cars do so they are easier to turn over.

 

I wouldn't rely on my transmission to keep the car parked, as MINI33342 said, that's why you have the PARKING brake and putting it into gear and turning your wheels against the curb are failsafe techniques.

 

While that is generally true, MINI's run at 10.5:1 compression even at 10 pounds of boost (stock), so while tubro cars have lower compression on the average, our cars are still higher than average compression for a NA car.