In the olden days, ya left it in first if facing downhill or reverse if facing uphill, so if someone bumped you when parking it would turn the engine the "right" way, to keep the distributor housing from turning and changing the timing. Bad enough to have someone bash your car but if it then won't start too...

Since the MINI has no distributor, any gear is fine. As previously noted, lower is better, and the MINI's parking brake (like many cars that use the disc pads, instead of using a separate drum like the Corvette) isn't that reliable because you need to use considerable force to make sure it holds.

There's really no concern about excess "load" on the transmission--if the car's bumped hard, the engine will turn.

And many municipalities will ticket you if the wheel isn't turned toward the curb too.

 

I always park in gear with e-brake. Never want to deal with losing a car from having it roll away.

 

We have the Auto CVT in both MINIs.

My fiance is constantly setting her parking brake in hers. I drive it so infrequently, I forget she does this. The other day, I drove a couple hundred yards before I realized the parking brake was set.

<<end of rant>>

Sorry for interrupting the Manual Trannies Thread.

 

Good for her.

 

I cannot convince my dear wife to set the parking brake on her CVT. But it has never rolled away either, so who am I to judge?

I do find it funny that we can fill three pages of a thread with instructions for how to park.

 

She never uses the CVT... puts the automatic in Park and then sets the brake. What advantage is there to setting the brake ? Maybe I'll stop razzing her about this if you convince me.

 

I'll add my name to the 1st/e-brake club. I don't usually pay attention to the order of application between releasing the brakes and setting the brake. But, if I'm on a steep enough hill, I'll cycle the clutch just before I get out of the car, which will shift the load from the tranny to the brakes.

I don't really agree with the "any gear is fine" approach, I've had other cars roll in 5th. The short ratio allows more transmission rotation before you get to the top of one of the compression strokes.

 

Setting the E-Brake on an automatic is just extra insurance. For one thing, it's good practice. Also, I have seen the parking pin on automatic trannys snap or malfunction. When you put the car in park on a hill for instance, all the weight of the car is resting against the parking pawl. Like I said, it may not be necessary to engage the e-brake to stop your car but I wouldn't depend on it 100%, especially on a hill.

 

I had my MC up on the lift this weekend and can confirm.
http://www.chadhoc.com/MiniBelly/MiniBelly.html

I always do 1st gear and E brake.

 

I always do both if on hilly terrain. In my parking lot, whcih is flat, just first gear. The rear wheels sit in a small depression which holds me solid against the curb. Snug as a bug in a MINI. :-)

 

Ok, I had never heard of this before, but then again I've always lived in really flat places... I always put the ebrake on, but how do you put the car 'in gear' with it off?! Or do you do it before you shut off?! If so, how do you do that and release the clutch without it conking out?!

Also, isn't this rather dangerous for when you turn the car on again? Wouldn't it either shoot forward (or backward) or conk out again...

LOL, sorry, this is just SO foreign to me right now!

 

both for me

 

Okay, I'll only razz my fiance when she puts the automatic tranny in "P" and uses the e-brake on a flat surface then.

Seriously, I've never, in my entire life, heard of a car with automatic transmission slip out of park and roll down a hill. And I'm not a young guy either. But hey... I'm sure somewhere in the world it has happened at least once.

Thanks.

 

this brings back a bad memory for me! I learned to ALWAYS put it in gear (1st) and set the e-brake.

once, an old boss of mine had a new BMW and let me drive it. when I parked it at his house, I put it in 1st and set the brake. later, he goes out and starts the car and it lurches forward. he yells at me... "You NEVER park the car in gear. You always leave it in neutral." I thought he was crazy, he thought I was a dope. Whatever.

I don't really like to drive others cars anyway, but if I do in the future, I'll be sure to ask how they like it parked!

I do think keeping your foot on the brake until you pull the e-brake is a good idea. I currently park an automatic on a slope and I notice that once you put it into park and let your foot of the brake, the car eases back slightly. then, when I go to put it into reverse the next time, the transmission crunches a little and makes an unpleasant sound. yikes.

for me... 1st and e-brake for my soon-to-be Mini.

 

I've never seen an automatic car pop out of park and roll away either, but I've seen the aftermath of someone crashing into a parked automatic car... the Park "gear" never works again. My mom managed to break hers simply by parking on steep hills and only applying the parking brake lightly. Metal fatigue finally snapped the part of the aluminum case that was engaged by the brake mechanism, and everything still worked but Park.

Obviously setting it so lightly does no good whatsoever, and is only done for the ritual. It's a bad habit.

 

When it's stopped, either before or after you've turned the car off, you put in the clutch and put it in gear. You release the clutch _after_ the car has been turned off -- it won't stall since the motor isn't running, but it is in gear.

You have to have the clutch in when you turn the car back on, so it won't lurch forward unless you let out the clutch before giving it gas, just like normal.

 

I always leave a standard in first with the e-brake. I learned that lesson the hard way: a phone call from campus police at 3am saying my Eclipse had rolled across the parking lot and into a fence. I only had the ebrake on that night.

At the time, I had always been told to leave your car in neutral so you don't accidentally "jump" your car if you forget to put your foot on the clutch when you start up. Nowadays, you can't start a car without your foot on the clutch, so why not just leave it in first?

 

I always got into the habit of parking in gear and also the E brake. It's just a habit i got into a long time ago. Better to be safe then sorry lol.