360 Scare

there's this restaurant on a very steep slope. I always park right in front of the door, the manager knows to bring out 2 piece of wood block when he sees me in my 360.

 

Did you ever wonder why the handbook tells you to leave it in gear ?

I've just realised you've only just bought it so you're learning that in general the handbrakes are useless - there are probably loads of other quirks you're about to learn too....

The manual is worth a read

 

I agree that the handbrake is merely a suggestion. Leave it in gear always, even on flat ground, its just good practice. Also note that a Ferrari was recently pushed into the Sea while the owners ate at a nearby restaurant. In gear might have helped.

I use the e-brake while warming up the car sometimes because leaving it in gear is not an option.

 

this happened to me once. I think I know why. After the brake cools, the metal disc contracts. This reduces the force b/t the disc and the pad and the car rolls. What was enough force to prevent the car from rolling before is now insufficient.
solution - put it in gear.

 

This.
On both my Lotus Elises, the change in rotor temp was dramatic - leaving the car in handbrake with YOU IN IT could still have the car roll by itself when the brakes cool.

Always leave any stick car in gear. Always.

 

Thanks SCEye! You hit the nail on the head! I always thought a Parking Brake was sufficient, and wondered why I should bother put my F430 in gear when I have a perfectly functional and operating hand brake. Ha HA! When the brake rotor cools, it naturally shrinks, and could then slip... Hence the Owners Manual makes sense: Facing Upslope = Leave in Reverse, Facing Downward - Leave in First. Added safety. Thx.

 

Interesting. Here in the lowcountry it's relatively flat and I've been fine with the handbrake with parking. Will definitely remember that in hill country.

Only concern I have with leaving it in gear is being bumped while parked and chipping a gear...

 

Common sense dictates that with any manual transmission car, you leave it in gear. Even the F1 'box' should be left in gear.

 

That must have been quite a scare for you and your passenger. Hope you didn't soil your underpants coz such stains are hard to remove especially if the seats caught some of that curry. Lol. Jokes aside, yes, just leave it in gear. I do it for my cars as long the ecu allows me to do so.

 

The parking brake on my 360 is surprisingly strong- stronger than my daily driver (BMW 540), but either way I have always been in the habit of leaving stick shift cars in gear in addition to the parking brake. Also, if on a hill after turning the car off I make sure the car is stopped by the parking brake before engaging the clutch, so there is no pressure on the clutch disc.

 

I turn my steering all the way toward the curb(a high curb), let the car roll down a little until the tire stopped by the curb. technically the car won't slide even without the e-brake.

 

I always leave in gear also.

Does anybody remember in the olden days (older cars) with manual transmissions that you could actually turn the ignition key while in gear and the car would lurch forward if you didn't have the clutch depressed. Quite dangerous too.

I recall as a teenager my buddy always had a bad habit of doing this. Not sure what he was thinking. Ha ha.

 

This will not happen in the 458, because it has "P" now. and the park break is a lot stronger than 430 and 360's.

Take care.

 

I there is an emergency brake adjustment procedure in the workshop manual. I just looked at it a couple weeks ago when I did the brakes. mine seems to hold great now but I also leave it in gear.

 

This problem is not exclusive to the 360...it happened to me with my 348.

 

can someone explain this please? why does it matter which gear and wouldn't the opposite gear of your direction make more sense??

 

I was thinking the same as well....facing upslope in reverse gear = wouldn't the car roll back?

 

Low gear like 1st or Reverse will provide greatest locking force. 1st gear is best, it's the lowest gear on your car. (Reverse ratio is closer to 2nd).

E-Brake is a bit rubbish on the 360. It can be adjusted but it's still rubbish. Maybe a change of pad would improve matters. On a RHD car the adjustment is just forward of the passenger rear wheel above the underfloor. Possibly other side on LHD car. Adjustment will just mean the lever travels less, it won't make a bad brake better. I suspect the relaxation effect over time has more to do with cable stretch than cooling of discs but it may be a mixture of both.

 

Leaving in gear and using hand brake (with a 3 pedal) was always normal operating procedure but never considered the cooling disk/shrinking/releasing ebrake pressure as part of the equation or considered ebrake getting less grab once brakes cool. Makes perfect sense... learn something new everyday!

 

The lower the gear the better. Reverse would be okay too since the ratio is pretty high. The torque required to move the vehicle is directly related to the ratio. If you drive the gearbox on the output side (the wheels) it takes the ratio times the force required to move it. Assuming it takes 100 Lbf to move the car in neutral. If you have a 4;00 ratio at the gearbox then:

(100 Lbf * 4.00)= 400 Lbf to move the car

This is ball park since there are inefficiencies in the gearbox so it would actually be slightly higher but you get the idea. Higher gears have lower ratios so they therefore require less force to move it in gear.