Revving in neutral and parking in gear.

The car was designed to be parked in gear like all manual transmissions. Ferrari even provided a warning buzzer in the F1 system to let you know you have not left it in gear.

Personally after nearly 40 years of working on them I trust no Ferrari hand brake, even on flat ground.

 

Right in the owner's manual for my 550 it states that the car should be parked in 1st gear.

As an aside, a year or so ago, a friend left his 550 idling in his driveway, trusting only the hand brake to hold it on a slight incline, while he went to check his mailbox for a few seconds. You know where this is going -- straight downhill. With the driver's door open, the car rolled down and clipped a tree with the door = a few thousands$$$ in damage.

 

Word to the wise, don't even trust a modern Fiat handbrake. Parked in reverse with the handbrake on angled slightly down my driveway. Well, reverse was a "false" reverse, not fully in gear, and a for the handbrake...yup, right down the driveway went the Abarth.

 

Always park in gear.

If the car is stick shift then you can use the e-brake for extra peace of mind. If you just came off the track, don't use the parking brake- let the brakes cool down.

If the car is F1, I worry the car's computer hiccups and pops the car out of gear and into N. A while ago someone posted this happened to them and it always stuck with me. Therefore, I will *always* use the parking brake in addition to parking in gear with an F1 transmission. Probably a bit overdone but that's my worry. I worry even more about the new cars that use an electronic parking brake...

As to revving in N- do you mean some moderate revs just to be enthusiastic? Thats really no big deal. I just wouldn't peg it to the redline all day long.

 

Do not rev it in neutral. The engine is designed to rev with load on it.

 

absolute no harm to the engine to rev it up even in neutral ONCE the engine has reached optimum temp (look at the oil temp and not the water temp).......however do not rev it in neutral on cars with cats just before turning it off......if you did so, let it idle for a bit before switching it off

 

Speaking about parking, I have been parking my F1 360 in Neutral (I know, I know, it reminds me every time) and engaging the hand brake. My biggest concern is that if the computer has a brain fart and my F1 gearbox remains stuck in first gear and parked, how can I move the car to rescue it? How can I get it loaded for a tow? Thoughts?

If the battery gives up and the car won't release from first, what should I do? As far as I know, there is no 'manual' neutral release on the F1 gearbox.

 

I would have thought that letting the gearbox drop out of gear is pretty easy to do, even if you have other errors.

Is it a common concern for the ECU to go completely nuts?

I always park in gear, because I don't trust the handbrake. The ratcheting feedback is not reassuring like it is in most cars. It feels like it could loosen up easily (which it can, if not checked often).

Occasional revving with no load is OK. It puts the torque onto the engine mounts as opposed to the drivetrain, so there is that to consider. Car must be warm, and don't do it often. Besides, it sounds better winding up on full load.

 

This is what happens when only relying on the handbrake.

This happened last year on one of our drive days in Oz.

1. 308GT4 Parked

2. Ends up rolling all the way down to where the group of people are standing

3. The aftermath and a very shaken up owner.

Lucky it didnt kill anyone on the way down.
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Pics like that need to come with a warning!

 

I don't park it in gear on a flat surface in public.

I don't want my tranny f***ed up when some nit wit taps the bumper.

 

I'm watching this thread because it may change how I decide to park my car (in gear versus in neutral). I wish there was a manual override in the F1 system somewhere to change from 1st to neutral when parked and something goes wrong, but there just isn't. Am I grasping at straws here?

Perhaps my ultimate 360-related fear is the car being stuck somewhere (like in my own garage) unresponsive and in gear. It's not gonna move. At least, if it's parked in neutral in my flat garage, I can rescue it by moving it out and getting it loaded up.

I don't park on slopes all that often, but now whenever I do, I'll park in 1st gear.

 

Maybe it's time to get a dashcam. The new ones capture both front and back views. Motion detection can activate the camera if you're hit. Dashcams are becoming more common and unfortunately there are good reasons for that.

I always put my BMW 6MT into 1st when I parked but I agree Fcars often attract the most unwanted attention, if you know what I mean.

 

To all those suffering from paranoia, yes, correct word, it is an irrational fear, of parking in gear and getting stuck. Do you really believe no one thought of that?

Do you really???

There is a tool to deal with that and any serious Ferrari shop has one and any qualified tow truck operator knows how to use it.

 

Of all the broken transmissions I have ever seen, repaired or overseen the repair of I have never heard of such a thing happening.

Getting struck by lightning or winning the lottery are far more likely.

An automatic can be damaged and even that is so rare it isn't on the radar screen.

 

Fair enough - thanks for the advice. Though I'd add the caveat that, at least in my area, "qualified tow truck operator(s)" seems to be a bit of an oxymoron.
Could I ask for a bit more explanation on the tool, and how it works to release the gear?

I'll start parking in first gear.

 

Can't post pictures or I would. Ask your mechanic to show you his.

"Qualified tow truck driver" is no different than any other profession, skill or trade, including yours. There are good and bad at everything, you just need to go to the trouble to find one.

 

From many years of Alfa V6 ("fragile" timing belt setup that does not like to be rotated against normal engine rotation direction) ownership - parked in 1st when nose is downhill, and in reverse when tail is downhill...

 

Good idea but for different reasons. Ferrari suffers from no such badly conceived timing belt tensioning design as is used on the Alfa.

 

Yah... Ferrari isn't so bad Will keep this in mind when people are complaining how Ferrari got this and that wrong

 

Good motor, just a goofy, overthought tensioner.

 

Thanks. The tow truck comment is understood. Though most of the time they're dispatched and you don't have the opportunity to find a good one under duress.