Well, the question is basically in the title. No deep meaning here. Why do automatics have a “park” setting, but manuals don’t? Is there some reason that automatics need them more than manuals, is it just convention, or is there some reason why it’s impossible to put it on a manual?
Thanks in advance.
That’s a good question. Although some will say just to put it in gear and/or put the parking brake on, why not put a mechanism in the gear box that somehow locks the gear box? 1234RP?
There is no reason to park on a manual. You put them in gear and the engine hold them there (in a low gear anyway). In an automatic, leaving it in gear won’t keep it from rolling, so they put park in to do that job. Sure my explanation is probably overly simplistic, and I’ll bet someone will come along to expand on it.
This may help though:
Surely the car is hard to get going when parked in a low gear, but what about theft? I’ve never really owned a stick, but have driven then a few times. I would think it would be easier to steal a manual car than an automatic.
The thing with auto’s is that the shifter is tied in with having to use the brake to shift (not all cars, but most) along with the key lock that holds the steering wheel in place.
With any manual I got into, it’s seams as though all you need is ignition and a push from another car, and your gone.
Ahh, of course. Even when the engine’s stopped on an automatic, the wheels can still move because of the torque converter, right?
Of course, I’ve never actually driven a manual, (except, of course, for the Ferarri F355 arcade game in simulation mode) so I forgot that you wouldn’t have to worry about it without a TQ. Hmm, I diserve a :smack: . 
So, how much of a hill could you hold a manual on without using the parking brake? I know you’d put the PB on anyway, but would it really hold on a steep hill in first without the PB?
I’ve never seen a car parked in first gear roll. If you’re really worried about it, park in reverse. The transmission does a far better job of holding than any parking brake. The wise driver in San Francisco uses both, and crimps the tires to the curb.
If you can get the key ignition switch to turn forward, you’ve unlocked the steering wheel, regardless of automatic or manual transmission. Most (if not all) manuals have a button that engaged the steering column lock. You can’t get the key out without depressing it. This happens by default when you put an automatic in park and remove the key. Once the key is forward on an automatic, the transmission can be moved out of park easily. In some automatics if the car is not running, you don’t need to depress the break to get the car out of park (all the cars that I’ve tried this on where GM’s and they all did it). So ease of theft isn’t a real difference, as far as I know.
That’s actually been a point of some intense debate in similar threads in the past. There are two diehard camps here, and agreement was never reached, but the parking brake crowd ended up with the numbers and the backup of various automotive websites.
It is true that leaving it in gear or in “park” will hold the car without the parking brake’s risk of slip, but manual cars can and do jump out of gear, and in automatics, the little pawl which engages “park” in the transmission is a fairly delicate item. So, your car won’t ever slowly slip down the hill, but it will either hold perfectly still, or go flying downhill with nothing to arrest its speed at all.
What I’ve always done (backed up by previous SDMB discussions) is to firmly apply the parking brake FIRST, while you still have the footbrake depressed. Slowly release the footbrake and let the parking brake take the strain of the car’s weight. Then you can put the transmission in gear in a manual, or “park” in an auto. But always do both.
The parking brake is the primary device for holding a car on a hill. Leaving it in gear or in “park” is a backup only, should the handbrake slip. The other advantage of this is that you are not putting strain on your gearbox, engine, or in an automatic, the parking pawl (it’s really not designed for an overnight stay in San Francisco). And, as mentioned, you will also find it much easier to get out of gear or “park” when you next drive the car.
Automatics haven’t always had PARK. And then the first ones with it, did not require you to have the car in “Park” when you turned it off. As to the latter, I know since I had a car roll over a retaining wall, once. It stopped when the front wheels were over the wall, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. :eek:
Related threads:
Do you use your parking brake?
Parking Brake
Cite regarding applying the hand brake first (Western Australian Govt. Driver Competency Standards).
Another cite (Safe Drive Training Australia)
Last cite, promise. (www.womanmotorist.com)
While this is excellent advice and I recommend it heartily:
…this following is sorta silly (I know it’s not your quote, TD):
The metal teeth will probably last about 120-500 years, give or take. What you are trying to avoid is excessive strain on the cable, linkage, and actuators by having to pull up excessively hard when the foot-brake is not applied.
My old ford escort would roll when parked and left in gear. It would roll a few feet at a time in kind of a jerky motion and you could hear the engine turn over when it moved. I am not sure if the small engine or high miledge where factors. It didn’t take all that steep of a hill to do it either.
I always use the parking brake only with my current manual unless I am on a hill, but the best thing to do would be to use both all the time.
I was always told to not push the button in while pulling up on the parking brake. If you do you may let the brake drop down before you release the botton and not get enough hoding power.
There is a VERY good reason not to put a “Park” gear on a manual transmission, and that is so some rube driving down I-70 doesn’t accidentaly shift from “5” to “P” while trying to pass a truck full of illegal immigrants, and leave his transmission in tiny, tiny pieces all over the highway behind him. Meanwhile, said rube will be too busy to notice this, because he’s just gone through the windshield of his new 2003 Ford Bloatabout at 75mph. and ended up embedded in a “Stuckey’s” sign.
Personally, I think it’s all the reason we need. 
Yeah, but they could put an interlock on it just like many manual transmissions have a reverse interlock these days.
Besides, the pawl doesn’t actually lock up the wheels, does it?
On a manual tranny, it probably would lock the wheels, and sure, they could put an interlock on it, but that would cost money, and why spend money on something that’s not really needed anyway? That was my point.
I thought there was a problem with leaving a car “resting” on the transmission with a manual. Sometimes when I park in a hurry - clutch and brake, lift the handbrake and slip it into first then igntion off it does this. I notice that when I push in the clutch to shift the box into neutral the car moves foward slightly. This means the car has been restrained by the gearbox. I use the lower gears while parked as a backup to the handbrake proper.
Why would it be any different on a manual than an automatic? Seems to me that they could use the exact same mechanism.
Besides, even if it did lock, it’s not like you’re going to go through the window. You don’t get too much traction when you’re skidding excessively.
Why would it be any different on a manual than an automatic? Seems to me that they could use the exact same mechanism.
They have different shift linkages and different fundamental designs. The exact same mechanism is not applicable.
Besides, even if it did lock, it’s not like you’re going to go through the window. You don’t get too much traction when you’re skidding excessively.
Well, it’s not like hitting a tree, but between rapid deceleration and likely loss of control, it’s not something I’d take lightly. The possibility for damage to people and transmission parts would be significant.
To answer the OP, the auto manufacturers have no incentive to devise a “park” feature for manual transmissions. There’s virtually no demand for them, nor is there a compelling reason to have them.
Actually, the best reason to use the handbrake with a manual transmission (excluding being parked on steep grades) is that it helps keep your brakes in adjustment.
I was doing what is known as “Exaggerating” in order to entertain a little. Seems that I failed. 