every single time. kinda have to though when youre using a turbo timer.

 

all the time.

 

i used to when i had my integra, but thats cuz it was manual. i dont on my current car unless im on a hill.

 

I get mad whenever my parents don't use the ebrake. They have automagics though... TL-S and Pilot. Still, I get scared when my mom parks then the car rocks back a bit because the ebrake wasn't on.

 

ebrake + 1st gear

 

The handbrake is there for a reason. I'd get in teh habit of using it. h:
Both manual and auto trannies can be seriously damaged if the parking brake isn't used.

 

I drive with the parking brake on all the time.

Sure the tires wear out quicker from all the skidding they are doing... but it's JDM Y0!!!

 

I have never heard this. Can you post some information on this?

I for one wouldn't use a parking brake on an auto. My first car was auto and my parking brake use to get stuck and hence lock up the rear brakes, wear then down and then i would have no brakes left in the back.

I have talked to numerous mechanics who have said a parking brake is useless in an automatic car unless you are on an insane incline.

 

I ALWAYS use the parking brake- whether my car was auto or manual.

Why? Common sense. If you drive an automatic, go ahead, drive around, then stop and put it to park, chances are you'll feel a jerk. That jerk is your tranny hitting at a stop. I used to always put the parking brake THEN put it in park, no jerk.

 

Here's the background info I have on this. Keep in mind my region of CA is very hilly in general, so the loads and rate of failure are probably higher.

In conventional automatic transmissions, a sprung parking pawl engages a detent in the tranny's output shaft and prevents the shaft from rotating. But the pawl isn't designed to carry the entire load of the car. That's why the parking brake is designed as the primary system for keeping the car stationary. The parking pawl serves a secondary system.

If the parking brake is not engaged, and the vehicle is on any sort of an incline, the parking pawl will be under load as the wheels try to rotate, which causes the output shaft to rotate until the pawl locks the output shaft up.. hence the roll-back behavior.

Eventually, the pawl & it's engagment mechanism are damaged by this excessive load and the results are messy. In some cases, the pawl will fail, causing the car to roll away... in others, the parking pawl may fail to retract.

In either case, the damage is extensive.

Now how a manual handles these loads is another story for another time. h: