These are crazy scenarios that I would never do, but I just can't help wonder.

1. Say you're cruising on the road, what would happen if you turned the key to the off position? Would the engine shut off with an auto transmission? If so, would a manual counterpart continue to run if the clutch is engaged since the wheels are still spinning?

2. You're cruising at about 40 mph with an automatic transmission and nagging significant other makes you accidently shift into Reverse? Or is the shifter blocked from going into Reverse while you're rolling forward like a manual transmission?

3. In a middle of a burnout, you engage the handbrake?

Any input is welcome. If you have some questions of your own, feel free to post them as well.

 

i can personally attest to the first scenario as i have done it before(don't ask!) but it doesn't matter auto or manual or if the clutch is engaged or disengaged the car WILL shut off. maybe thats a good thing since i did it in my old mustang and put it in a ditch and have since seen the light and got my current camaro!

 

If you drop it in reverse nothing will happen, the car is smart enough not to engage. On an older car like in my sig, the rear tires will lock up. I had a 70 GTO and didn't know it didn't have brakes, so I had to throw it in reverse. Long story lol.

If you turn the car off while in gear it wont run but will try to restart itself, just like if you were push starting a car. Did it today on accident lol.

The hand brake wont do anything, remember you are pushing the brakes anyways to do a burnout in the first place.

 

id have to disagree. when you push on the brakes most of the stopping power is in the front (along with the function of power brakes and abs). the handbrake is mechanical and only controls the back wheels, and if your brake is tight enough and you yanked it in the middle of a burnout, well it just sounds like a bad idea.

 

I can see the stock 10 Bolt not liking this.

 

Go to the dealer pretend you want to buy a new car, test drive it and try all these things for yourself!!!

 

actually that is only true if it is still in the "on" position.

if the ignition is OFF it will just stay off and coast.

i've done this before when pulling into a house, or driveway late at nite...trying not to wake the parents the girl appreciated it.

 

Thank you all for chiming in.

A few times when cruising, I would glance over my keys when looking at the dash and that's when I got curious. I guess I'll try turning the key off when rolling in a parking lot if I get bored enough. lol As for the Reverse thing, I remember asking my father about his 89 F-150, and he said it would either snap the U-join or "drop" the transmission. LOL I've never done a burnout, but I understand that the engine would be constantly overpowering the rear brakes, so I wondered if it would also overpower the e-brake if engaged.

LMAO This brings to mind another stupid question:

4. If you damage a vehicle during a test drive, would it be like a 'you broke it, you bought it' scenario, or does the dealership have their own insurance for this?

I remember hearing on the news here in Georgia that a guy pretended to want to buy a car and took it out for a test drive, and then basically robbed the car by driving away with the dealership salesman inside with him. I guess that adds kidnapping to the charge.

 

Answers:

1) If you're in gear and turn the car off (auto or manual), the engine locks and your drive wheels stop spinning. This puts a TON of strain on the engine and transmission both, and can sometimes cause serious damage (especially at high speeds). A lot of the newer auto transmissions are smart enough these days that they disengage the clutch when the vehicle is off. If that's true of yours, you'd just coast (but I still recommend putting it in Neutral first). If the car is in Neutral (auto or manual), you'll just coast... but remember that your power steering turns off with the car, so any steering will be a pain.

2) Most modern transmissions will prevent the shift into Reverse if the vehicle is moving forward any faster than 5 MPH or so. However, a friend of mine blew his manual transmission out once in an older car by accidentally throwing it into Reverse instead of 4th when he was downshifting. Literally, the transmission fell out of his car in the middle of the interstate (about 60 MPH).

3) I'm not a big fan of burnouts, but from the mechanics of it, something is going to break. In a front-wheel-drive, it wouldn't have any effect, but nobody burns out in a FWD vehicle. However, for your scenario, I'd say it depends on too many factors. In a brand new vehicle, it probably wouldn't break anything (but still isn't a good idea). It would be similar to using the handbrake to skid through turns on a track and leaving it in gear while you do that. This causes SERIOUS strain on the braking mechanism. It probably won't break the first time, but it will if you keep doing it.

4) Yes, in most states car salesmen are obliged by law to have insurance that covers accidents caused by test-drivers. However, most auto insurance companies won't cover car repairs unless there's been a collision. If I do these things in my own car, my insurance won't pay for it. I'm pretty sure the dealer would bite the cost on that. They'll most likely ask you to stop and let them drive the first time you try something, LOL.

Speaking of test-driving, I've been meaning to test drive the 2010 Camaro, even though I'll never have the money for one.

 

Yeah it wont try to turn on in an auto, I forgot to mention that I was in my 6 speed with it happened. A manual car will try to restart itself if it's off and in gear.

 

I'd think the momentum of the tire and wheel rotating, not to mention the power you're putting through the axle would be enough to overcome the handbrake, unless you've got some crazy hydraulic handbrake setup, or every car I've ever driven has a really weak handbrake and my gauge is way off.

My money would be on the handbrake not being able to grab with enough force to really do anything except maybe bog the motor down some. The handbrake can't grab with anywhere near as much force as the regular brakes can.

Now if you were able to suddenly lock the wheels, bad things would happen

 

in my M6 TA, if im rolling at 45, and turn the ignition off, the engine is technically off since fuel and spark are shut off, but the valvetrain/drivetrain are still moving, so its still somehow running. My Auto Grand am just shuts off completely

 

Thank you for the detailed clarification. I guess if you're gonna test drive a vehicle for the fun of it, you might as well add the ZR1 to the list so you can say you sat in the driver seat of a $100k+ car. Although, they may restrict test driving for vehicles past a certain value. I remember seeing a pristine 1st generation Ram Air GTO at a Pontiac dealership where you could only observe it from the outside on display. No one could test drive it.

Yeah, I was wondering how much restriction there would have to be for the clutch to start slipping while fully engaged.

I remember trying to push start my engine one time when my alternator was out, and the engine turned when I engaged the clutch in 2nd, but it wouldn't start. This happened again when my battery died, but the alternator was good that time. Maybe I wasn't rolling fast enough. The fireless engine was slowing the car down with each compression.

 

If your doing 40 or something and put the car in reverse, it just shuts the car down, but keeps rolling forward it doesnt go in reverse and you can throw it back in N and start it up.

 

Is this the same case if you go into Park?

I thought of another 3:

5. If you keep filling gasoline past full, will it eventually spew out of the filler neck or is there some sensor either in the nozzle or filler hole that closes by itself?

6. You start the engine and it's idling, then you turn the key to the start position again?

7. If you crank the engine in the opposite rotation, will it steadily run in that direction? If so and you go into gear, then would Reverse gear go forward as first and the forward gears go in reverse where If you climb up to sixth, you could eventually go the full 155 mph in reverse?

 

5) Sometimes the automatic shutoff on the gas station's pump doesn't work right... I've been to several cheap gas stations where this has happened. Gas spews out the filler neck until you manually shut it off. Most times, if the auto-shutoff DOES work, it will keep shutting off if you keep trying to fill past that point.

6) I've done this before by accident, and it's not good on your starter. Nothing broke, but it just tried to start an already started engine.

7) I'm not sure how you would go about doing it, but my guess is most of the car's components wouldn't work. Everything that's tied in to the drivebelt is expecting to rotate a certain direction. For example, your water pump only pumps water if it's spinning the right direction, so even if you did go reverse at 155 MPH, I don't think you'd make it too far before overheating. I'm also wondering if the transmission would work spinning the opposite direction...

 

The gas pump handle should slack off and stop pumping but as said before, sometimes it will still spew out.

You will hear a loud metallic bzzzzzz, then you will realize the engine is running and then get all embarrassed, and look around to see if anyone saw that and is now laughing at you.

And then your intake will become your exhaust, and your tail pipes will become your intake! You do know that the engines in Australia run in reverse..

LOL, jk

 

Ive never thrown it in reverse, but i have thrown it into park at like 30 mph in my dad's 03 silverado lol the parking paw engaged and just made a loud clicking sound until the truck stopped. probably wasnt the best thing for it, but havent had any problems yet

 

if you're going to jump start a car, do it in 1st. 2nd will take more speed to match up the revolutions as compared to 1st

 

actually if you try it in first, the compression of the motor will likely be enough to stop the car, or lock the tires. By putting it into 2nd or even 3rd it means that the car will be less likely to lock the wheels, or stop the car when the clutch is disengaged.