Questiong About Driving An Auto

[Shepherd]

Hi

As IS250 is my first auto car I have a few very simple question, I hope someone can help me with

1. I know that brake needs to be depressed and car fully stationary to move the stick from P to R/N/D, but if car is stationary in N do I have to press the break to move it to R or D ?

2. Do I need car to be stationary and brake pressed to move stick from D to S or S to D?

3. In light traffic jam or stopped on signal from say 20- 30 sec, can I just have foot on the brake when car is in D, or do I have to shift to N or P for small stops as well?

Apologies for stupid questions

[The-Acre]

As far as number 3 goes, I asked the same question recently. The general opinion is that most keep it in drive with the brake depressed at lights etc.

For safety alone you should always have your foot on the brake when shifting to any position from standstill.

[is200 Newbie]

1 / I don't think there's any rule on this point - I have had an auto for a few years now and I do keep my foot on the brake when shifting into N or D but I don't use N a lot. I guess the thinking on this is that it doesn't expectantly lurch forward if the revs are high when cold etc... as Phil stated above, its best for safety.

2 / You can select S from D and visa versa while driving - I drove to Wolverhampton (journey for me of just over 100 miles each way) last week for our works Christmas do and both there and back due to the winding a roads I was switching between S and D a lot of the journey while moving.

3 / Foot on the brake when at lights is fine - no need to put in park - I remember having a conversation with an engineer at a brake disc manufacturer years ago when I had brake issues on my 200 and he recommended taking your foot off the brake at junctions due to the possibility it could ruin your discs ... I had warped discs at the time so the jurys out on that one.

I was also unsure recently if I could drive the car fully in the S mode using the paddles and was told it would not be an issue - on the old 200 it wasn't recommended to drive for long periods in this mode but for the 250 it is fine to do so, just make sure to keep an eye on the revs as it reaches the red line pretty quick.

[dazed]

1. No, it's not necessary to press the brake when shifting from N to D or R, but it's good practise to do so and will also prevent any slight lurching that might occur, particularly if the car is cold and the revs are a little higher than normal.

2. No, the car doesn't need to be stationary to move between D and S. Moving from D to S will usually nudge the gearbox into 4th gear (speed permitting), so when travelling fast can be used for braking (whether this is good practise is a subject in its own right) or a quick bit of overtaking acceleration (similar to kick down).

3. If you're only going to be stationary for 20-30 seconds then just use the foot brake to hold the car in D. Any longer, just shift it to N while also holding the car with the foot or parking brake.

[Shepherd]

Thanks all for clearing all of this for me.

[Exdee]

3) If your discs are hot and you come to a stop and hold the brake for 10-20 seconds then they will definitely warp. Hence, if you have been braking hard or braking excessively before you stop, then it's probably best to not hold the brake once stationary.