When an automatic is stopped at a light, and you take your foot off the brake, should the car move forward on its own?
Dear Car Talk | Dec 01, 1997
Dear Tom and Ray:
bonus of getting involved in a marital squabble, too! He says: When a car
with an automatic transmission is stopped (say, at a stop light), in Drive,
and you take your foot off the brake, the car should not move at all. I say
(after much laughter, tears and horrified looks from my cat): Your car
SHOULD move when you take your foot off the brake. And if it doesn't,
something is wrong. OK, who's right? -- Heather
TOM: Oh, Heather, I hope you have a lot riding on this bet, because your
husband has his head way up under the dashboard on this one.
RAY: You're absolutely right, of course. On the vast majority of
automatic-transmission cars, when you take your foot off the brake, the car
will start to move. That's due to the nature of an automatic transmission,
which uses a fluid clutch.
TOM: There are a few cars that won't move, owing to their inordinate mass,
their extremely low idle speed, and in most cases, the fact that somebody
left the parking brake on.
RAY: Hey, did you hear that our new pamphlet, "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining
Your Car Without Even Knowing It," is a million seller!
TOM: That's not what I said, you knucklehead. I said I had a MILLION of
them in the CELLAR!
RAY: Oh. Well, it still has lots of good information on how to make your car
last forever.
TOM: Order your copy of "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even
Knowing It" by sending $3 and a stamped (55 cents), self-addressed, No.10
envelope to Ruin No.1, PO Box 6420, Riverton, NJ 08077-6420.
bonus of getting involved in a marital squabble, too! He says: When a car
with an automatic transmission is stopped (say, at a stop light), in Drive,
and you take your foot off the brake, the car should not move at all. I say
(after much laughter, tears and horrified looks from my cat): Your car
SHOULD move when you take your foot off the brake. And if it doesn't,
something is wrong. OK, who's right? -- Heather
TOM: Oh, Heather, I hope you have a lot riding on this bet, because your
husband has his head way up under the dashboard on this one.
RAY: You're absolutely right, of course. On the vast majority of
automatic-transmission cars, when you take your foot off the brake, the car
will start to move. That's due to the nature of an automatic transmission,
which uses a fluid clutch.
TOM: There are a few cars that won't move, owing to their inordinate mass,
their extremely low idle speed, and in most cases, the fact that somebody
left the parking brake on.
RAY: Hey, did you hear that our new pamphlet, "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining
Your Car Without Even Knowing It," is a million seller!
TOM: That's not what I said, you knucklehead. I said I had a MILLION of
them in the CELLAR!
RAY: Oh. Well, it still has lots of good information on how to make your car
last forever.
TOM: Order your copy of "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even
Knowing It" by sending $3 and a stamped (55 cents), self-addressed, No.10
envelope to Ruin No.1, PO Box 6420, Riverton, NJ 08077-6420.
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