If you shift an automatic while driving, will you damage your engine?

If you shift an automatic while driving, will you damage your engine? - If you shift an automatic while driving, will you damage your engine? - Here's an obvious but fundamental difference between people who learned to drive stick and those who've driven only ordinary automatics (a growing number, as traditional manuals disappear): Stick drivers are used to shifting while in motion. In an automatic, you shift only when stopped. Perhaps because of that, many drivers greet the idea of shifting while in motion with terror, fearing that they'll somehow blow up the engine or cause some awful mechanical shriek by sticking the car in neutral. Or worse, that they'll accidentally put it into reverse or park while cruising down the highway.

I'm here to tell you: Don't be afraid. After years as a driving instructor, and thanks to rental car companies that apparently lost their minds and let me loose with their vehicles, I can assure you: Your engine won't let you destroy it (at least not like this). And shifting into neutral at speed could save you from yourself.

Why Neutral Is Your Friend

Consider the occasional claims of sudden acceleration (aka unintended acceleration). Anytime the specter of out-of-control cars hits the news, and TV newsreaders are suddenly trying to furrow their Botoxed brows while talking solemnly of demon-possessed vehicles, I know there will soon be an onslaught of calls, texts, tweets, and emails awaiting my attention. My answer to those who fear their vehicle will decide on its own to play race car: "Put it in neutral."

Here's why: Government and private studies have shown that pretty much all sudden-acceleration crashes happen when the driver unintentionally presses the accelerator in the mistaken, but unshakable, belief they are pushing the brake. If you hit the brake, you'd know it: I have done hundreds of experiments—some that started above 100 mph—in which I pushed both the accelerator and brake to the floor. The vehicles came to a full, complete stop with the engine screaming wildly. The brake will easily overpower the engine in every reasonably well-maintained vehicle.

That said, throttles can stick open; I've experienced several. If the throttle is stuck and the driver fails to press hard enough on the brake, or pumps the brakes until the vacuum assist is depleted, the car may not come to a full stop.

The point: Regardless of whether your throttle is actually stuck or you're just mistakenly slamming on the gas, the answer is to put the car in neutral. If the throttle is truly stuck, shifting into neutral will prevent the car from accelerating. If you're like most sufferers of unintended acceleration—you're just aiming for the brake and missing—then the same is true. You won't be able to accelerate no matter how hard you hit the gas if the car is in neutral.

In my experience, neutral also comes in handy when you're in the passenger seat. If Grandpa mistakes the gas for the brake, moving the gear selector into neutral may prevent a crash. The ability to slow a learner's-permit-holding teen with a quick slap into neutral quells many parents' fears. (Slap the gear selector, not the teen. I know they deserve it. But don't.)

Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid of Shifting

Still, when people ask me about unintended acceleration and I say, "Put it in neutral," the response is almost always the same: "But won't that blow up the engine?" Nope. The engine's electronic limiter prevents that. Even if it didn't, would you rather total the car than damage the engine?

The person seeking my advice typically ignores my question and, panic rising, asks, "But what if it goes into reverse or park?" It won't. First, depending on your car, the shift lever won't move to the reverse or park position unless you press the physical button on the shifter. New cars with electronically controlled transmissions might not have such physical barriers, but they'll ignore your inappropriate request to park or go in reverse while you're moving. A few go into park at about one-half mile per hour.

Neither a U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman nor I could find any law that requires automakers to idiot-proof the transmission. However, no vehicle I've tested in the past 15-plus years will go into reverse with the car moving forward.

So there you go. Your engine won't blow if you shift it into neutral while in motion. And the answer to "What happens if you accidentally select reverse or park?" is either "Nothing" or "You can't." ( Popular Mechanics )

READ MORE - If you shift an automatic while driving, will you damage your engine?

Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five provides the ultimate San Francisco treat

Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five provides the ultimate San Francisco treat - Shoe salesman and hoon-in-chief Ken Block's "Gymkhana Five" arrived today, and the move to take his sideways driving circus out of empty stadiums and warehouses into the streets of San Francisco was a wise one. This ranks as the most exciting pollution of Frisco's air with tire smoke since Steve McQueen last turned a wheel in anger on "Bullitt." See for yourself below.

Driving a Ford Fiesta boosted to 650 hp and capable of hitting 60 mph in 1.8 seconds, Block rips through downtown, twirls around a few cable cars and gathers enough air on one hill to wonder just how many cars it took to film this. It's the summit of the Gymkhana series, which include versions one through four and their 40-some related videos, which have generated 135 million views -- and helped Block extend his racing dreams into the World Rally Championship, among others.

There will be haters aplenty who call all of Block's vehicular moves a calculated marketing effort for his DC Shoes firm and other sponsors, and dismiss the Gymkhanas as silly street stunts. That might have been true at the beginning -- and there's a reason the car's covered in logos -- but Block has sharpened his driving skills throughout the videos, and there's several moments in this one that would not work in the hands of a less-talented driver.

Also, anytime someone can use Styx in a video without irony, it's a winner. ( yahoo.com )

READ MORE - Ken Block’s Gymkhana Five provides the ultimate San Francisco treat

The Folding Electric Car

The Folding Electric Car - Tiny urban car can fold in half and drive sideways, making it ideal for congested cities. European officials have taken the covers off a new electric car that folds in half to fit in to tight parking spots.

The CityCar, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, can also crab sideways, making parallel parking a cinch. The first production prototype of the car - dubbed the Hiriko – was inspected by European Union Commission chief, José Manuel Barroso, and is expected to hit the road in a 20-car trial in Spain next year.

Combo of pictures taken on May 27, 2010 shows the Hiriko Citycar being folded during the presentation of the electric vehicle on May 27, 2010 in Berlin

The diminutive car, which weighs less than 500kg, folds up when parked, allowing three or four cars to fit in the average parking space. The car is driven by an electric motor at each wheel, which allows it to spin on its own axis and move sideways into parking spots. The wheel also houses the car’s suspension and steering components. Instead of a U-turn, the Hiriko can do an O-turn.

The lack of an engine or motor up front means the driver and passenger can exit through the front of the car, allowing it to fold in the middle and park nose-to-kerb in a spot that would usually require parallel parking.

The two-seater, which has a 100km range, will be initially trialled in Spain as part of an inner city car sharing scheme. The car’s lithium-ion batteries are placed low in the floor of the car, which frees up passenger and luggage space while keeping the centre of gravity low. Its makers say the car can be recharged either at home, in the office or by parking in special recharging spaces.

And the good news is that the car is feasible for driving on Australian roads. The steering column can be ordered either on the left- or right-hand side. The trial will start in the Spanish city of Bilbao, but others are planned for Boston in the United States and Malmo in Sweden. ( sydney morning herald )

READ MORE - The Folding Electric Car