I’m mostly thinking about a scenario where you are going down a highway (say, at 120kmh for the sake of the example) and suddenly your brakes fail
could shifting to Reverse function as a brake in that situation?
edit: thank you all for the answers, I want to note that I myself don’t drive and did not consider doing this, I was just wondering if this was possible
have a lovely day o/
In: 11
It depends on the type of vehicle and the transmission. The short answer is yes it’s possible in some cases but probably not the safest or most effective way to slow down especially at high speeds.
If you’re going really fast and driving a manual transmission vehicle you would be better shifting down through the gears one by one to bring your speed down before going into reverse, so that engine braking can take some of the speed out without damaging the car too much. By the time you got to 1st gear you should be able to get the speed down to about 40kph or less that way.
If you put the car straight into reverse you would be relying entirely on the friction in the clutch plate to absorb the kinetic energy of the moving vehicle, which at very high speeds would mean almost instant damage to the clutch because the vehicle is heavy and fast, so lots of energy, and the clutch plate is small and not very massive at all so it would end up getting very hot and deforming or fracturing.
In an automatic vehicle there’s usually a block on putting the it in reverse whilst moving forwards so it might not be possible to put the vehicle into reverse at all. If you were able to do it, similar would apply but you’d find it harder to downchange to lose speed before going into reverse and probably cause more expensive damage.
In either case, going straight to reverse might affect the steering making it more likely you’d go off the road or hit someone else, so it would be very dangerous.
A better strategy would be to stay off the accelerator so your vehicle is slowed by air resistance and try and direct your vehicle uphill if possible; you might be able to use the handbrake to absorb some of the energy once your speed had reduced.
But the best strategy here would be to maintain your vehicle regularly so the brakes don’t fail in the first place.
Automatic transmissions usually don’t allow to shift in reverse while the vehicle is moving forward. Manual transmissions would take damage when you shift the gears in the opposite direction, breaking gears without stopping the car.
However with manual transmission, just releasing the clutch and gas pedal, and maybe shifting down one gear before that, will engage engine breaking which is the regular friction of the engine. This has noteworthy effect.
Automatic transmissions usually don’t allow to shift in reverse while the vehicle is moving forward. Manual transmissions would take damage when you shift the gears in the opposite direction, breaking gears without stopping the car.
However with manual transmission, just releasing the clutch and gas pedal, and maybe shifting down one gear before that, will engage engine breaking which is the regular friction of the engine. This has noteworthy effect.
No, you probably can’t and definitely shouldn’t.
For automatic transmissions, almost any modern car would not allow it. (Shifting is done electronically).
For manual transmission, it would likely be very difficult to do. Going forward at 120kph, it would almost certainly destroy the clutch and gearbox if it happened. The shock will almost certainly lock the driven wheel (front or rear) and cause the car to go into an uncontrolled spin.
It would be far safer to downshift, try the emergency brakes, and use nearby terrain (guardrails or soft verges) to try to slow the vehicle down. Maintaining good car control and not panicking is the best way to manage the situation.
No, in a manual transmission you simply won’t be able to, the gears are turn the wrong direction. In an automatic when you are going faster than around 5mph a reverse inhibitor keeps the transmission from engaging reverse. What you should do is select a lower gear so the engine will slow you down. Downshift if you have a manual, or with an automatic many cars will let you select 1st and 2nd gear. Also you can use your emergency brake, that’s what it’s for, just be careful with it because it can lock your tires causing you to slide, be ready to release it if you lock your tires.
No, in a manual transmission you simply won’t be able to, the gears are turn the wrong direction. In an automatic when you are going faster than around 5mph a reverse inhibitor keeps the transmission from engaging reverse. What you should do is select a lower gear so the engine will slow you down. Downshift if you have a manual, or with an automatic many cars will let you select 1st and 2nd gear. Also you can use your emergency brake, that’s what it’s for, just be careful with it because it can lock your tires causing you to slide, be ready to release it if you lock your tires.
No, you probably can’t and definitely shouldn’t.
For automatic transmissions, almost any modern car would not allow it. (Shifting is done electronically).
For manual transmission, it would likely be very difficult to do. Going forward at 120kph, it would almost certainly destroy the clutch and gearbox if it happened. The shock will almost certainly lock the driven wheel (front or rear) and cause the car to go into an uncontrolled spin.
It would be far safer to downshift, try the emergency brakes, and use nearby terrain (guardrails or soft verges) to try to slow the vehicle down. Maintaining good car control and not panicking is the best way to manage the situation.
If you have a manual transmission you just need to stop applying gas and have the current great engaging and the engine works like a break. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_braking It worked fine for a four-stroke gasoline engine and for some diesel engines. I have no idea how it works with an automatic gearbox.
Shifting down will increase the force needed to drive the engine around because the RPM increase. Shifting down to a to low gear will get the RPM to high and it can damage the engine. So just shift down so the RPM are keeptreasonable.
Shifting to reverse is a bad idea because it will force the engine to go on the other direction. There will be a lot of force on the engine and clutch and gearbox when you do that. It might be the case that the image gets damaged if it is go in the reverse. But even if there is no damage you end up with practically the same RPM as if you had first gear and you risk damaging the engine so just avoid it.
No, you probably can’t and definitely shouldn’t.
For automatic transmissions, almost any modern car would not allow it. (Shifting is done electronically).
For manual transmission, it would likely be very difficult to do. Going forward at 120kph, it would almost certainly destroy the clutch and gearbox if it happened. The shock will almost certainly lock the driven wheel (front or rear) and cause the car to go into an uncontrolled spin.
It would be far safer to downshift, try the emergency brakes, and use nearby terrain (guardrails or soft verges) to try to slow the vehicle down. Maintaining good car control and not panicking is the best way to manage the situation.
If you have a manual transmission you just need to stop applying gas and have the current great engaging and the engine works like a break. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_braking It worked fine for a four-stroke gasoline engine and for some diesel engines. I have no idea how it works with an automatic gearbox.
Shifting down will increase the force needed to drive the engine around because the RPM increase. Shifting down to a to low gear will get the RPM to high and it can damage the engine. So just shift down so the RPM are keeptreasonable.
Shifting to reverse is a bad idea because it will force the engine to go on the other direction. There will be a lot of force on the engine and clutch and gearbox when you do that. It might be the case that the image gets damaged if it is go in the reverse. But even if there is no damage you end up with practically the same RPM as if you had first gear and you risk damaging the engine so just avoid it.
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