When To Use Automatic P & N?

As a newbie to automatic transmission I'm a little confused as to when to select certain settings.

For instance I know that the car reverts back to P when the engine is turned off so does that mean the car ALWAYS defaults to P along with the park brake being applied when you switch off the engine? So theres no need to manually select this before switching off? Or would you want to engage the park brake manually just to be sure if for example you happen to be parked on a steep hill before you switch off the engine? If not then I don't really see the point in having a P setting or park brake to select at all.

And does park brake or hand brake always come on automatically with P selected?

Similar thing with the N setting really. I don't really see much of a point to this on an automatic apart from maybe to stop the car from rolling forward at traffic lights.

Am I missing something here or are these settings largely superfluous on an automatic?

It always goes to P when you stop the engine, it has to as there is no key so its a safety feature. For example, my automatic Audi had the same kind of electronic brake but when I stopped the engine but didn't put it in P , it would not let me remove the key until I move it to P.

As for N, if I am sitting in a long queue of traffic and not moving, I would put it in N to save strain on the engine and gearbox. It all depends on your style of driving, you can manually select P if you are sitting in a queue for example and when you then engage D to move off, it will release the break for you which is a nice feature

Hopefully might help - An automatic car wont start in gear and will only start in N or P so given that the gear selection on the Evoque is electronic it has to default to P if you switch the car off while still in gear or you would never get it to start again - ever!

The park brake / handbrake always comes on when you select P which is slightly unusual in an automatic. In older automatics selecting P used to lock up the gearbox and acted like putting the handbrake on. The down side to this was that most people then never used the actual handbrake and usually at the first MOT found they had a substantial bill to fix the seized handbrake. Possible that LR has either linked the electronic park brake to the P setting so that the park brake gets regular use and stays in a working order or possibly (and likely) that the newer auto box does not lock up like the older transmissions so there is a need for the park brake to activate.

You are right about the Neutral setting - sort of. You really need neutral in a gearbox. The last answer sort of leads to it, if you need to move the car (say it has broken down - not that an Evoque ever will of course) there would be no way of having it recovered if it was either in gear or park as all the wheels would be locked up so select neutral and it can be towed onto the recovery truck. Also needed for maintenance such as changing rear brake components where P is no good as it would apply the park brake. Another really annoying thing that a lot of car drivers do (automatic and manual cars) is sitting at lights and other lengthy stationary periods with their foot on the brake blinding everyone behind them - put it in P or N with the park brake on and take your foot off the brake pedal. Sounds minor (and clearly too much bother for most folk) but by doing this, it takes the fluid pressure off the gearbox internals and could prolong its life. It also stops the brake pads creating a 'hot spot' on the discs which in time could lead to premature warping. I could give a few more examples but Im sure your getting the idea.

(12-04-2012 10:50am)BobM Wrote:  Hopefully might help - An automatic car wont start in gear and will only start in N or P so given that the gear selection on the Evoque is electronic it has to default to P if you switch the car off while still in gear or you would never get it to start again - ever!

The park brake / handbrake always comes on when you select P which is slightly unusual in an automatic. In older automatics selecting P used to lock up the gearbox and acted like putting the handbrake on. The down side to this was that most people then never used the actual handbrake and usually at the first MOT found they had a substantial bill to fix the seized handbrake. Possible that LR has either linked the electronic park brake to the P setting so that the park brake gets regular use and stays in a working order or possibly (and likely) that the newer auto box does not lock up like the older transmissions so there is a need for the park brake to activate.

You are right about the Neutral setting - sort of. You really need neutral in a gearbox. The last answer sort of leads to it, if you need to move the car (say it has broken down - not that an Evoque ever will of course) there would be no way of having it recovered if it was either in gear or park as all the wheels would be locked up so select neutral and it can be towed onto the recovery truck. Also needed for maintenance such as changing rear brake components where P is no good as it would apply the park brake. Another really annoying thing that a lot of car drivers do (automatic and manual cars) is sitting at lights and other lengthy stationary periods with their foot on the brake blinding everyone behind them - put it in P or N with the park brake on and take your foot off the brake pedal. Sounds minor (and clearly too much bother for most folk) but by doing this, it takes the fluid pressure off the gearbox internals and could prolong its life. It also stops the brake pads creating a 'hot spot' on the discs which in time could lead to premature warping. I could give a few more examples but Im sure your getting the idea.

For Stef.c's benefit we should point out that getting the car in neutral for towing is not quite straightforward, because, as you have pointed out, the ignition needs to be on to select neutral. Apparently the answer is to pull the 'change up (+)' flappy paddle for 12 seconds, although I can't vouch for this as I haven't tried it.

Yep fair point but I wasnt really trying to get that deep into it, just hoping to point out a few key issues for somebody who hasnt owned or driven an automatic before (and those others who sit with their foot on the brakes at the lights ). Wouldnt ever advise towing an automatic RRE anyway due to the fact that even if you can get it into neutral it appears the gearbox will automatically default into P after about 10 minutes (Handbook Page 217) only meant getting it into N to get it on the recovery wagon.

Thanks for these replies! It helps a little more with my understanding of the basics.

Still think it is slightly unnecessary to have the actual park brake lever though. Like you say, you could use the this along with neutral at a red traffic light or when stationary for a long period but wouldnt it be easier just to use P?

From what I understand Neutral+Parking Brake=P setting. So why have a separate park brake option at all? You would only use this when the gears were disengaged anyway.

If you use N and park brake it just means another switch to press before you can get going again...

You are sort of correct but every car must have an independent park brake. MOT regulations requires every car must have a fitted and working parking brake and this has to be independent of any gearbox brake. The manual states - the vehicle has a parking brake designed to prevent at least two wheels from turning. Im sure the car manufacurers would rather go with your theory though as there would be a decent cost saving for them.

(12-04-2012 11:23am)BobM Wrote:  Wouldnt ever advise towing an automatic RRE anyway due to the fact that even if you can get it into neutral it appears the gearbox will automatically default into P after about 10 minutes (Handbook Page 217) only meant getting it into N to get it on the recovery wagon.

It is this 'default' back to 'P' that people have been trying to get round for towing, and, apparently, the 'upshift paddle for 12 seconds' is the answer. This information came from the chap who posted on here about filling his car with petrol instead of diesel, and, in turn, it was an LR dealer towing him that showed him how to do it.

(12-04-2012 11:37am)stef.c Wrote:  If you use N and park brake it just means another switch to press before you can get going again...

My understanding is the park brake automatically releases when you drive away.

(12-04-2012 01:29pm)BTS18 Wrote:  My understanding is the park brake automatically releases when you drive away.

Ok that makes more sense now. I guess it would be more beneficial to go to N when at traffic lights and engage parking brake as you can quickly switch back to D when you want to go and presumably parking brake automatically disengages. P is a few more clicks away, so a little more fiddly.