> some automatic transmissions require the brake pedal to be depressed [to start]
Hmm, I was always told to do so when I was learning to drive. At some point I stopped doing so and it’s never been an issue, should I be stepping on the brakes when starting my car?
If it’s a push button ignition you have to, so almost all new vehicles. On keyed automatics, no. There are VERY few cars on the road that would start in drive or reverse or low. This is an old warning.
Manuals on the other hand, again, almost all have a clutch interlock to start, but a lot of trucks and jeeps can have clutch defeats and will move when the starter is hit while parked in gear. It’s pretty dumb, but there are tiny scenarios off road you might want that. Most people just don’t want to press the clutch to start for some reason. In many of these vehicles it’s as simple as pulling a fuse.
For safety, yes. This prevents the car from lurching forward (or backward) if you start it thinking the transmission is in park/neutral, when it is actually in gear.
Most modern cars have a lockout, preventing you from starting the engine unless the brake (or clutch) is pressed. However, some older cars do not have this feature.
Automotive EE here… I don’t think this is correct. If you are talking pre-electronic shift, your transmission still has position sensors and the engine or trans control module will not allow start while engaged. All vehicles have interlocks for this. Post electronic shift, it’s no question at all. You would need at least two errors in two completely separate circuits to get the vehicle to start in gear. Believe it or not, we think about these things.
For very very old transmissions, it’s probably possible to get this error, but nothing after 1995-1997.
I may be misunderstanding what you're saying, but many modern cars I've driven will still allow themselves to be started in gear.
It happened to me quite frequently until I built up the muscle memory for always starting with the clutch in, and occasionally still does if I forget (I drive a lot of hire cars).
But... If you are talking mtx (manual), which ones?
Because in 20 years of this industry I've never seen anything that didn't ship with a clutch interlock. So unless we're going back to pre-1997 - OR - you are in an "export market" like Asia, I am not aware of the models you're thinking of.
I'm not sure what an "export market" is, but I'm in the UK. Our cars seemed to have fewer automatic features for longer than other markets, for example cruise control was fairly rare until quite recently. I don't think I encountered a clutch interlock until 2015-ish (except on motorbikes) - I thought the car was broken.
I don't remember models specifically because I drive a different car each time, but I only got my driving license in 2007 and have had had the lurch happen as recently as last month (of course I have the handbrake on so it doesn't actually lurch, just stall). It might have been a VW T6 or a Vauxhall Vivaro, no more than a couple years old.
Certainly my mum's 2004 Daihatsu and my sister's 2008 Renault didn't have a clutch interlock. It's by far the exception that I need to engage the clutch before starter in all cases, but it could be in some cases that they would only require the clutch when also in gear.
Cars here still often fundamentally work similar to my first car (1998 Escort). Manual turn key ignition, able to start the engine by disengaging the clutch at speed, possible to stall at speed, put it into neutral then then restart the engine while driving, etc.
Mainly it's when driving hybrids that they seem a lot stricter.
Hmm, I was always told to do so when I was learning to drive. At some point I stopped doing so and it’s never been an issue, should I be stepping on the brakes when starting my car?