how do you park your car with an F1 transmission? On level ground.........in neutral or in first gear?
In N with the handbrake applied and if its a steep incline with the wheels angled in favor of the kerb.
If you don't park the car in gear, you get a warning beep. Park on the flat if you can. If you park on an incline you should always turn the wheels of the car so it will roll into the curb as with any car. Always set the hand brake with your foot on the brake pedal before shutting off the engine to take the pressure off of the transmission. (M-B owners manual).
I leave it in first also, per page 90 of the owner's Manual! An F1 is the same as a manual transmission.
I for one have never owned any ferrari old or modern which had a decent parking brake. Even the 360 with the calipers on the rear disks seem to not work so well. I'm a big believer in parking in gear A friend of mine's 355 ended up across the street in a neighbors garden after he left it parked on his inclined driveway with just the parking brake on. Amazingly it was undamaged.
Sorry, if I am being a jerk, but these questions constantly amaze me!! Please read your owners manual, all the answers are in the book!! Yes, always park in gear, with parking brake. The only time you would not use the parking brake would be after some hot laps at the track, but still park in gear. You can warp the rotors if they are to hot and you engage the parking brake. The first two hours of ownership I spent reading the owners manual, its invaluable information! Robert
Never trust your emergency brake! Several yrs. ago my 355 went down my street. $16,000 in damages. FNA never admitted its part failed. USAA paid entire claim.
On my 355 F1 Spider I was instructed to park in neutral per the owners manual. I always worried about the car rolling like your friend. As others have noted, the manual for a 430 Spider has revised this to park in 1st gear.
What about if you stop for a valet? I keep it in neutral with the e-break on because I am afraid of getting out of the car with it in first gear and the engine on. Any thoughts?
You simple leave your foot on the brake while the car is in 1st gear and trun the engine off. Mission accomplished! They actually outline the whole procedure in the owners manual. By the way this was the same procedure and recommendation from BMW with the SMG trans in the E60 M5. Robert
IF you do park it in gear, remember to put it into N before trying to start. I usually park in N, and one time it was in 1 and I had a panic attack when my car wouldn't start......LOL......
The F1 system on both the 360 and the F430 will "find" neutral automaticlally as soon as the key is turned. No need to manually shift into neutral.
