Bongo Fury

im new to my Bongo. recently i was parked on a hill facing down and put it into R but the bongo rolled forward, this seemed a little odd as i thot it would have an automatic brake. any suggestions really welcomed
sammy

No automatic brake, just something similar to a slipping clutch. If the hill is steep enough it will roll backwards in Drive with the engine idling too. Best to use the handbrake. If the engine is stopped, use the Park position AND the handbrake.

Dave

It's not a manual, so no clutch to hold it - you should use P (Park)

i dont think i explained myself well in my last post. problem was i was trying to reverse up a hill but the bongo moved forward as soon as i took my foot off the accelerator. the hill want particularly steep. is this normla.
thanks

Yes, same as it will roll backwards in D - depends on what you mean by not particularly steep.

Should it actually roll ackwards in drive ?
No other automatic I have had has ever done that.
Not actually checked if my Bongo will roll backwards in drive, but if it does, and if that's normal, why is it different from other Auto cars ?

It will roll backwards if its on a steep enough incline

If its level and the brake if off it crawls forward if on an incline it holds steady if its steep it will roll back or put a bit more revs on to hold it

Same in reverse if facing backward up a hill

I've been driving virtually nothing but Automatics for over 15 years.

I never use the handbrake unless parking with the engine turned off. I rarely do anything other than put it into D at the start of a jouney and P when I have finished.

The trick when a hill is steeper than the auto will hold on (whether in D or R) is to use left foot braking.

2. Hold the Bongo in D (or R), on the brake with your left foot
3. Press down the accelerator until you feel the drive begin to 'bite'
4. Release the footbrake like you would with a clutch on a manual car
5. Drive away with no fuss

This technique works on my VERY steep drive on all the auto vehicles I have owned, including our new Murvi with a robotised manual box without a clutch pedal.

In the land of the Automatic car, the USA, the handbrake is a 'parking brake', many cars have foot parking brakes.
My current Toyota car and previous Mercedes autos have a foot parking brake so you can't use it when driving.

WARNING. I don't recommend left foot braking - some Americans who exclusively drive autos do it. But the technique above is brilliant for hill starts.

I tried left foot braking while driving, nightmare, not a natural thing at all But as Trev says this works for hill starts great, just like using a clutch.

My driveway appears to be a bit steeper again than Trevd01's (but shorter) and I also do what I call a "traditional" hill start but I invariably keep the hand brake on until the last minute as well just to be on the safe side.

I usually do this anywhere I have to do a hill start - a lot of the hills round here are very steep indeed including ones with those silly speed pinchy things where you have to stop and give way to oncoming traffic. Don't know whether I'm saving any wear and tear on the gear box, but I like to think so.

Am reassured to know that I am not the only one (a) with a heavy vehicle parked on a steep drive and (b) doing the type of hill start that one would normally associate with a manual gearbox.

Lovely photo by the way.

Hi
i must say, that most autos I've had have rolled given the right amount of slope...including my 4.2 Jag years ago. I have had handbrakes let go on cars, when you think the handbrake has engaged its ratchet and hasn't, and in "fly-off" handbrakes on minis.
I always park on steep slopes facing downwards where possible, and the front wheels turned into the kerb if there is one...if not I chock the wheels with a wooden wedge. I had carried a brick round for wheel chocking, but a policeman friend said that this would be considered illegal....ah well...what we do in innocence.
I never have used left-foot braking on an auto, as I don't want to upset any sensors...but on manual cars I used to use left-foot braking quite a lot.
Cheers
Helen

Alison01326 wrote: Am reassured to know that I am not the only one (a) with a heavy vehicle parked on a steep drive and (b) doing the type of hill start that one would normally associate with a manual gearbox.

Heavy vehicle - our Murvi is over 3 Tonnes...



But we do use what in Yorkshire are called 'Wagon Chocks' (search on eBay for Truck Chocks)
- these are heavy duty rubber and rated 10 Tonnes

Alison01326 wrote: Lovely photo by the way.

Thank you - taken in a snow storm this winter - the flash went off and it bounced of the snow flakes. The picture of the Murvi above is the same scene taken today.

Heavy vehicle - our Murvi is over 3 Tonnes...

But we do use what in Yorkshire are called 'Wagon Chocks' (search on eBay for Truck Chocks)
- these are heavy duty rubber and rated 10 Tonnes


Funnily enough I was thinking of the Murvi!! And that's a lovely photo too.

I've got some little plastic chocks and we've also got some bits of wood cut into wedges (well, they're not bits, they are two halves what was left of the newell posts we didn't use when we had a new bannister.

I generally use neither, and in fact the plastic chocks are used to stop my son's bicycle falling out of the back of the Bongo when I open the boot (he's only little so the bike's got stabilisers and therefore is vertical in the back).

I'm surprised that chocks aren't bigger business round here - hardly anyone has a level drive (or a level garden for that matter). I lived away for a bit, and parked on the street (a level one) but my parents' house has a long steep drive up to the road, my first house in Truro had a similar drive to the one I have now only going the other way (down to the road). You tend to get used to either a view of the garage door or the sky depending on which way you are reversing. I reverse the Bongo on to our drive so I can drive out otherwise I can see nothing until I have actually hit it (we live on a bend).