I’m practicing for my driving licence and I’m going to driving school, just out of curiosity though I’ve looking on YouTube how to start and run a car and I’ve seen at least 3 different methods, I dunno which one is the correct. Things like the order when you release a pedal or when you need to press the clutch keep switching…
Think about it this way: in the unlikely event that your parking brake fails while you’re parked, which direction is gravity going to make the car roll? Park in the gear that opposes that roll. So if you’re facing up an incline, park in first gear. If you’re facing down, park in reverse. If you’re on an absolutely flat surface, park in whichever you want.
By the way, this isn’t just a good idea for hills, but for uneven driveways or parking lots.
I am still in the habit of turning my wheels in when I park on a hill.
You don’t need to put it in the gear opposite to the direction it’ll roll. Generally you want to put it in the gear with the lowest ratio (which in my car I think is first), as that will require the most amount of force to turn the engine. But also some engines shouldn’t be rotated backwards because that might damage them. So that would mean put it in first facing downhill or reverse facing uphill.
That’s how I always did it, using the shifted gear as a secondary brake just in case, opposite of whatever incline I was on. But I learned back when pumping the brakes was also considered a skill you had to learn, so maybe it doesn’t apply with more modern cars?