Shifting From N To D

[paolo137]

Hi everybody!
This morning I had my baby through the Italian version of the MOT test, and the inspector drew my attention to something I'd never noticed before.
He said that the Lexus is the only car he knows of that has no security check on the brake when shifting from N to D. As to say, if you have the car idling in N (possibly with the parking brake), you can move the gear stick to D and have the car start moving, even if you don't press the brake pedal, as you would do shifting from P to D, say.
I pointed out that in 9 years I'd never left my car in N for a single second: when I have to stand still for a while I simply put the gear in P and let the engine idle.
Of course, that's just the way the car is built, and mot test was passed with flying colours; anyway, I was wondering if this behaviour is really so unusual on cars with automatic tranny (of which I have little experience).
Particularly, it strikes me that a car conceived for the american market would underestimate the importance of such a feature. Maybe, the "brake pedal check" became mandatory later on (my Lex is a mark 1, now 13 years old...)
Just wanted to share this and get your thoughts about it ;)

[katabrontes]

I had never thought about this either. I have just checked my old Toyota Surf (same as 4 runner in UK) and its exactly the same. Maybe its a Toyota thing but I doubt it.

[DanD]

I am surprised by your technician's comments. I am pretty sure that all automatics that I have driven allowed you to shift from N to D (and also from N to R) without applying the brakes.

The reason I am positive about this is that I once got stuck in sand with an automatic. I was able to get out of it by quickly switching from R to D to R (via N) a number of times, thus provoking a rocking motion that eventually allowed the car to get out of the rut it was in.

[paolo137]

I've done a quick search on the net, but could not find much about this topic.

I did find a Honda owners manual that clearly stated to press the brake pedal when going from N to D/R. However, this might mean two different things:

a) applying the brakes is advisable for a safety reason, as you are putting the car in motion

b )if you don't apply the brakes, tranny won't go from N to D/R - period

Also, as automatic transmission was extremely uncommon in Italy until a few years ago (something related to a real macho having control of his stick, I guess... ), maybe the inspector I met was familiar only with the most recent automatics, which are more electronic than mechanic and might behave in a different way than my old 3 gears + OD...

[tameracingdriver]

I've driven lots of Automatics and never had a shift lock on N-D. The only time I ever had to use the footbrake was to shift out of P.

[ColinBarber]

I've never heard of a shift lock for N to D operated by the brake pedal. That would be dangerous as you could accidentally go from D to N and then not be able to put it back into D without braking.

Do you have to press your shift selector button to move from N to D? That is the only safety feature required.

[paolo137]

Actually, no. I have that button on the selector, though. According to the owner's manual, it is fitted only on the cars with the steering wheel on the left (EU/USA). It is required to go from 2 to 1, for instance, but not from N to D.

I have also tried an Audi A6 with tiptronic: selector will not go from N to D unless you apply on the brake pedal.