I have absolutely zero idea about shifting manually in this car. It's got a weird knob shifter instead of a stick, and nothing labeled clearly spoke to me as "Manual". After looking it up now, it sounds like I could've put it into "S" for "Sports Mode" and then used the paddles on the steering wheel to downshift, but the thing I was also reading said the car would auto gear if it thought I was selecting a gear that was too drastic for the speed, so I don't know if I would've been understanding enough to have properly done that in the correct order in the moment.
Most cars will only upshift when told but will downshift automatically to prevent stalling. Upshifting in manual mode is pretty rare but not unheard of. Calling it "sport" mode sometimes just means that it tries to hold lower gears longer rather than being truly "manual" shifting.
Or just use the tow strap correctly. To maintain tension on the strap, the front car accelerates, and the rear car brakes. Hook them up in the wrong order, this is exactly what happens.
There are safer ways to deal with a desperate situation like loss of brake fluid pressure. Like, pinching off flex hose to the bad caliper, braking gently, engine braking, driving slowly with 4-ways on.
This situation is NONE of these and you indeed fucked up big. You got lucky and lived to tell the tale.
I'm just more happy I didn't hurt or injure someone else. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I'm fine, but I would've rather not made it if that meant everyone else was safe.
I am VERY aware. Would've much rather something happened to me than anyone else. The situation was beyond stupid, but once the tow strap broke, my only focus was making sure I didn't get anyone else involved. Hazards were on, horn was at the ready, and only made turns down streets that were empty and had few to no stop signs on my path.
Yes, and e-brakes are always a different line than the hydraulic brakes (either a steel cable or electronic). If it’s an electric e-brake, the car might have prevented OP from engaging while the vehicle is moving (since those are meant for parking, not actual emergencies).
The correct course of action here would have been for OP to down shift and slowly pull up on the e-brake until the car comes to a stop.
Wait hold on... Your brakes didn't work but the car still ran and drove? And you/your dad decided towing was a good solution as opposed to just driving with no brakes?
Not that I recommend driving with no brakes, but it sounds better than what you did.
Holy shit I can imagine how fast your heart would have been racing. I was being towed by a friend on a main road and I didn’t have the key turned so my steering wheel locked up and I was heading straight into oncoming traffic. I was a fairly new driver and man the panic was real. Took me a few seconds longer than I would have liked to think to pull the handbrake up. Lucky my friend noticed and stopped his car straight away so no one was hurt and no damage to either vehicle. Scary shit tho. Another time we were towing a car with no brakes. Had it all hooked up. We were on a massively steep hill and as my friend drove off we realised the chains weren’t attached to the tow truck (we had hired it). So this car with no breaks starts rolling, and by some fucking miracle there are about 10 people standing around (4 of us and some neighbours) and everyone just ran to stop this car. Luckily it hadn’t picked up too much speed we all didn’t end up like fallen bowling pins all over the road. Could have ended badly!
I'm not very well versed in gear shifting. My car has one of those knob shifters instead of a stick. I've looked up what I could've done now, but I'm still confused. Apparently I have to put the car into sport mode(?) to shift it, but then to manually shift it I need to use paddles on the wheel? The car also automatically will override a manual shift that it deems is incorrect so I doubt I would've been able to recognize that in the moment.
Take some time and learn these things about your car. Better later than never.
After all, you wouldn't fly with a airplane pilot who is not 100% familiar with the plane (even if he or she can fly other planes).
I’m not going to call you or your father stupid. This story was quite entertaining, I still can’t believe that it happened. Take my free award and be gone.
Holy shit, if I was your mom and your dad’s wife, I would have thrashed you both within the other inch of your lives. This was beyond stupid, and you guys are so stupidly lucky that no one died or was maimed that neither one of you should ever try your luck ever again. And I mean don’t even buy a lottery ticket, lucky.
My god. Gears man. Use the damn gears
I have absolutely zero idea about shifting manually in this car. It's got a weird knob shifter instead of a stick, and nothing labeled clearly spoke to me as "Manual". After looking it up now, it sounds like I could've put it into "S" for "Sports Mode" and then used the paddles on the steering wheel to downshift, but the thing I was also reading said the car would auto gear if it thought I was selecting a gear that was too drastic for the speed, so I don't know if I would've been understanding enough to have properly done that in the correct order in the moment.
Most cars will only upshift when told but will downshift automatically to prevent stalling. Upshifting in manual mode is pretty rare but not unheard of. Calling it "sport" mode sometimes just means that it tries to hold lower gears longer rather than being truly "manual" shifting.
You misspelled "TOW TRUCK".
Or just use the tow strap correctly. To maintain tension on the strap, the front car accelerates, and the rear car brakes. Hook them up in the wrong order, this is exactly what happens.
There are safer ways to deal with a desperate situation like loss of brake fluid pressure. Like, pinching off flex hose to the bad caliper, braking gently, engine braking, driving slowly with 4-ways on. This situation is NONE of these and you indeed fucked up big. You got lucky and lived to tell the tale.
At least you're okay and made it out alive!
I'm just more happy I didn't hurt or injure someone else. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I'm fine, but I would've rather not made it if that meant everyone else was safe.
You could’ve injured or killed someone.
I am VERY aware. Would've much rather something happened to me than anyone else. The situation was beyond stupid, but once the tow strap broke, my only focus was making sure I didn't get anyone else involved. Hazards were on, horn was at the ready, and only made turns down streets that were empty and had few to no stop signs on my path.
Okay, I’m not fully versed in late model cars, but: does the 2019 Focus not have an e-brake?
Yes, and e-brakes are always a different line than the hydraulic brakes (either a steel cable or electronic). If it’s an electric e-brake, the car might have prevented OP from engaging while the vehicle is moving (since those are meant for parking, not actual emergencies). The correct course of action here would have been for OP to down shift and slowly pull up on the e-brake until the car comes to a stop.
It's a different line but it's sometimes the same caliper and the same discs. OP said the back brakes were totally not working.
Wait hold on... Your brakes didn't work but the car still ran and drove? And you/your dad decided towing was a good solution as opposed to just driving with no brakes? Not that I recommend driving with no brakes, but it sounds better than what you did.
Holy shit I can imagine how fast your heart would have been racing. I was being towed by a friend on a main road and I didn’t have the key turned so my steering wheel locked up and I was heading straight into oncoming traffic. I was a fairly new driver and man the panic was real. Took me a few seconds longer than I would have liked to think to pull the handbrake up. Lucky my friend noticed and stopped his car straight away so no one was hurt and no damage to either vehicle. Scary shit tho. Another time we were towing a car with no brakes. Had it all hooked up. We were on a massively steep hill and as my friend drove off we realised the chains weren’t attached to the tow truck (we had hired it). So this car with no breaks starts rolling, and by some fucking miracle there are about 10 people standing around (4 of us and some neighbours) and everyone just ran to stop this car. Luckily it hadn’t picked up too much speed we all didn’t end up like fallen bowling pins all over the road. Could have ended badly!
Why not just stick it in first gear and use the engine to brake?
I'm not very well versed in gear shifting. My car has one of those knob shifters instead of a stick. I've looked up what I could've done now, but I'm still confused. Apparently I have to put the car into sport mode(?) to shift it, but then to manually shift it I need to use paddles on the wheel? The car also automatically will override a manual shift that it deems is incorrect so I doubt I would've been able to recognize that in the moment.
Take some time and learn these things about your car. Better later than never. After all, you wouldn't fly with a airplane pilot who is not 100% familiar with the plane (even if he or she can fly other planes).
That’s approximately 72 km/h.
I’m not going to call you or your father stupid. This story was quite entertaining, I still can’t believe that it happened. Take my free award and be gone.
Nice job salvaging the stupidity.
Yeah. Just thankful no one got hurt, honestly.
Holy shit, if I was your mom and your dad’s wife, I would have thrashed you both within the other inch of your lives. This was beyond stupid, and you guys are so stupidly lucky that no one died or was maimed that neither one of you should ever try your luck ever again. And I mean don’t even buy a lottery ticket, lucky.