Demise of the handbrake.

[Pblakeney]

I have had my current car for 8 years which is manual and has no handbrake. It does have hill hold. It is the first car without a handbrake that I have owned in 46 years of driving. In all those 8 years I have not missed having the handbrake once.

 

[Hacienda71]

My Passat is a manual with an automatic handbrake. Great most of the time. Hill assist just works. It also puts on the brake light when in use which seems sensible.
The weirdest set up I had was a manual Mercedes with a foot actuated hand brake with hand operated release. You got use to it after a while as you do.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

My Kodiaq has an electric handbrake
I wasn't too keen on initially
However, it's useful in queuing traffic, as I'm still one of those who selects neutral & applies the handbrake
The 'auto-release' is useful in that situation; put it into gear, & it releases at biting point
The refusal to release it, if the door was open seemed an issue, & it did take me a while to figure out that the over-ride button provided the function
It also 'auto-applies' when the footbrake is used, which works as a 'hill-start', handy with a loaded trailer (or a caravan)

 

[Bristolian]

My E-class has a foot operated, mechanical parking brake (doesn't feel right calling it a hand brake) that operates on the back wheels and also a "Hold" feature that essentially maintains brake pressure to keep all four brakes engaged when you stop and give the brake pedal a short push. Another push on the brake pedal or slight pressure on the accelerator cancels the hold and the car drives normally. This hold function is very convenient but it keeps the brake lights on which can be very annoying for drivers behind in a queue at night. Downright blinding at times as the brake lights are LED and because of this I tend to use the parking brake at night and the hold function during the day.

I have a question for all the people with automatic handbrakes that release when you start to pull away. What happens if you're stopped at a traffic light (for example) and the auto-handbrake is engaged and then someone hits you up the rear hard enough to cause the car to move forwards? Does the handbrake think you're moving off and release (potentially putting you in danger) or does it stay engaged bringing you to an abrupt stop again? Just curious.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have a button handbrake on mine - it is an auto

which is not that useful really
the better option is the "Brake Hold" feature
so when you stop and press the brake pedal (as you probably have done) then it hold the brakes on until you press the accelerator

I do worry if that last bit keeps the brake lights on - it probably does


main problem is that the Autostart/stop thing can make the car roll backwards if it cuts out and you are press the accelerator assuming the car will move forward - the engine is so quite that you ofetn do not notice that the autos/s has cut the engine!
The Brake Hold stops this problem

Problem with Brake Hold is that it does it off by default so I have to engage it every time I start the car
and the Autostarts/s is always on by default

 

[Pblakeney]

Problem with Brake Hold is that it does it off by default so I have to engage it every time I start the car
and the Autostarts/s is always on by default

That really is the dumbest combination of defaults. 🤔

 

[Pblakeney]

I have a question for all the people with automatic handbrakes that release when you start to pull away. What happens if you're stopped at a traffic light (for example) and the auto-handbrake is engaged and then someone hits you up the rear hard enough to cause the car to move forwards? Does the handbrake think you're moving off and release (potentially putting you in danger) or does it stay engaged bringing you to an abrupt stop again? Just curious.

Can't really answer as it's to happened yet but I guess the most important part is what you do with your feet when rear ended.
The car will respond if you hit any of the pedals but I think nothing will happen if you don't.

 

[mickle]

When i lived in America my Econoline van had a parking brake which was activated by a pedal you pushed down with your left foot and a button release on the floor. Obviously designed for use with an automatic, in a manual it made hill starts extremely challenging. Not a problem in New York where i bought it, but a nightmare in LA. Unless you had three legs. Which I don't

 

[MontyVeda]

A handbrake only has one function: to do skids.
...

The point of having two separate braking systems is in case one of them failed.
Will one of the modern electronic handbrake buttons perform an emergency stop (skid) if the hydraulic system packs up?

 

[raleighnut]

When I worked at the garage we used to have loads of trouble with the SAAB 99 and early 900's failing the MOT because of excessive lever travel on the handbrake, when the cables are properly adjusted with a 15 thou feeler gauge they have 6 clicks to fully applied and they're on the front wheels. We had customers take their cars to MOT stations (our garage didn't do MOT's) now if we took a car to our local MOT station they knew about this so duly passed them but if they'd never done a SAAB before we would have customers ringing up saying "I've taken my car for a test and it failed" we even had one memorable case where they'd told a customer that the handbrake was inoperative whilst testing the rear wheels

 

[Drago]

we even had one memorable case where they'd told a customer that the handbrake was inoperative whilst testing the rear wheels

A friend of mine encountered that on his Citroën Xantia, which also had a handbrake that operated on the front wheels.

 

[mustang1]

The point of having two separate braking systems is in case one of them failed.
Will one of the modern electronic handbrake buttons perform an emergency stop (skid) if the hydraulic system packs up?

Idk but taking a guess, I think not: the e-handbrake will ensure the car is stopped before it can be engaged.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

That really is the dumbest combination of defaults. 🤔

Yup - I noticed that
I have been through the settings menu and changed a few other things I though were dumb
like multivarious thinks making the same beep and no way to work out which was trying to warn you about something with scanning the whole car looking for a flashing lights that lasts for only 2 seconds - while driving!

but those ones are fixed and can't be changed

 

[Drago]

I think one woukd be very unlucky indeed if both indepemdent hydraulic circuits failed simultaneously.

 

[dicko]

Every time I pull up at traffic lights on a slight incline I’m dazzled by a sea of red brake lights. Am I the only old fashioned driver who has a working handbrake?