Electronic Parking Brakes

[Joey Shabadoo]

The old handbrake was excellent for scaring the living daylights out of tailgaters on the motorway.

 

[mustang1]

Its the muppets that sit at junctions with their foot on the break that boil my wee wee. Not in proper control, needlessly blinding the driver behind them (people have occasionally been ticketed for that aspect), damaging their brakes through repeated uneven cooling of the discs. Plums, the lot of them.

I seem to have become a very angry pensioner!

What's even worse are people have lightly have their foot on the brake pedal while driving normally so their brake lights are always on. Tossers.

 

[mustang1]

Problem is all these "improvements" also add weight to the car which make it sluggish and ultimately people are paying fuel to cart around.

At some stage someone will realise there is a market for a stripped back supermini with a big (preferably electri) engine weighing under a ton.

Until then I'm sticking with my Mk1 Clio, 875kg and brilliant fun to drive.

Those were the days! I like MX5, even the current generation ones because Mazda didn't go nuts by increasing the weight (too much).

 

[tyred]

This is the reason I don't like modern cars. There is so much gadgetry on them and the majority of it serves no useful purpose.

I know someone who ended up with quite a substantial bill trying to sort the electric handbrake on a Passat. VW refused to sort it under warranty as brakes are wear and tear.

If I find the handbrake on my 205 isn't doing it's job I pull off the drums and unstick the self-adjusters - no expense apart from half an hour of my time. Occasionally I might need to replace the shoes or the cables but neither are expensive or difficult.

It worked, it was simple - why make it more complicated to achieve the same end result?

 

[Tanis8472]

Ah, Jinba ittai

 

[mustang1]

In all the millions of times I must have applied the handbrake over the years I never once thought, "I wish there was an easier way of doing this".

Over complicated bollocks, and yet another way to write off a perfectly serviceable car when it reaches the stage where replacing the faulty gubbins that operate the thing comes to three time what the car is worth.

I think the same about electric windows. And central locking. And then remote central locking. And don't get me started on having the dipstick removed! Wait, now they have turbos? Oh lordy we are doomed! Doomed i tell you! I didn't even need electric windows!

 

[tyred]

What's even worse are people have lightly have their foot on the brake pedal while driving normally so their brake lights are always on. Tossers.

Why do people feel the need to brake so much? I try to read the road and only usually brake when I want to stop. Some people seem to constantly brake even on a straight piece of road with no problems ahead.

 

[Drago]

Its called comfort braking.

 

[mustang1]

. I expect they've just used a power window switch to save money, because Vauxhall are cheap like that. In this implementation you have to try and move off with the brake on, which is I expect no good for the brakes, clutch or tyres. Plus I've stalled it twice on steep hills. The VW version also came on automatically if you let the car roll backwards. The Vauxhall does not.

Vauxhall's suck.

 

[Drago]

At least they weren't founded by the Nazi party.

 

[Tin Pot]

How many drivers actually use their handbrake these days, other than when parking?

Remember your audience, when you say "these days" they're thinking "1968".

 

[Tin Pot]

It would be tricky to do hill-starts without them. I'm not sure how people manage to do them in cars with foot operated parking brakes.

I have a car with an electronic hand brake.

It's a piece of piss to use.

Starting on a hill is really complicated:

1. Start engine
2. Drive off

 

[nickyboy]

I have a car with an electronic hand brake.

It's a piece of piss to use.

Starting on a hill is really complicated:

1. Start engine
2. Drive off

Just taken delivery of one last week so I'm still getting used to it. But I agree, it's much better. Of course I can do hill starts with a manual handbrake but why not use a system that is easier than the manual one?

Mrs N really likes it because it can be quite hard for some to apply the manual handbrake sufficiently on a steep hill. It also encourages her to apply the handbrake more than previously as it's now a flick of a switch that disengages automatically

 

[Buck]

My new car has an electric handbrake - or parking brake as we now have to call them!

Bloody marvellous bit of kit. You lot are all philistines I tell you !!

Works a dream.

 

[KnackeredBike]

why not use a system that is easier than the manual one?

Look at the pushbike - sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution in the long run.