Vauxhall Insignia - how do you do a hill start?

jaydeeuk1

I like the one on the citroen c4. As soon as you move forward, it releases. No messing, rolling or pushing buttons. Hill starts are a doddle.

spiff

hired on of these in the summer and I had the same panic! then on the last day of my hire I discovered that it releases automatically on a hill start, give it a go

johnson293

harveybobbles wrote: »

The only leccy parking break that is any good is the Scenic one. You just breath on the throttle and it will release.

I loved the automatic brake on the Scenic I had - was brilliant for hill starts - just apply the brake using the handle on the dash as you stop on the incline, then you just pull away and the brake would release itself - no need for judging biting points, and no rolling backwards.

Only thing was I also got used to just pulling up, and turning the engine off which also applied the brake.

I had to borrow my dads Megane while he was working on the scenic, and for the first day kept pulling up, switching the engine off and getting out, forgetting to apply the manual handbrake!

Could have been dodgy if I'd been on an incline!

poleprec

Had Insignia with electronic parking brake for 2 days, so easy to use, it common sense, stop in traffic pull up once, then when ready to move away engage gear and pull away it releases automatically, when doing up hill start, exactly the same thing, pull up once and brake on, when ready to move away accelerate( which releases brake) engage clutch and off you go, traffic slows down uphill.... stop and pull lever up once, then repeat steps before..... Simples :beer::T

adamc260

All this effort by these companies designing it... and it works less efficiently than a standard handbrake lol.

Gloomendoom

A recovery chap was telling me of a job he attended where an Aston Martin was stuck in a single garage with a flat battery. There was no access to get jump leads on the battery and the electric parking brake was resolutely stuck on with no way of releasing it. In the end he had to jack the car up, put plastic sliders under the rear wheels and winch it out of the garage.

LincolnshireYokel

Gloomendoom wrote: »

A recovery chap was telling me of a job he attended where an Aston Martin was stuck in a single garage with a flat battery. There was no access to get jump leads on the battery and the electric parking brake was resolutely stuck on with no way of releasing it. In the end he had to jack the car up, put plastic sliders under the rear wheels and winch it out of the garage.

In the 60's the Bubble cars had no reverse gear, but the door opened forward. If you drove into a garage right up to the rear wall, you couldnt open the door and couldnt reverse up. I suspect theres still one or two old forgotten garages on farms with bubble cars right up against a wall with a skeleton in the driver seat.............

skivenov

When you stop, pull the switch up to engage the brake. When you want to pull away, ignore the switch and just pull away using the pedals like you would on the flat.

Also, don't trust the !!!!!!, we've had one or two suddely run away when they've been parked on a slope. Leave it in gear when parked up!

molerat

LincolnshireYokel wrote: »

In the 60's the Bubble cars had no reverse gear, but the door opened forward. If you drove into a garage right up to the rear wall, you couldnt open the door and couldnt reverse up. I suspect theres still one or two old forgotten garages on farms with bubble cars right up against a wall with a skeleton in the driver seat.............

A friend had one when I was a lad. We used to pick it up and put it down nose against a wall and run away, very childish but fun

vaio

vikingaero wrote: »

What happens in an emergency and the brakes fail? If I press the electronic handbrake will the computer override me or will it obey and apply the handbrake? I imagine if it does apply the handbrake will it be a full on application or gradual?

That's the good thing about manual handbrakes - you can control it.

thescouselander wrote: »

Unfortunately not - I still like the electronic system on my A4 though.

Apparently if you pull the switch while travelling at speed the car will automatically execute an emergency stop. I havent tried that one yet though.

Pretty sure the system on the Audi TT uses the ABS system to hydraulically brake all four wheels if you are travelling above a certain speed (20 mph?) and changes to the electro-mechanical bit on the rear wheels only if the speed is lower.