Electric parking brake

missile

I don't know what fail safe is built into my electronic handbrake? It is not really an issue for me, as I have a DSG box which is in park when "parked".

I would suggest there is an equal chance of a cable hand brake failing.

Lum

Cable handbrake will eventually rot, stretch and/or snap, but at least they're inspected annually at the MOT.

Electronic one will be impossible to check as a wiring fault deep in the car could cause it, or possibly even a software bug.

shortchanged_2

missile wrote: »

I don't know what fail safe is built into my electronic handbrake? It is not really an issue for me, as I have a DSG box which is in park when "parked".

I would suggest there is an equal chance of a cable hand brake failing.

For me though missile it's all about the economics of it. It is just making something that should be a relatively cheap and easy fix and making it into a job that costs hundreds of pounds.

I'm sorry but I'm getting rather fed up with all this gadgetry in modern cars that really adds very little to the driving experience or probably safety either. It's when something goes wrong with these gadgets and you need to remortgage the house to repair the damn things. It all seems so unnecessary, unless it is to benefit the car companies and attempt to screw the small independent garage.

For me it just puts me off buying these cars because all I see is (unnecessary) expense ahead

Strider590

^^ It's more about building obsolescence into vehicles whilst catering for drivers who want driving to be as effortless, unejoyable and simple as possible.

Kilty_2

The EPB on my Laguna II was great - drive off and it takes itself off, applies itself when you turn the engine off too.

WHAT IT DOESN'T DO :rotfl: is apply itself when you stop with the engine running - when I first got it I forgot to put it on, hopped out to open a gate and watched the car I'd had for 5 minutes slowly roll towards a pallet of conveinently placed bricks :eek:

Still once you get used to it it's good, I hated driving hire cars with normal handbrakes when I had it because I'd forget to put it on when parked.

Munched rear discs/pads like nothing on earth though - first replaced at 16k miles

phead

Gers wrote: »

If I understand this properly the way it works is.... push the button to engage the brake. It then self-releases when the clutch and accelerator are both used at the same time and there is no need to disengage the brake. Is that correct?

Its a flip switch with pull and push, you pull to engage, push to release. You are correct about the self release, though you can release manually untill you get used to it.

The hand brake function isn't hard, the anti rollback that comes with it takes more getting used to, as it applies automatically and you have to trust its holding the car when you switch from brake to accelerator ona hill, after a while you just accept that the car will not move backwards after its stopped. Also another thing that caught me out was that on a slope you need to tap the accelerator to reverse, I was used to letting the car move with the clutch as the hill provided all I needed to reverse onto my drive, I was stuck in the road until I figured out what it was doing.

Like others have said this isn't a benefit really, I suspect they may scrap it on the next model, as it cannot be used for leaner drivers which is a big part of vauxhall's market. The main failure I find is the lack of tactile feedback, you flip the switch, don't quite see the light as the wheel is blocking it, get out and the car rolls as you didn't catch the switch correctly, I've done that a couple of times now.

Lum

Kilty wrote: »

WHAT IT DOESN'T DO :rotfl: is apply itself when you stop with the engine running - when I first got it I forgot to put it on, hopped out to open a gate and watched the car I'd had for 5 minutes slowly roll towards a pallet of conveinently placed bricks :eek:

So just to clarify. Even if you had done everything correctly, the only thing preventing your car from rolling into that pile of bricks is... French electrics?

Kilty_2

Lum wrote: »

So just to clarify. Even if you had done everything correctly, the only thing preventing your car from rolling into that pile of bricks is... French electrics?

:rotfl::D :rotfl:

It didn't actually hit the bricks because I managed to jump back in in time, but yes

Lum

I meant if you had put the brake on, and then gone inside, it's just the French electrics keeping your car in one place.

I would be investing in a set of these if I were you.

Kilty_2

Don't have that car any more anyway.