Electronic handbrakes why
Discussion
TwigtheWonderkid said:
My experience of things is that the less moving parts something has, the more reliable it'll be. Like those old radio cassette players, the cassette machine always went wrong, leaving you with just the radio, that lasted for ever.
Some electric handbrakes will play up, but over the life of the average car, an electric handbrake will be far less work and less trouble than a manual one.
A far more accurate analogy would be comparing an early mechanical cassette deck, with big clunky buttons with the last generation of electronic autoreverse decks with soft eject, music seek etc. The latter were vastly more unreliable than the former.Some electric handbrakes will play up, but over the life of the average car, an electric handbrake will be far less work and less trouble than a manual one.
How can anyone possible consider a electric handbrake as being simpler than a mechanical one? There may be a couple less linkages, and no lever or ratchet (which rarely fail anyway) but there is now an electric motor assembly, either with a winch and cables or integrated into a part that regularly gets quite hot, and a complex electronic/software control system. Simpler my arse.
Edited by Mr2Mike on Monday 20th April 08:18
CR6ZZ said:
Interesting thread, but I am bemused by the number of people who use as a pro for an EPB the fact that it frees up cabin space. How much space does one need??? In 45 years of driving I can't recall a time when I have ever thought of a handbrake lever "well I wish that wasn't there because it takes up so much space". (Possible exception is when trying to get it on with the girl in the passenger seat....). Hmmm, maybe that is why they are popular.... 
Even then it's not required! Some of the mid-sized Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat vans in the late-90s had a 3 person bench seat in the cab and an unobstructed floor. The gear lever was on the dash & the handbrake on the outside of the driver's seat. After the first couple of miles you just get used to using your right hand to operate the handbrake.oh my god oh my god oh my god thankyou thankyou thankyou i am not alone!!!!
i bought a B6 passat and it's proved to be the least reliable POS car i've ever owned. when it's not breaking down though, which it does staggeringly often despite being incredibly well looked after and not that old... the handbrake makes me want to crush the damn thing.
the handbrake just staggers me in its utterly idiotic unreliability, inherent danger, appalling design and generally terrible functionality.
as an earlier post said, it answered a question no one was asking.
1- you can't see if it's on or not if it's sunny
2- you have to look at it -closely- to see if it's engaged or not (something you don't have to do with a normal handbrake)
3- they are incredibly unreliable, according to the VW mechanics that chuckle every time something goes wrong on my car
4- as they've explained it, the unreliability comes from the button, servos and calipers (apparently the calipers are different to standard h/b cars) and each part of the ridiculous system are known to go wrong. regularly.
5- oh the clutch! i forgot! the crappy 'self release' function eats your clutch as it just doesn't work very well. at all. ever.
6- it's almost impossible to apply smoothly thanks to the on/off nature of the damn thing
7- I CAN'T DO HANDBRAKE TURNS ANY MORE !!!!!!! ok, i know this is a stretch, but i have been looking forward to showing my daughters a handbrake turn since before they were born. in a safe, empty field of course. scratch that off the list.
most importantly, they are SO DANGEROUS !!!! several times i've firmly pressed the button and as i have been getting out of the car, have had to leap back in and stab it again as i've discovered the car rolling. in a car with a full service history mind, so it's not that it's malfunctioning.
i'm not a violent man (really, at all) but if i ever find myself in the company of the tw&t VW engineer who designed this thing, i'll have more than stern words for them.
how did these EVER pass the DVLA regulations?????
i bought a B6 passat and it's proved to be the least reliable POS car i've ever owned. when it's not breaking down though, which it does staggeringly often despite being incredibly well looked after and not that old... the handbrake makes me want to crush the damn thing.
the handbrake just staggers me in its utterly idiotic unreliability, inherent danger, appalling design and generally terrible functionality.
as an earlier post said, it answered a question no one was asking.
1- you can't see if it's on or not if it's sunny
2- you have to look at it -closely- to see if it's engaged or not (something you don't have to do with a normal handbrake)
3- they are incredibly unreliable, according to the VW mechanics that chuckle every time something goes wrong on my car
4- as they've explained it, the unreliability comes from the button, servos and calipers (apparently the calipers are different to standard h/b cars) and each part of the ridiculous system are known to go wrong. regularly.
5- oh the clutch! i forgot! the crappy 'self release' function eats your clutch as it just doesn't work very well. at all. ever.
6- it's almost impossible to apply smoothly thanks to the on/off nature of the damn thing
7- I CAN'T DO HANDBRAKE TURNS ANY MORE !!!!!!! ok, i know this is a stretch, but i have been looking forward to showing my daughters a handbrake turn since before they were born. in a safe, empty field of course. scratch that off the list.
most importantly, they are SO DANGEROUS !!!! several times i've firmly pressed the button and as i have been getting out of the car, have had to leap back in and stab it again as i've discovered the car rolling. in a car with a full service history mind, so it's not that it's malfunctioning.
i'm not a violent man (really, at all) but if i ever find myself in the company of the tw&t VW engineer who designed this thing, i'll have more than stern words for them.
how did these EVER pass the DVLA regulations?????
I think i saw an electronic handbrake failure on a zafria earlier today. Not sure if they have them on not but this one was rocking up and down on the rear at the lights beside me in the filter lane, the guy trying repeatly to go forward but going nowhere, the back just squatted down. Saw the haszards go on as my lane moved forward!
I can add another to the list of why they are a s
t idea. I was recently driving along at about 40 in heavy traffic on the north circular in a hired Insignia with a colleague when he decided to suddenly yank the switch. Clearly used to BMWs - he thought it was the fking passenger seat window control!!!!!
Luckily it doesn't fully engage - there must be a safety feature to stop it doing so at speed - but we had a nice little swerve and some brown trousers for his efforts.
t idea. I was recently driving along at about 40 in heavy traffic on the north circular in a hired Insignia with a colleague when he decided to suddenly yank the switch. Clearly used to BMWs - he thought it was the fking passenger seat window control!!!!! Luckily it doesn't fully engage - there must be a safety feature to stop it doing so at speed - but we had a nice little swerve and some brown trousers for his efforts.
I'll buck the trend here somewhat.
Have been driving a Laguna Coupe with an electronic handbrake for more than 2.5 years and it's never gone wrong, never failed to hold or release and just seems to work.......
Not saying it's any better or worse than a manual one (although you don't need judge how many clicks up you are so that could be an advantage), but I have no strong feelings on it either way......
Have been driving a Laguna Coupe with an electronic handbrake for more than 2.5 years and it's never gone wrong, never failed to hold or release and just seems to work.......
Not saying it's any better or worse than a manual one (although you don't need judge how many clicks up you are so that could be an advantage), but I have no strong feelings on it either way......
jammad said:
oh my god oh my god oh my god thankyou thankyou thankyou i am not alone!!!!
i bought a B6 passat and it's proved to be the least reliable POS car i've ever owned. when it's not breaking down though, which it does staggeringly often despite being incredibly well looked after and not that old... the handbrake makes me want to crush the damn thing.
the handbrake just staggers me in its utterly idiotic unreliability, inherent danger, appalling design and generally terrible functionality.
as an earlier post said, it answered a question no one was asking.
1- you can't see if it's on or not if it's sunny
2- you have to look at it -closely- to see if it's engaged or not (something you don't have to do with a normal handbrake)
3- they are incredibly unreliable, according to the VW mechanics that chuckle every time something goes wrong on my car
4- as they've explained it, the unreliability comes from the button, servos and calipers (apparently the calipers are different to standard h/b cars) and each part of the ridiculous system are known to go wrong. regularly.
5- oh the clutch! i forgot! the crappy 'self release' function eats your clutch as it just doesn't work very well. at all. ever.
6- it's almost impossible to apply smoothly thanks to the on/off nature of the damn thing
7- I CAN'T DO HANDBRAKE TURNS ANY MORE !!!!!!! ok, i know this is a stretch, but i have been looking forward to showing my daughters a handbrake turn since before they were born. in a safe, empty field of course. scratch that off the list.
most importantly, they are SO DANGEROUS !!!! several times i've firmly pressed the button and as i have been getting out of the car, have had to leap back in and stab it again as i've discovered the car rolling. in a car with a full service history mind, so it's not that it's malfunctioning.
i'm not a violent man (really, at all) but if i ever find myself in the company of the tw&t VW engineer who designed this thing, i'll have more than stern words for them.
how did these EVER pass the DVLA regulations?????
I think what you describe is crappy VW more than anything....i bought a B6 passat and it's proved to be the least reliable POS car i've ever owned. when it's not breaking down though, which it does staggeringly often despite being incredibly well looked after and not that old... the handbrake makes me want to crush the damn thing.
the handbrake just staggers me in its utterly idiotic unreliability, inherent danger, appalling design and generally terrible functionality.
as an earlier post said, it answered a question no one was asking.
1- you can't see if it's on or not if it's sunny
2- you have to look at it -closely- to see if it's engaged or not (something you don't have to do with a normal handbrake)
3- they are incredibly unreliable, according to the VW mechanics that chuckle every time something goes wrong on my car
4- as they've explained it, the unreliability comes from the button, servos and calipers (apparently the calipers are different to standard h/b cars) and each part of the ridiculous system are known to go wrong. regularly.
5- oh the clutch! i forgot! the crappy 'self release' function eats your clutch as it just doesn't work very well. at all. ever.
6- it's almost impossible to apply smoothly thanks to the on/off nature of the damn thing
7- I CAN'T DO HANDBRAKE TURNS ANY MORE !!!!!!! ok, i know this is a stretch, but i have been looking forward to showing my daughters a handbrake turn since before they were born. in a safe, empty field of course. scratch that off the list.
most importantly, they are SO DANGEROUS !!!! several times i've firmly pressed the button and as i have been getting out of the car, have had to leap back in and stab it again as i've discovered the car rolling. in a car with a full service history mind, so it's not that it's malfunctioning.
i'm not a violent man (really, at all) but if i ever find myself in the company of the tw&t VW engineer who designed this thing, i'll have more than stern words for them.
how did these EVER pass the DVLA regulations?????
Mr2Mike said:
uuf361 said:
Not saying it's any better or worse than a manual one (although you don't need judge how many clicks up you are so that could be an advantage),
How many people judge how hard to apply a manual handbrake by the number of clicks? That's just bizarre.Mr2Mike said:
uuf361 said:
Not saying it's any better or worse than a manual one (although you don't need judge how many clicks up you are so that could be an advantage),
How many people judge how hard to apply a manual handbrake by the number of clicks? That's just bizarre.The electronic handbrake is just on, no need for any judgement.
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