Parked Skoda Sliding on Snow

Parked Skoda Sliding on Snow

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hewison

Original Poster:

6 posts

200 months

Friday 30th January 2015
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Just wondered if anyone had come across this situation or similar -

The other day parked my 2014 Skoda Octavia (manual with hill hold) on a very gentle slope which was covered in snow and, with the engine still running, about 5 seconds after applying the handbrake (and releasing the brake pedal) I heard a whirring noise and then the car slid about 3 feet down the slope. I re-parked the car and exactly the same thing happened, the car would stay put for about 5 seconds and then slide. I ended up clearing the snow from under the rear wheels, so they were in contact with the tarmac and that sorted it.

I realise the above may sound like "what did you expect, you parked your car on a slope in snow!" But the the slope was very gentle, barely enough for the car to roll in normal conditions and the fact that the handbrake held it for a a set period each time is strange. I don't think it was anything to do snow melting etc.

Could it be something to do with the hill hold system?

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Cheers

andrewparker

7,897 posts

186 months

Friday 30th January 2015
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I've had this once with my Golf GTD. I was parked facing downhill on a muddy bank, with the car in neutral. The car was fine held on the brakes but when I engaged the parking brake and released the brakes it would slide forward. It was obviously just because the rear wheels were sliding on the mud.

sjg

7,444 posts

264 months

Friday 30th January 2015
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I assume it's in neutral if the engine is running - I wonder if it's slipping slightly and the car is seeing movement in the front wheels but not the rears?

Actually, the hill hold on my previous Skoda would stop after 5 seconds or so - on a steep hill it could roll back a little before the DSG clutches engaged and stopped it rolling further. My guess is that when it's "holding" the brakes are applied on all four wheels, but it stops after that and it's just the handbrake doing the work on the rear wheels.

It is possible for cars with just the handbrake on to slide away in snow/icy conditions though - http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/an-empty-c...

Edited by sjg on Friday 30th January 09:36

hewison

Original Poster:

6 posts

200 months

Friday 30th January 2015
quotequote all
I guess due to the hill hold, there is a delay in when you release the pedal to when the front brakes are actually released, which would explain the same 5 second delay after putting the handbrake and releasing the brake pedal to the car sliding.

So basically the hill hold is mostly useful but can be a bit of a pain when trying to park on a slippery slope!