Electronic handbrakes.

[MarkE]

What do you all think of these,I find them rubbish? A simple handbrake lever has done the job perfectly for decades. Now you have to press a button while pressing down on the brake pedal, wait for the brakes to disengage and quickly get onto the gas. A smooth takeaway on a hill is near impossible, so they've had to add a hill start assist button, so 2 systems for the simplest of tasks and it's still nowhere near as effective as a lever. All finesse has been lost.
While i'm at it, massive colour displays on the dash are so off putting, bring back the buttons. Modern cars eh?

 

[Deleted member 1740]

I hate them with a passion.

My tart has just got a new qashqai and this has one, if on the rare occasion I'm allowed to drive it I always look for the handbrake as I'm used to driving my tranny.

 

[delc]

The electronic handbrake on my automatic Citroen C5 seems to work perfectly. Just pull the switch to apply the brake and press the accelerator pedal to go. What could be simpler?

 

[chrisd]

Going forward I don't need to ping it off in my Astra as I can just drive forward, but, reversing I have to take it of with my foot on the brake?

No idea why!

 

[hovis]

Going forward I don't need to ping it off in my Astra as I can just drive forward, but, reversing I have to take it of with my foot on the brake?

No idea why!

Its because your astra has hill start assist. You've no doubt noticed when you put the handbrake on whilst on a hill the car rases alot at the rear when the foot brake releases. now imagine the car thinking your wanting to reverse and auto releasing the handbrake!!! 😀

 

[chrisd]

Its because your astra has hill start assist. You've no doubt noticed when you put the handbrake on whilst on a hill the car rases alot at the rear when the foot brake releases. now imagine the car thinking your wanting to reverse and auto releasing the handbrake!!! 😀

What if I want to reverse up the hill ? :smirk:

 

[Hobbit]

Brilliant! Especially for hill starts.

 

[guest100718]

Mine works really well. Fully automatic and never have to touch it.

 

[Farmergeddon]

Must admit, much as I hate the little blighter, the handbrake set up on the Golf is brilliant. Stop the car the handbrake comes on and the engine stops, press the accelerator the engine starts and the handbrake comes off absolutely no hassle or input from human. When I first started driving it I did reach for the lever but not now I trust it implicitly..

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Don't understand the dislike unless people don't quite know how they work. On most cars, certainly my Volvo, if the epb is on you just drive away. No clutch control required on a hill anymore. Put on the epb, when you need to move just press the accelerator and drive off. No need to do anything fancy or clever, just drive away. So simple. It disengages folks, all by itself 🙌.

 

[hovis]

I personally like them but its an expensive way to fix a non existing hardship. One thing to note on many cars with electric handbrake is how much they cost when they go wrong (its a fortune) also, when you come to replace the rear disks you have to pay extra because the car has to go on a computer to electronically wind off the brakes

 

[Imurg]

In my eyes it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.......

 

[PIng]

My Citroen C4 has one that's completely automatic, and it works a treat. The only problem I have is when I have a courtesy car with a manual handbrake - always forget to put it on.

I agree though - it is a solution to a non-existent problem.

 

[MarkE]

hovis beat me to it, regarding the cost. Imagine when these cars are a few years old, fixes for simple stuff like handbrakes will be so expensive to put right it will be uneconomical to repair, much like insurers now write off older cars with very minor panel damage. Manufacturers continually push more and more electronics into cars, sometimes there's nothing wrong with the old analogue way of doing things.

 

[DCB]

I've a Citroen DS4 and it works a treat on mine. No issues at all.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

I've a Citroen DS4 and it works a treat on mine. No issues at all.

I saw this today and thought your moderators job must be paying well

 

[gregers]

got this on my tiguan,took a bit of time to get used to it and sometimes you do have to press the gas lever a tad hard to get it to disengage.
1 thing that is a royal pain in the arriss is the fact you have to wear the seat belt at all times even when reversing or the car dont go anywhere.

 

[wrighty1874]

I love mine.Missus this it is great for hill starts.

 

[bigslice]

The disco commercial i drive has one but u get charged to service it,

 

[Smiffy]

Think they are brilliant. The new Qashqai's and X-Trails have them. Just put your foot on the gas and it will come off automatically. Stop the engine and it comes on automatically again.
What's not to like?
And the added bonus is that you no longer get customers coming in asking if they can get their handbrakes adjusted because their cars won't hold on a hill.
Vauxhall were the worst, but Nissan run them a close second.