electric hand brake and biting point questions

rotters

rotters

rotters

Soldato
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14 Nov 2004
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Hayle, Cornwall
my Cmax has an Electric handbrake, but only can turn it off if the clutch is fully to the floor, which is a bugger on a hill any tips??


on a normal car you would get the biting point then release the handbrake but you cant do this on the version i have.



also, on my Cmax i can get to biting point and actually get the car to move with no acceleration upto about 7 miles an hour is this normal or is something not quite right?



sorry for noobish questions




rotters
 
rotters said:
my Cmax has an Electric handbrake, but only can turn it off if the clutch is fully to the floor, which is a bugger on a hill any tips??
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They didn't think that one through in the R&D dept did they :p

also, on my Cmax i can get to biting point and actually get the car to move with no acceleration upto about 7 miles an hour is this normal or is something not quite right?
Click to expand...

Sounds normal to me on a flat road...
 
the latest model transit van still has a normal handbrake however it has anti roll back which it applies when your on a gradient of x%. So you can remove the handbrake and the brakes are still applied for 5 or so seconds

With any luck maybe this is something ford will impliment on the cmax if enough people enquire about it.
 
my friend was wondering this about the passat hire car he had for a few days. same set up there - push button handbrake that required the clutch to be pressed fully down.
 
You just need to be quick from clutch down -> biting point. When I am familiar with the car I can do that as fast as I can move my leg..

If you want to do it lazily, you can heel + toe between the footbrake and accel thereby holding the car, and bring the clutch up as slow as you like.
 
This is crazy. Either some of you are mistaken or the system in these cars is ridiculously poor.

In my A6 which one would assume, being a VW group car, has the same system as the Passat, you have 2 options to disengage the brake.

1) Stationery with your foot on the footbrake (clutch irrelevant)

*or*

2) With the clutch up and ~2000rpm (enough to pull away with) it will disengage automatically

It's a brilliant system and makes "hill starts" far easier than they are in a car with a traditional handbrake.

Edit: The only flaw is that you have to give it a second to disengage the brake before fully lifting the clutch otherwise it pulls against the handbrake which can't be good for it ;).
 
Clutch in, foot on the brake, handbrake off, clutch to biting point, quickly off the brake and onto the accelerator?

Not great for the clutch though.
 
andi said:
Clutch in, foot on the brake, handbrake off, clutch to biting point, quickly off the brake and onto the accelerator?

Not great for the clutch though.
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Could be stalled quite a lot until you get used to it I would have thought unless you want to heel and toe it.

I can't imagine a system being stupid enough to only allow disengagement when the clutch is down. It must be what's mentioned above - <remove drunken stupid confused comment here> :p
 
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Solari said:
Could be stalled quite a lot until you get used to it I would have thought unless you want to heel and toe it.

I can't imagine a system being stupid enough to only allow disengagement when the clutch is down. It must be what's mentioned above - I am guessing those cars are automatic... Rotters didn't say whether it was an auto or manual box?
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Automatics don't tend to have clutches :p.

<pedant>I'd also be interested in how the OP can get a car to 7mph without accelerating.</pedant>
 
Crowze said:
Automatics don't tend to have clutches :p.

<pedant>I'd also be interested in how the OP can get a car to 7mph without accelerating.</pedant>
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D'oh, that will teach me to reply to a post several hours after reading it (and after drinking)..

EDIT: I can easily get faster than 7mph in my car just by lifting the clutch on a flat road in 1st? I presume you're referring to actually "accelerating" rather than using the "gas" pedal :p

I'm going to bed now *facepalm*
 
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Electric handbrakes, the single most pointless automotive invention since the LED washer jet.

Just what strength of crack were they smoking when they thought it was a good idea to make the handbrake unusable as an emergency brake, whilst making it complex and prone to failure? Nice one automotive engineers, square wheels next?
 
the c max need one because there isnt room for a traditional handbrake where there would normally be one. tis weird though.



rotters
 
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