Handbrake vs Footbrake

!bluetonic! said:
I'd advocate the handbrake and into neutral if you've judged you'll be there >20 seconds.

However, if you're at the back of a queue, I'd use handbrake for safety and footbrake to keep your rear lights lit up until the person behind you is likely to see you and stop.
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Yeah I would say the same, Applying the handbrake does not mean you have to take your foot off the foot brake in my book until you are ready to pull away.
 
Jam my feet into the ground through the hole in the floor... oh wait... I'm not Fred Flintstone :p

ummmm depends really, on hill will either hold biting point if i'm close to front or handbrake if going to be there extended periods.

normal/flat junctions/lights, probably handbrake more often than foot brake holding as can move/stretch the legs a bit.

so yea, if i'm going to be moving off soon just footbrake(hand if on hill)/clutch or handbrake if im going to be there a while.

do find that at night can occasionally get blinded from some taillights that are like a supercluster of LEDs. same with any light really that being focused in your direction and surrounded by darker/dark surroundings.
 
I loved the handbrake in my Passat. Press of a button to engage then just drive off to auto-disengage. Particularly useful for hill starts :) Also I hate holding any car on the biting point on a hill.

It's all a bit different with DSG in my R32 though. If I think I'm going to be there a short time then I just sit on the foot brake in Drive, if a bit longer then I shift into Neutral still with foot brake on and if its something like a hill or train crossing with long wait then Neutral and handbrake, but use my foot brake before engaging Drive again.

The clutches of the DSG only really disengage with your foot on the foot brake. The moment you release the brake it engages the clutches and tries to creep. If you do this with the handbrake on it engages the clutches, tries to creep, strains and then fails which is when the clutches automatically disengage to stop any damage/additional wear being caused. So in the name of preserving the DSG and attempting to avoid repair costs I figure it's easier to use the foot brake majority of the time with D and N :)
 
cokecan said:
I loved the handbrake in my Passat. Press of a button to engage then just drive off to auto-disengage. Particularly useful for hill starts :) Also I hate holding any car on the biting point on a hill.
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I got an 06 Passat through work and was the second employee to have it after its first user retired. I collected the car from him and saw the handbrake button and asked him about hill starts and his reply to me was that you have to run the gauntlet by turning it off and quickly engaging clutch and accelerator. I thought that is a stupid design. First thing I did was stop and check and found out about the auto disengage, god knows how he coped with it for about a year.
 
If i'm on a hill then I'll use the handbrake.

If its on a flat road and no change of rolling, I usually dip the clutch and leave the handbrake off and no brake, I'm always aware what's around me when driving.
 
Handbrake if stopping for a bit/hills, foot brake if it's flat/minimal stops.

Although I'm fairly sure most, if not all are taught to use handbrake whenever stopped.

Bad habits I guess.
 
pepp77 said:
I got an 06 Passat through work and was the second employee to have it after its first user retired. I collected the car from him and saw the handbrake button and asked him about hill starts and his reply to me was that you have to run the gauntlet by turning it off and quickly engaging clutch and accelerator. I thought that is a stupid design. First thing I did was stop and check and found out about the auto disengage, god knows how he coped with it for about a year.
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lol that's crazy! and surely dangerous?

When I chopped my Passat in for the R32 and was in the car park about to leave, it was definitely a "Hmm, why isn't the car moving" moment before I remembered I had a lever to manually release!
 
LOL @ The guy who sits there riding the clutch.

Your flywheel will be a lovely shade of 'Blue' from the extreme friction you've subjected it to, and you'll end up needing a new clutch and flywheel soon.

Use the handbrake!!
 
I always apply the handbrake and engage neutral if I expect to be stationary for more than a second or two.
 
Almost never use the hand brake apart from parking up.

I always seem to use the foot brake, even on hills. Hill-assist ftw, dat 2/3 seconds before it starts to roll back.
 
Always handbrake unless the lights are clearly about to change. Whether I bother with neutral or just dip the clutch is down to time.
 
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