Never had a car with and electronic parking brake, but now it looks like I’ll have to have one.
Think I get all the nuances of stopping at junctions and hill starts, but I don’t quite get the situation where I need fine brake control.
My drive is sloped and I alway drive in and reverse out. In my manual cars, I put the car into reverse gear, then just release the handbrake controlling the initial descent with the foot brake until the drive levels off, where I lift the clutch.
How do I do this with an electronic parking brake? As I understand I need to lift the clutch, take my foot off the brake and press the accelerator to release the electronic brake. Then I’ll have to immediately drop the clutch and press the brake to get control back. Seems awkward to me.
Or, can I use the electronic brake like a manual handbrake and turn it off in the same manner as I would drop the handbrake? Assume this means the auto hold function needs to be off.
Thanks. This is a brave new world I’m entering here.
Don’t worry you will be fine.
You can usually set the system to be ‘automatic’ or ‘manual’. There is a switch to apply the hand brake and release it so you are in control. I avoid the ‘auto’ setting.
The up side is you will get full emergency braking on all four wheels if you apply the electronic hand brake in an emergency, the down side is you can not do hand brake turns.
It’s a bit like “Hill start” on the ND, it works, don’t even notice it. My Mitsubishi had an auto hand brake, really miss it and would not worry if a new car came with it.
Reading these positive replies gives me hope, in case bad luck forces me to buy another new car - they all seem to have electric parking brakes now.
Maybe eighteen years ago in France I hired a brand new manual-shift Megane with the accursed electric parking brake and only 6 kilometres on the clock. It was an utter nightmare, especially on hill starts at traffic lights.
Leaving the car for a few hours, if there was no kerb I left it in gear and chocked a wheel with a convenient stone I’d found (and left in the boot with a “Wheel chock” note on it for the next hirer). At the time I noticed several other French drivers doing the same, but fortunately not much in recent years.
It didn’t help that the OE brake pads were too soft (head into windscreen when cold, quick fade to zero when hot) and the hire company had to send out a mechanic to change them all to harder pads. Usually it was the first thing they did on taking delivery of the car (apparently), but they had “forgotten”.
After all that scary grief I swore I’d never ever drive a Megane again!
We have a Qashqai with electronic parking brake. It’s amazing. Didn’t think I would like it but I do.
Pull up at a junction and as soon as you come to a stop the autobrake indicator on the dash goes green. Foot off the brake and it holds the brake on. Uphill, downhill or on the flat it works in all cases. Move off and it releases. You don’t even notice it working, it just does.
The actual parking brake is a seperate system where a motor applies and releases it. You can hear this working but it does work well. Never have to touch the button. Turn off the car and it applies the brakes. Pull up and remove driver’s seat belt and it applies the brakes. Start up and move off and off come the brakes.
Only one problem with all of this. Our drive has a slight slope. When I come home in the ND I have to remember not to turn off and get out. So many times I have wondered why it is rolling forwards. Have to pull up that damn lever in the middle.
My daughters Kia has a foot applied handbrake (seems a silly description, should be parking brake ) and hand lever to release it.
Confusing to me, I’ve only driven it twice.
You should just be able to lif t the switch up to apply the brake, and push it down to release. You may have to have your foot actually on the brake for it to release.
I’m guessing the Seat Ateca handbrake will work the same as my Skoda Karoq. To reverse slowly up a slope just put the car into gear and raise the clutch, no need to touch the accelerator as the anti stall keeps the revs up. Once the clutch comes up the handbrake releases and the car creeps up the slope. You can then hold the car with clutch control, the handbrake will only apply if you press the footbrake and stop the car.
I’ve never had the need to apply the handbrake with the switch. However be careful not to catch the switch as you can disable the handbrake, took me a minute to realise I had done this and the car was rolling back down the drive.
Of course I then have to remember to pull up the handbrake when I get into the MX5.
I despise EPBs but have got used to them. The Mazda implementation releases cleanly on a hill start, which is more than I can say for some brands.
Auto Hold, the latest wheeze, has nothing to do with the EPB. It is more of an ABS trick. It maintains hydraulic pressure in the brake circuits when stopped. This means the brake lights stay on so you look like a bad driver who is too lazy to use the handbrake. The Mazda Auto Hold is poor in a manual car, being sufficiently reluctant to let go that you may smell clutch. On an automatic Mazda, Auto Hold works perfectly.
Neither of these innovations is as versatile, smooth, or user-friendly as a proper handbrake. I think car weight has got to the point where some drivers can’t apply a mechanical brake hard enough, plus it’s easier to package a tiny switch.
If you are experiencing this then there is something seriously wrong with your car. Both our NDs worked easily and seamlessly.
Downside of EPBs is you can not do ‘handbrake’ adjustments when driving on slippery surfaces but the up side is that in an emergency you get full braking which could just save the day.
Auto Hold is ok on the CX-5 if only light brake pressure is needed (on the flat) but on a hill, where heavier pressure is required, it won’t let go without a lot of straining first. I use the EPB instead, because that lets go as it should. The ND may have better software, or it just needs less brake force as it’s a much lighter car.
I test drove a CX-30 auto and Auto Hold worked perfectly on that, so my guess it that it’s a software issue. The car probably senses when the auto gearbox is taking up drive more easily than it does with a manual. With a proper handbrake, your bottom feels the car pick up.on its suspension, and maybe that’s hard to do in software!
) and hand lever to release it.
