Electric handbrakes again

[Tim M]

[chris123]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Fantastic!

[codprawn]

That is not a new idea - many Yank cars have this and quite a few old Mercs. As you said no problems with an auto but on a manual - obviously these designers NEVER drive their own cars...............

And that Jake the Peg photo was sheer brilliance!!!

[donutsina911]

Originally Posted by codprawn

That is not a new idea - many Yank cars have this and quite a few old Mercs. As you said no problems with an auto but on a manual - obviously these designers NEVER drive their own cars...............

And that Jake the Peg photo was sheer brilliance!!!

Not just old mercs, new ones too..my new co. car has one..royal pain in the arse..go to change gear on the motorway at 90 and mistake the parking break for the clutch and there'll be a whole load of mess

[Limey Linda]

Originally Posted by donutsina911

Not just old mercs, new ones too..my new co. car has one..royal pain in the arse..go to change gear on the motorway at 90 and mistake the parking break for the clutch and there'll be a whole load of mess

Had that happen to me a few months ago. rented a 24ft lorry to move house and the parking brake engaged on the motorway at 60mph due to an electrical fault. Scaaaaaary.
It can also happen on cable brakes: drove over a piece of wood in the road, several years ago, and it flipped up and hit the cable and locked the brake on. Fortunately the warning light came on.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by donutsina911

Not just old mercs, new ones too..my new co. car has one..royal pain in the arse..go to change gear on the motorway at 90 and mistake the parking break for the clutch and there'll be a whole load of mess

Wouldnt there be some sort of failsafe that stops it engaging at speeds ?
Since I have wondered about this , but dont fancy trying it out just to check

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Wouldnt there be some sort of failsafe that stops it engaging at speeds ?
Since I have wondered about this , but dont fancy trying it out just to check

On the Discovery 3 it acts as the emergency brake. Pull the switch up and hold it while driving and after a couple of seconds it progressively applies the handbrake to slow you down if the main brakes fail. Makes a bloody awful noise but it does sort of work, though not as well as using a mechanical handbrake for the same purpose (which is pretty much what you could say about the whole electric handbrake idea )