Evening all,

When we first had a look at the Panda, I was really concerned about the handbrake as I thought it looked (a) a bit stupid and (b) that it was going to be a right pain to operate.

How wrong I was! Well done Fiat, what a terrific little design it is. Because the button is located to the right of the handbrake, it's actually a much more natural position for your thumb to operate - you just have to grip underneath the front of it when pressing the button and then move it up or down. Easy peasy.

Better still for my wife who has hypermobile joints is that it puts much less pressure on her thumbs than the handbrake in our 500. Result indeed!

Anyone else agree or disagree?

I didn't find it a deal braker, it worked. But it is made of a very cheap plastic and if I remember from my drive it is modelled in two parts with a very evident seam.

In fact, after having driven the Up, which has a very substantial and well engineered conventional handbrake, covered in a rubberised plastic that feels very robust and comfortable to the touch, I felt that the Panda handbrake was the only moving component on the car which felt cheap and plasticky. The new indicator and light levers feel great to the touch by the way, and are a great improvement on those in the old Panda.

As far as the usage is concerned, I still feel that it is more natural to grip a brake lever by making a fist than by pulling it up with the less strong fingertips. I think it would also be easier to release a conventional lever, when starting on a hill for example, than the new Fiat design which is harder to graduate. I confess here that I occasionally get mild arthritis in my fingers so my fingertips have no real strength anyway.

Still, I suspect Fiat is moving towards universal hill-holders, which I personally don't need or want, so the novel design will ultimately not matter too much.

As I said, it works, but I didn't feel too confident that I had pulled it up hard enough to be certain of holding the car. No problem for me though because I always park my cars in gear as well as braked.

It works, yes, but I can't say I particularly like it. Still, the new 500L also has the same feature so it is obviouly here to stay.

It's a good job the Panda is such a wonderful all round package that what is, for me, an unnecessary solution to a problem that didn't exist, doesn't detract form the very real qualities of the car.

Some years ago there were Alfas with double levered handbrakes designed something like the throttle on an aircraft. These didn't catch on, so I'll keep an open mind about the new Fiat design

wait until you have to take the centre consul out, not such a good design after all:bang:

(but yes I agree it looks good and works well)

Thanks for the responses, I hadn't thought of the fact it might cause probs when removing the centre console. But there you go!

Ulpian - on reflection I do agree with you that the seam does make it feel a little bit cheap. It's probably the worst plastic part of the interior to be honest. And appreciate you prefer a more conventional handbrake.

With respect to my wife's joint condition, it basically means that her thumb does not flex back as much when pressing the button in, so in that respect it is a major benefit. But I have to be honest and say I've found it a lot better too. In terms of pulling it up (especially when on a hill), I agree that it feels instinctively as though it needs to be pulled up a bit further. But in actual fact the handbrake engages very quickly without needing to pull it up too far.

The other thing I forgot to mention was the marketing blurb about it being an armrest when released (see Interior - Ergonomics under http://www.fiat.co.uk/showroom/new-panda-spec/#showroom/new_panda/explore), no it isn't!

I've spoken to salesmen who mentioned the idea that it might double as an armrest: we all looked at each other and smiled because they knew as well as me, and everyone else, that this is a totally impossible and therefore ridiculous justification. The Italians do this sort of design thing sometimes but for the most part the Panda is eminently sensible. At least the boot isn't a deep narrow hole like in the the Up, and for me this matters more.

I feel sorry for people who are told to explain away something with profoundly stupid explanations, it must happen a lot in sales I suppose.

Ulpian said:

Some years ago there were Alfas with double levered handbrakes designed something like the throttle on an aircraft. These didn't catch on, so I'll keep an open mind about the new Fiat design

Click to expand...

It was on the Alfa 75 and I didn't mind it all, the issue was the poor caliper design that stopped the brakes taking up wear. I ended up under the back of the car every other week taking the slack out the hand brake.

I think Ford has the same design now in the S Max and I think its been used by another manufacturer. Typical Italians though, way ahead of the game.

Ahhh the quirky 75 hand brake....and the electric window switches in the roof...weird, but I loved them both!

And they say Citroen are eccentric!

So is the handbrake a conventional type ie.one that works,and not an electronic handbrake (my wife and I hate those dangerous things)?

Conventional, it's just a different design from Fiats usual.

Can somebody put a picture up or a link of this handbrake solution by fiat?
Im looking on google for it and im very curious about it but found nothing really!!

:yeahthat: Not sure what you all mean lol.

Dom

I think a trip to the dealer is in order.

Dom

Another angle

Thanks eklipze3k
Now i understand
Cant see how can it be used as armrest but looks better than a normal one
No dealer close by were i live and panda is a bit too small for me, i was just curious to see this handbrake that everybody talks about!

turbo_pib said:

Thanks eklipze3k
Now i understand
Cant see how can it be used as armrest but looks better than a normal one
No dealer close by were i live and panda is a bit too small for me, i was just curious to see this handbrake that everybody talks about!

Click to expand...

Haha! Yeah the armrest comment by the Fiat marketing team was a classic.

As a new Panda owner, I can assure everyone on here that you cannot use it as an armrest

I know this is an old thread, but here is a new angle on it... information from the Fiat marketing/design as to why the Mk 4 parking brake is the size and shape it is.

I think it is the weakest area of the Panda's design, the short stubby lever simply does not provide the same amount of leverage as a conventionally-shaped handle – fine for city driving but nothing like as good on steep hills.

So, the handbrake is designed to optimise the storage of round cups/bottles in squircle-shaped cup-holders. Oops. And in the case of a conventional handbrake, the "engaged/released state" is also "made obvious by its design": up = on; down = off. So nothing new there, then. But at least it's not one of those useless electronic push-button jobbies.

I love it. Reminds me of a boat throttle

I have not found any issues with using my handbrake. It works just fine.