Peter Pick-Up said:

I keep my foot on the brake pedal, cause it WANT the brakelights to stay on, to allert not so allert drivers behind me...

Click to expand...

I understand your issues regarding alerting drivers that you are stopped, but what about in a stopped queue with a driver stopped behind you?

Do you not mind it, if it's you that's behind and a car with it's brake lights dazzling you?

I certainly do, and I know that countless millions of other people do too. Hence the UK law on the matter.

Other than the law, it's just plain inconsiderate to have brake lights on when you don't need them on.

Best wishes,
Mick.

No, I don't, gives me peace of mind, knowing that the high mount brake light is burning, so drivers, FAR behand the car behind me, know to stop, besides, driving an automatic requires that you put your foot on the brakepedal while standing still, as millioins of Americans do, f.i.

Sitting with your foot on the brake pedal does wonders for your braking components!
Imagine you have been driving a bit spirited shall we say and the brake discs have been earning their money if you know what I mean! You come to a stop and the discs are very hot ( not quite cherry red yet but super hot ) if you keep the brakes applied when coming to a halt then the area of the disc that is touching the brake pads is unable to cool down at the same rate as the rest of the disc which may cause distortion and the pads are exposed to unnecessary heat fatigue which can result in 'Brake Fade'
If you have never had a vehicle ( especially an HGV!) suffer brake fade then you haven't lived! Having said that Brake Fade is totally avoidable and is usually brought on by the driving style adopted by the user, meaning inappropriate use of brakes ie long soft use on long descents instead of short hard actions which allow the components to cool inbetween and sitting with foot on pedal when coming to a halt!

Paul m.

Peter is talking rubbish. There is no such thing as an emergency brake unless you are driving a train. Technically it's a parking brake and most in UK are still hand operated hence "handbrake" is correct. Electric is becoming more common and many American have it foot operated. Stop start is even easier to use in an automatic and seamless. And no you are not supposed to sit stopped at lights with the foot brake on in an automatic, you are supposed to put the transmission in park.Not doing so increases fuel consumption and potentially wear and tear on the transmission. Peter comes over as a luddite who scorns anything "new", thinks rules and regulations don't apply to him he and does not care about causing polution that affects others.

Robert G8RPI.

Last year, I've been hit twice from behind by not paying attention drivers, so I will keep my foot on the brake during stand still, no matter what.
Even during trips in the UK....!!

jrkitching said:

Interesting. Were these fitted into new cars supplied by the factory, or replacement batteries sold by a franchised dealer? Do they also have Fiat branding or Fiat part numbers?

If Fiat have changed the specification of the batteries being fitted to new cars, this could be useful to anyone contemplating battery replacement.

Click to expand...

They were replacement batteries from Palmers in Hemel Hempstead. They are Mopar branded AGM batteries that I fitted to both 500s before I brought them out here. The main label is at the front, so I can’t tell you more without removing the battery from the car.

p6baseunit said:

They were replacement batteries from Palmers in Hemel Hempstead.

Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying that; out of interest, what sort of price did they charge you for them?

I will give one corrrection / addition, going to neutral and putting the hand /parking brake on when stopped in an automatic is acceptable and may be better for some transmissions.

Robert G8RPI.

g8rpi said:

I will give one corrrection / addition, going to neutral and putting the hand /parking brake on when stopped in an automatic is acceptable and may be better for some transmissions.

Robert G8RPI.

Click to expand...

NOT neccessary for the Fiat/Alfa TCT transmission, according to the handbook...
And again, millions of USA drivers don't do it either, but I guess, they are all doing it wrong...??

Dual clutch transmissions are an exception as there is no torque converter. You are effectively in gear with both clutches out. However you are still blinding the driver behind you with the brake lights. You still should have the parking brake on though. Just because most people don't do it does not mean they are right.

May I just remind you all that this thread is supposed to be about batteries?

g8rpi said:

Dual clutch transmissions are an exception as there is no torque converter. You are effectively in gear with both clutches out. However you are still blinding the driver behind you with the brake lights. You still should have the parking brake on though. Just because most people don't do it does not mean they are right.

Click to expand...

Rubbish.
In D, during standstill there's always one clutchplate engaged, hence the "creeping" behavior.
Again there is no such thing as a "parking brake", (or maybe the Croma has..??)
It is an emergency brake, that's why Mercedes has a foot operated emergency brake, as a lot of USA cars have this foot operated device as well.
Theory is you can apply more force by foot during an emergency stop when the normal brakesystem fails...
The emergency brake is cable operated by law, so not depending on hydraulics, which can leak...

Right, that's it.

Thread closed.

If you want to talk about handbrakes, go to LL and start a new thread.