What's made you smile today?

[varesecrazy]

We've had several instances of the Handbrake mechanism releasing

One after 3 minutes, one overnight and another after several days

Tend to park in gear now..

 

[vexorg]

Plenty of 500 owners post on here about discs and pads at 20k.. ,

Blame modern driving instructors, they tell young drivers to use the brakes and not the gears slowing down.

 

[portland_bill]

Blame modern driving instructors, they tell young drivers to use the brakes and not the gears slowing down.

It has been the correct way to do it since the early fifties, just no-one paid attention. Modern cars have very little engine braking now anyway, so slowing on the gears has little effect. Brakes are cheaper than gearboxes.
Using the brakes also puts the brake lights on, which are a signal, and will help grab the attention of the following driver, away from his phone.

 

[AndyRKett]

It has been the correct way to do it since the early fifties, just no-one paid attention. Modern cars have very little engine braking now anyway, so slowing on the gears has little effect.

Lmao, come drive my Golf with bluemotion tech, it has all the engine breaking meaning if you get it wrong you can actually stall it at a higher speed in a higher gear.

Conversely the mini countryman which on paper has a 2L diesel engine 6 speed both 150hp same kerb weight or there abouts, same generation of cars etc that car has no engine braking at all. So it can depend massively on the technology in the car.

The bluemotion tech means it shunts a huge load into charging the battery when off the power, and turns off the alternator when not needed, therefore this way it can really load up the engine braking effect.

 

[FiatMatt94]

We've had several instances of the Handbrake mechanism releasing

One after 3 minutes, one overnight and another after several days

Tend to park in gear now..

Usually I do park it & leave it in gear, but for some reason that day I didn't

 

[vexorg]

Brakes are cheaper than gearboxes.

That was the argument the driving instructor put to our kids, And I countered by asking to guess how many gearbox I've "worn out" in 30 years of drivng that way with dozens of cars. It's also really bad for driving not going through the gears as you're not as ready if you need to accelerate suddenly.

The citroen diesel has a lot of engine braking, very old school feel.
Though the juke hybrid has a heavy braking effect, same as the golf it seems, but the juke puts on the brake lights when you lift off and it's regenerating.

 

[AndyRKett]

That was the argument the driving instructor put to our kids, And I countered by asking to guess how many gearbox I've "worn out" in 30 years of drivng that way with dozens of cars. It's also really bad for driving not going through the gears as you're not as ready if you need to accelerate suddenly.

The citroen diesel has a lot of engine braking, very old school feel.
Though the juke hybrid has a heavy braking effect, same as the golf it seems, but the juke puts on the brake lights when you lift off and it's regenerating.

Instructors used to also teach you had to depress the button on the hand brake before pulling it up, because you would wear out the teeth on the mechanism…..

They’ve stopped teaching that now thankfully, I think many of these teaching practices where taught at a time when cars where made of chocolate or egg shells

 

[FiatMatt94]

Instructors used to also teach you had to depress the button on the hand brake before pulling it up, because you would wear out the teeth on the mechanism…..

They’ve stopped teaching that now thankfully, I think many of these teaching practices where taught at a time when cars where made of chocolate or egg shells

I have to admit I'm guilty of doing that as well , it's just always been a habit

 

[vexorg]

That handbrake thing was changed after I had questioned that too. There was a topic on a driving instructor forum where it had been discussed and if you press the button in then it's possible that the pawl might be sitting between the teeth and slip back to the next tooth afterward, effectively allowing it to slacken off. Whereas with the button left, it clicks in and wont move.

 

[StevenRB45]

The juke puts on the brake lights when you lift off and it's regenerating.

This is really annoying when combined with a f***wit...was following one at the weekend doing 40 in a 60 along a road that in good conditions has sightlines of about half a mile minimum and 2 miles in places.

I can't imagine anyone would jump between the accelerator and brake as often as this suggested as every 15-20 seconds brake lights flashed for less than a second then off again despite perfect visibility and conditions and no traffic ahead.

They could have been doing some crazy footwork but it suggests rather than maintaining a steady pedal pressure or using cruise control as I was behind them they were just jumping on and off the pedal to hold somewhere near a speed.

I could have passed them to be fair but was turning off in about 2 minutes... short lived annoyance.

Seeing far too many of them at moment and Qashqais as they tend to give them away to Nissan employees to bump up sales figures so there's a load of 73 plate Oxford registered ones just appeared locally. I suppose every single brand new Nissan owner in Oxford could have decided to have a day out to the middle of flipping nowhere but more likely company cars for the factory staff.

 

[vexorg]

Could be a new driver thing again, they treat the pedals like on off switches.

 

[AndyRKett]

Or someone two pedal driving an auto. (With both feet)

I must admit I’ve sat behind quite a few people recently who flit the brakes on randomly and often for no apparent reason

 

[Cheest]

This was yesterday, last night actually. I got to sleep in my own bed after nine and a half weeks. Mrs.Cheest apologized this morning in case she punched me during the night. I said that if she did, I slept through it.

 

[portland_bill]

Instructors used to also teach you had to depress the button on the hand brake before pulling it up, because you would wear out the teeth on the mechanism…..

They’ve stopped teaching that now thankfully, I think many of these teaching practices where taught at a time when cars where made of chocolate or egg shells

That handbrake thing was changed after I had questioned that too. There was a topic on a driving instructor forum where it had been discussed and if you press the button in then it's possible that the pawl might be sitting between the teeth and slip back to the next tooth afterward, effectively allowing it to slacken off. Whereas with the button left, it clicks in and wont move.

When I started in the trade, replacing handbrake levers was quite common, always due to wear on the teeth, with drivers that just pulled them up.
It all seems to be made of better stuff these days, so will tolerate no button being pressed, but it still makes a nasty noise.
So many people, if they depress the button, will release the lever a little before releasing the button. It is a technique issue. It is sometimes a real struggle to get learners to not do this, and I've seen many experienced drivers do it too. This results in the handbrake not being applied quite tight enough, and there have been a few runaways. To fend off lawsuits, the manufacturers now say do not press the button. This ensures the pawl is over a ratchet tooth, and the brake properly applied. It is an instruction to alleviate poor technique. I will continue to press the button, not just to reduce wear, but to eliminate the awful noise. This is another reason we have electric parking brakes. It takes the technique away from the driver, and removes a risk to the manufacturer. It is to protect the manufacturer.

This is really annoying when combined with a f***wit...was following one at the weekend doing 40 in a 60 along a road that in good conditions has sightlines of about half a mile minimum and 2 miles in places.

I can't imagine anyone would jump between the accelerator and brake as often as this suggested as every 15-20 seconds brake lights flashed for less than a second then off again despite perfect visibility and conditions and no traffic ahead.

Sadly, so many drivers do dab the brakes every few seconds. I've experienced many experienced drivers who do this, and when highlighted, they have no idea they're doing it.
Then there are those that use the brakes as a 'thinking tool'. Something changes ahead, they dab the brakes first, before applying any brain cells. "Brain before brakes" I tell them. Look further ahead, develop anticipation skills, and from that gain more time to assess. The brakes shold be a result of the assessment, not the start of it. Still got a few million drivers to get to, doing my best.

Could be a new driver thing again, they treat the pedals like on off switches.

So many new drivers cannot grasp the concept of just letting go. They tap dance between accelerator and brake, unable to not be pressing one or the other. There are so many situations where just let go, and let the car gently slow, gaining time to assess, will allow situations to dissolve before arrival.

 

[portland_bill]

Silly day, drove all three cars.
First, 7am, Panda, 43 miles to Chippenham.
Then swap to the Fabia, and across to Bristol airport to deliver sister, on her way back to Portugal. Then home again. Round trip, both cars 140 miles. Back around 11:30.
Then midday, a 9 mile each way trip, with the Doblo, to take partner to the dentist.

Tomorrow, a 2-3 hour bus journey, 3 buses, to collect the Panda.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Regarding hand brake application. Like PB above, I was taught to depress the button when applying the hand brake back in the 60's when I was learning. This practice was also reinforced by at least one workshop manager when I was a "learner mechanic". Specifically the technique "Old Mr Scott" my driving instructor taught me was to first depress the button, then lift/apply the lever until a goodly resistance is felt. Then release the button and gently let the pressure off the lever. Next gently raise the lever by a fraction and release again to ensure the pawl has engaged the ratchet. I've been applying hand brakes this way all my driving life and never had a problem. Probably too late to teach this "old dog" new tricks now.

If you are going to leave the car in gear (and it's doubtful whether this actually does much good as the engine will probably "go over" compression by itself if you're on any sort of a steep hill) Then remember you want to be in first if facing down the hill and reverse if facing uphill. This is so that if the car does move you're not forcing the engine to turn backwards. Why? because turning engines backwards, especially if it's an engine with a timing chain, may cause the chain, or belt, to jump a tooth or two which might be catastrophic when you next try to start the engine. What might be more effective is to remember to always leave the front wheels turned into the kerb if on a steep hill so the kerbstone will act to stop the car if it moves. Also, if you do this, the steering lock should click in before the wheel recentres so the car won't move far even if it does manage to mount the kerb.

Using engine braking? I find modern cars, as has been mentioned above, seem to have very little effective engine braking although "Smart" alternator control modules - as mentioned by Andy above, which force the alternator to charge heavily when the throttle is closed on overrun - can actually give a small but noticeable increase in engine braking effect. I do slow on my gears but also using the brakes as necessary. However the "gear thing" is more so that I'm always in the right gear for when I next want to apply throttle. One, maybe unusual, habit I do have I learned when I was competing in club rallies. What this involves is that when driving at speed out on country roads I "brake check" the brake pedal some distance before the point at which I need to apply meaningful braking effort. So, for instance, descending a hill at speed where perhaps a dead stop will be needed at the bottom, I'll just "dab" the brake pedal a few hundred yards before needing to apply serious braking effort to be sure there's a normal "feel" to the pedal. This is just one quick dab and doesn't result in any slowing of the vehicle but, should an unusual pedal feel be detected it gives you a few extra thinking seconds to decide what to do. I will only do it in the most extreme situations where a brake failure would be really catastrophic. It got me out of trouble on several occasions when driving competitively.