How do manufacturers get away with.......

[Rocket88]

what, to my tiny little mind, are not Constrution and Use compliant;

I present, m'lud, for your consideration,;

1] the electric handbrake. How is this a seperate mechanical device?

2] Headlamp bulbs that have to be changed my a garage, and, in some cases, re-coded before they will work. How is that compliant in Europe with the EC's insistence that you carry spare bulbs?

[OwdChina]

Was wondering the same thing myself. The leccy handbrake thing makes no sense at all.

[Guest]

Ah, now Point 1, I do believe that the final part is itself mechanical, hence legal & VOSA advising testers "Pass it"

I asked the very same question myself as Audi A1s is it? have this leccy handbrake.

I of course realise there is every pissabolity I am to stand erected on this matter!

[OwdChina]

The first vehicle i drove with said leccy handbrake was a Toyota Camry, a hire car. Get in car and start engine, select drive, a quick feel around for the handbrake and ehh??? where is it? Dash parkbrake light is lit. A brief search revealed no handbrake or foot lever. Turns off engine & goes back into rental office. "Where's the parkbrake on that thing"????????........It's on the dashboard sir, to the left of the wheel............."Oh.....erm........ok.

A truly crap and probably over complicated and expensive idea. AND NOT A MECHANICAL DEVICE.

[R9UKE]

The electric handbrake works OK in Renaults where it auto-releases when you get the bite. But in vile VAG piss such as the Passat and A4 where you have to hold a button to release every time it's just bollocks.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The electric handbrake works OK in Renaults where it auto-releases when you get the bite.

 

 

New Voxallz have that as well. Nifty but give me a lever every time.

[dollywobbler]

I've found the auto-releases are shite too though. They don't release quick enough. How can they? It takes a motor a while to turn the mechanism enough. Apparently the handbrake assemblies on LR Disco 3s tend to rip out of their mountings as people pull away before the handbrake has released enough. Well done modern manufacturers. You've created a problem that didn't exist before for precisely NO benefit!

[scaryoldcortina]

There is even a vosa training video for testers so we know how each type of electric parking brake works, and how to test it. On the landrovers (because you can't roller test a 4x4) you have to apply it while driving for a decelerometer test which is something it doen't normally want to do. a60rod is correct about the final part being mechanically held (it is typically a worm gear, so can't be driven from the "wrong" end) and this is why they are C&U compliant. Still shite though!

 

Another "how do they get away with..." is the fuel consumption/tax bracket figures for moderns. Take the twinair 500 as an example, they claim 70 odd mpg and it's low tax because of this BUT if you drive it normally you get closer to 40mpg. There is an "eco" button that halves the power, presumably this is how its tax was calculated. Except you can turn it off......

[MK5 Escort]

. But in vile VAG piss such as the Passat and A4 where you have to hold a button to release every time it's just bollocks.

 

Ummm, not in any current model A4 I've ever driven. Providing you have your seatbelt on, it works in exactly the same manner. As soon as the clutch bites, it releases. It's only when you don't have your seatbelt on do you have to manually push it down to deactivate. I don't personally have an issue with this.

 

I still prefer traditional handbrakes any day of the week, like...

[red5]

The electric handbrake works OK in Renaults where it auto-releases when you get the bite. But in vile VAG piss such as the Passat and A4 where you have to hold a button to release every time it's just bollocks.

 

It is bollocks. but that's not how they work. Will only release if drive is taken up and throttle applied. Caused no end of fun with the old duffers who insisted on pulling away on ide only.

 

Still not sure how they get away with mechanical though.

[Negative Creep]

How about those stupid cornering lights that most Euro cars have? My understanding is that whilst having these lights on is illegal under UK regs, the EU ones overwrite them

[CIH]

The electric handbrake works OK in Renaults where it auto-releases when you get the bite. But in vile VAG piss such as the Passat and A4 where you have to hold a button to release every time it's just bollocks.

 

Man I hate those auto-release things - feels completley unnatural.

[Albert Ross]

Charging nearly THIRTY FUCKING GRAND for a fully specced up top of the range "new" Focus Estate???!!!

[fiatdaft]

The electric handbrake works OK in Renaults where it auto-releases when you get the bite. But in vile VAG piss such as the Passat and A4 where you have to hold a button to release every time it's just bollocks.

 

 

I'm suprised you have renault with a working electric handbrake!

 

p.s.

 

In a big pitch move i can be driving 20 different cars in an hour

 

I fucking hate electric handbrakes oh and seatbelt warning chimes !

[Mash]

I've only ever driven a car with an electric handbrake once - my boss's Audi A6. After the incredulity of being taught how to actually drive a car again I thought I was OK. However they didn't tell me what to do for a hill start and there's a junction with lights just round the corner from work that is on an incline. Come to a stop, switch on the brake. Hang on. How am I supposed to ride the clutch and press the brake pedal and dip the throttle all at the same time when I want to set off???

 

I had a fear of rolling backwards into the car behind. Managed ok but with hindsight what does one do in one of these in such a situation? Have they got an auto release? Does it hold you on the incline like an Auto while you release the brake?

 

WHY CAN'T THEY FECKING LEAVE STUFF WELL ALONE?

[mattblack]

Front fog* lights that can be switched on with just side lights?

 

 

*Should be renamed 'LOOK AT ME I'M A TOTAL BELLEND' lights

[ashmicro]

Leccy handbrake on my S Type worked fine, and disengaged itself without fuss. It did however have a "legacy effect" - when I changed to the X Type, which has a normal handbrake, I kept forgetting about it!

[M'coli]

Front fog* lights that can be switched on with just side lights?

 

 

*Should be renamed 'LOOK AT ME I'M A TOTAL BELLEND' lights

Why not? There are times when it would increase visability, like driving in heavy snow, for example.

[kinkersaab]

Front fog* lights that can be switched on with just side lights?

 

 

*Should be renamed 'LOOK AT ME I'M A TOTAL BELLEND' lights

Why not? There are times when it would increase visability, like driving in heavy snow, for example.

 

x2

[Pete-M]

x3

[M'coli]

The usual counter argument is that the highway code states that dipped headlights should be used when visibility is poor - but this is because most cars don't have fog lamps so there's a blanket rule to cover them too.

[Bren]

... making increasingly larger and heavier cars which cost more to run and maintain when we are told there is'nt enough room on our roads and that oil is slowly running out.

 

I would love to know how they get away with figures for economy, most that seem to be offered by manufacturers seem to be fiction.

[scaryoldcortina]

I'd love to know that too - I get to see the weight of every car I test, and I'm regularly horrified by how heavy even a small car is these days - it just seems bizzare that a yaris is heavier than a sierra sapphire (for example)

 

I did a little research on the fuel consumption thing, and it's interesting... most of the tests are done at a steady speed, which of course means that the weight of the car is irrelevent, and tiny things (like running a hydraulic PS pump as opposed to an electric one) suddenly matter far more than they actually do.

[mattblack]

Front fog* lights that can be switched on with just side lights?

 

 

*Should be renamed 'LOOK AT ME I'M A TOTAL BELLEND' lights

Why not? There are times when it would increase visability, like driving in heavy snow, for example.

 

Because if visibility is reduced enough that you need fog lights on, you should have your headlights on...

 

The law used to be that fog lights must be wired so that they could only be switched on with dipped beam, hence my original comment...

[kinkersaab]

if you have ever driven in driving snow and fog/ mist you will know, the low down beam from fogs is gr9 for seeing through it, dipped beam will just bounce back at you like main beam but less so. Try it.

[mattblack]

Try it.

 

If I had front fog lights fitted to my car I would...

[Autoplas]

The electric hand brake on my mothers new Renault Grand Scenic is great, no fuss, auto disengages immediately and to turn it on you touch a switch on the console. Bloody sight easier than yanking a lever up and down, especially fannying about with the handbrake on hill starts.

[OwdChina]

Not really causing great concern yet, but something i think most people haven't thought about..................

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45439574/ns ... tEk3mp0Srg

[M'coli]

Front fog* lights that can be switched on with just side lights?

 

 

*Should be renamed 'LOOK AT ME I'M A TOTAL BELLEND' lights

Why not? There are times when it would increase visability, like driving in heavy snow, for example.

 

Because if visibility is reduced enough that you need fog lights on, you should have your headlights on...

 

The law used to be that fog lights must be wired so that they could only be switched on with dipped beam, hence my original comment...

Did you read this:

The usual counter argument is that the highway code states that dipped headlights should be used when visibility is poor - but this is because most cars don't have fog lamps so there's a blanket rule to cover them too.

That's the reason behind the law, but as KS says,

if you have ever driven in driving snow and fog/ mist you will know, the low down beam from fogs is gr9 for seeing through it, dipped beam will just bounce back at you like main beam but less so. Try it.

Having driven in heavy snow and only switched on my lights whenever I could see traffic coming, I can see the point of having them switched on the sidelights because headlights made the visibility worse.

[Mash]

On a "progress that isn't progress" note, I have just been reading a 1984 edition of Car (like you do) and there's a gret 4 page ad for the new Astra (Mk2 of course) featuring the GTE.

 

Drag coefficient of 0.30

1.8 litre engine with top speed of 126mph

0-60 in 8 seconds

Plus other nice little features

 

Ok granted this is a top of the range performance model but it's not too shabby for 27 years ago.