981 Electric Parking Brake - your views
- Thread starter Cybalist
- Start date
Having driving a few cars with electronic parking brakes and various "automatic / tiptronic" drives, I can confirm it works fine in combination with the PDK, as in pretty much ignore electronic parking brake and just drive car..
Never even use the parking brake when in the garage as I just leave it in P
Never even use the parking brake when in the garage as I just leave it in P
Cybalist
New member
So what happens at traffic lights and junctions? When I drove the 981 PDK I found that the car crept forwards when I took my foot off the break in the same way my 987 does. That implies you would have to keep your foot on the brake the whole time, and you can't move your foot over to the gas ready to get away quickly. Or does the electric brake have some kind of mode that prevents creep?
I keep foot on foot brake as if you lift off the "auto start / stop" restarts the engine
If I was to be stopped at night at a junction for more than a few mins I would consider using the electronic stop brake out of courtesy for the driver behind, to save them staring at the 3rd brake light
Had a Merc and when you came to a stop if you pressed down hard on the footbrake it would hold ...if you just pressed it lightly the car will creep forward once you took your foot of the brake pedal ....it is annoying at night when you have people behind you with your brake lights full on, then I would use the park brake if on a hill if on level ground but it in P
The Spyder has the good old fashion ratchet type hand brake[
]
The Spyder has the good old fashion ratchet type hand brake[
]
You'd have thought that with the auto stop/start function selected, provision would have been made to extinguish the brake lights automatically when the car is stationary.
It's clear from the posts that the electronic handbrake has been provided with PDK users in mind. I've yet to try a manual 981 (they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth) but I use the handbrake regularly on my manual 987.2 Cayman and would undoubtedly find the location and operation of the electronic handbrake very inconvenient.
Jeff
fbr
New member
The electric handbrake, in conjunction with PDK, on the 981 works well. First come to terms with the basics, the operation of the static Off/On function is counter intuitive, you push the switch for On (engage) and pull it for Off (disengage). Dynamically, ie pulling away, it disengages automatically and is better for quick starts than the old fly off handbrake. For longer stops, with hot brakes, I engage Park.
If you really like to use the stop-start function, ignore the handbrake and engage Park via the PDK gear selector. The reason for this is that when you stop with the foot-brake and engage the handbrake releasing the foot-brake automatically restarts the engine. Whereas the PDK park function maintains the engine in it "fuel saving" off mode till you re-engage the foot-brake, re-engage drive and lift of the foot-brake. It sounds odd but think about it and the safety implications are obvious. However, the benefits of the stop-start system are less obvious and I mostly turn it off.
If you engage the handbrake and turn the engine off (eg whilst parking) or engage the handbrake with the engine off, to release the brake the drivers door needs to closed, the drivers seat occupied, the seat belt on and the engine running, before it can be disengaged.
Engaging the handbrake when on the move is similar to a conventional handbrake with the added advantage that, it does not lock on but only stays engaged as long as you Push the poorly positioned switch and are still moving. If you have the habit pulling on the conventional handbrake as you are just stopping, the electric handbrake will cure you of this since it does fully and rapidly engage if activated if you are moving very slowly (ca less than 2 mph).
Other than that it's not a problem and as stated by other posters I mainly ignore it and, like any mechanically handbrake equipped vehicle with an automatic style of gear selector with transmission locking function, I mostly use Park.
FBR
If you really like to use the stop-start function, ignore the handbrake and engage Park via the PDK gear selector. The reason for this is that when you stop with the foot-brake and engage the handbrake releasing the foot-brake automatically restarts the engine. Whereas the PDK park function maintains the engine in it "fuel saving" off mode till you re-engage the foot-brake, re-engage drive and lift of the foot-brake. It sounds odd but think about it and the safety implications are obvious. However, the benefits of the stop-start system are less obvious and I mostly turn it off.
If you engage the handbrake and turn the engine off (eg whilst parking) or engage the handbrake with the engine off, to release the brake the drivers door needs to closed, the drivers seat occupied, the seat belt on and the engine running, before it can be disengaged.
Engaging the handbrake when on the move is similar to a conventional handbrake with the added advantage that, it does not lock on but only stays engaged as long as you Push the poorly positioned switch and are still moving. If you have the habit pulling on the conventional handbrake as you are just stopping, the electric handbrake will cure you of this since it does fully and rapidly engage if activated if you are moving very slowly (ca less than 2 mph).
Other than that it's not a problem and as stated by other posters I mainly ignore it and, like any mechanically handbrake equipped vehicle with an automatic style of gear selector with transmission locking function, I mostly use Park.
FBR
Would you keep your 987 in drive and use the handbrake?
It's not something I even consciously think about in my Cayman to be honest, I have no problem with hill hold or the electronic handbrake, you soon get used to it.
Couldn't agree more - soon get used to it.
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