VW automatic parking brake. etc

I recently hire a VW Golf. It had an automatic transmission and an automatic hand brake. The instruction manual was in French which did not help matters.

When the car was on the flat the automatic hand brake was not much of a problem except that it occasionally came on when not needed, and had to be released manually so that the car would roll forward when in drive (or reverse) without touching the accelerator peddle.

What was much more hazardous was trying to reverse the car a few inches up a steep hill as you might need to do to park.

Starting with the handbrake on the accelerator had to be pressed quite hard before the brake released and the car went backwards, making me think that if anything was close behind, I might have shot into it.

I did try putting the car in reverse, holding it on the foot brake and then pressing the accelerator. This did not work as the engine computer had obviously told the engine not to rev up.

Anyone had more success with these devices?

Another rather silly feature was the door mirror which I lowered to see the rear of the car as I parked. When I then put the car in gear the mirror promptly moved back to where it was before.

We had to read the instruction manual to find out how to open the boot! You have to press the top of the VW sign on the back of the car if you don't want to use the remote key.

Another problem was lowering the back seats. I had to pull some strap, at the bottom of the seat back. This released the seat back. The seat was spring loaded, so it came forward and hit me on the side of the head.

Reply to
Michael Chare
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These automatic parking brakes and automatic clutches sound a right pain in the neck. What's wrong with a proper mechanically-operated handbrake that you have complete control over, together with a mechanically operated clutch that can be fed in gradually while the engine is idling - always assuming that you have a diesel engine so the engine will pull even at idling speed without you having to rev the engine. Even if I had a VW DSG gearbox, which sounds like a fantastic piece of kit for matching matching engine and road speed to give you perfectly smooth gearchanges, I'd still want an manual clutch pedal for use solely when setting off from rest or when manoeuvring and needed finer control.

We've got that on our Honda, together with a reversing camera, and both are worth their weight in gold. The auto-adjusting door mirrors are fantastic: it saves having to pause for ages, out in the middle of the road while I adjust the mirror manually (and the motor moves so slowly) so I can see the kerb that I need to line my nearside back wheel up with, between the drive and lawn. It's something my Peugeot doesn't have so I was delighted that the Honda does. It's a shame that there isn't manual override to keep mirror and camera in reversing position for a few seconds while you go into first to reposition slightly before reversing again.

Ah yes. It took me a while to work that out when I drove a VW. I think you have to use it every time you open the boot (even with central locking) because central locking just allows the boot to open but you still need to unlatch it with the badge in exactly the same way as you'd still need to lift a conventional lever on a boot release. Or does the central locking also release the boot lid so it pops up a few inches, or even raise the tailgate to full height as the top-of-the-range Honda CR-V does?

Same with our Honda. I still look for a lever on top of the seat back and forget that it's a pull-tab below the seat base that starts the coordinated sequence of raising seat base, lowering headrest and then tipping seat back forwards. Not sure how similar this is to the VW mechanism.

The biggest mystery was when I had to drive my boss's car on business and couldn't even work out how to get it into (or out of) reverse, which a hasty mobile phone call from the car park resolved: it was a combination of pushing the gear knob inwards (rather than lifting a collar or pulling the knob outwards) and starting the engine: there was an interlock which wouldn't allow the lever to move, even with the clutch pressed, when the engine wasn't running.

Reply to
NY

With an auto - including the DSG types - use your left boot on the brake. I've absolutely no idea what the purpose of an auto handbrake is on an auto car anyway. Suppose it might make sense on a manual for those who can't drive a manual, like so many Americans.

But a proper auto won't roll back on a hill anyway.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I guess an automatic handbrake costs less as there are no strong cables or lever mountings. A bit like remote control on TV - we think of it as a convenience - but imagine how much the makers save in not having to fit conventional controls.

Reply to
DerbyBorn

I've got a four-year-old Range Rover which has an automatic "hand" brake, which has operated flawlessly. I've never felt any inclination to touch the control other than for familiarisation. It never comes on when I don't want it to, and it always releases promptly when needed.

Somehow I expect manufacturers to buy in "intelligent" systems such as automatic brakes from component suppliers such as Bosch, and so I expect them to work the same in all brands of vehicles. Experience shows that isn't so. Your VW's hand brake is clearly inferior to the Range Rover's (or faulty). The Range Rover's automatic wipers are inferior to those on the Audi I bought eleven years ago.

My car lowers the mirror when I put it in reverse. I didn't see the point of that feature so I disabled it in the setup menu. I guess different people use the mirrors differently.

Reply to
Mike Barnes

It's an auto right? so left foot on the brake, release the handbrake, put a but of revs on it and let the brake off slowly...

I drive an auto and never ever use the handbrake..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

My Astra has an electrically activated handbrake - just a control that can be pushed or pulled to apply or release the brake. But it releases automati cally if you start driving. I did find once using this function whilst atte mpting to reverse slowly, that the brake released in a rather awkward manne r. If reversing near another vehicle I think I would release it manually fi rst.

The car also has a automatic foot-brake hold function - on hills it will ho ld for 2 seconds after you release the pedal. Good for pulling off on hills , and fills in a nice niche between riding the clutch and applying the hand brake. However there is nothing to indicate if the incline is steep enough to acti vate the function, so on mild slopes you are not sure if it will hold or no t. The hold function status should be indicated in the display.

Another thing with 6 gears, sometime you can confuse 6th with 4th, etc. Sin ce the car knows electronically what gear you are in (it has gear change ad vice) why on earth can they not display the current gear for the user ?

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

Ditto.

Reply to
Bod

They all seem to be going that way. I hate the damn things.

Reply to
Huge
[snippage]

They're notorious for jamming on or failing to work at all.

I simply never use the one in my Disco4 - it's an auto, so there's no need.

Reply to
Huge

Maybe you were taught differently to me: I was taught to use the handbrake as in a manual when holding the car on a hill, to prevent having to keep your foot on the footbrake and dazzling the person behind at night time. And to shift into neutral at traffic lights as in a manual. Park then becomes an auxiliary to the handbrake, a belt-and-braces equivalent of supplementing the handbrake with leaving a manual car in gear. And never ever use the left foot on the brake in any circumstances. My instructor could be a bit dogmatic at times (eg his phrase "footbrake for stopping the car, handbrake for keeping it stopped once stationary - no exceptions") but I'm inclined to agree with him.

Reply to
NY

Can be handy to see the kerb when parking. On my car you disable it by moving the switch which selects which mirror you want to adjust.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I've always been puzzled by this. It's fairly common for the gear selector of an automatic to display on the instrument panel the current PRNDL position, so why don't they do the same to display the current gear on a manual? I find with my new car I occasionally forget which gear I'm in because there's less sense of engine racing or labouring than there was with my old car - and it's not just confusion of 4th/6th or 3rd/5th but even

4th/5th where there's a difference in both up/down and left/right position - you need to take your eyes of the road to glance at the gear lever and remind yourself which gear you're in when the car's engine sounds are unfamiliar.
Reply to
NY

Does it MATTER which gear you're in? It's either the right one for the road speed, or the wrong one. The sound, the feel and the rev counter will tell you that.

Reply to
Adrian

SWMBO's MINI has one of those soft-start ignitions. Horrid if you stall. Rather than standing on the brake and clutch and a quick flick of the key to get started again, there is some amount of docking about required which slows it down.

And these keyless ignitions are starting to get hacked by thieves (not MINI specifically, but there was an article in the paper the other day).

Reply to
Tim Watts

Not just handy but virtually essential when parking as close as possible to a kerb without actually touching it or when parking centrally between two white lines in a car park, when you can't see the kerb/lines except with a mirror or a reversing camera.

I've never thought of auto-dropping mirrors as a pain, more as an essential feature that should be standard on all cars - be nice if you could switch between left, right and both, whereas certainly on my Honda it's only left (nearside). I don't think it's switchable on/off, either, unless it's an obscure menu option rather than a readily-accessible switch.

Reply to
NY

It's difficult to be sure without experimenting but I suspect that I can see well enough with the (quite large) mirror in its normal position.

And when I'm reversing into my garage (by far my most common reversing manoeuvre), the best position for the mirror is the normal position.

Reply to
Mike Barnes

Absolutely stupid to only use one foot when you have two.

And there's no reason not to use park in an auto instead of the handbrake when stopped in traffic, etc.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

One of the first things I do with a new car is switch off those damn auto-lowering mirrors. They're too slow and half the time they stop in the wrong place. I'm perfectly happy to waggle my head about so I can see.

Reply to
Huge

My VW Passat displays current gear and then indicates when it thinks you should be changing up. Ford C Max is similar, but doesn't have continuous display of current gear

Reply to
JohnW

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