The laziest car features

[gumby6371]

My main concern would be the stuff that you can't do with a flat battery like hand brakes etc.

I really don't like the idea of automatic hand brakes, imagine travelling down the motorway and the ecu throws it's dummy and tells the hand brake you're stationary! I'm sure there will be safeguards but why take the chance??

[Welly]

I'm sure I heard somewhere that BMW's? with keyless drive effectively lock you out when the battery goes flat and they can only be opened by crawling underneath and hooking up to some jump-link thing. Or something. Again very inconvenient for the owner who can't even sit in the car waiting for help. Not that BMW's ever go wrong that is because they don't ever.

[scotty73]

I have nothing to add

Reading the start of this Fred there was one person I was waiting to reply.... ^^^ And there he is

Betcha none of you have got the dog roast overide button on your key fobs like i do.

[markw]

I really don't like the idea of automatic hand brakes, imagine travelling down the motorway and the ecu throws it's dummy and tells the hand brake you're stationary! I'm sure there will be safeguards but why take the chance??

Agree totally, but unfortunately, we're all there already due to the ridiculous amount of electronics on cars nowadays. For instance, the ABS ecu only has to have a little coughing fit and it could decide to lock all four wheels while you're merrily steaming down the fast lane.....

[steve_earwig]

I don't think that's possible on these, worst they could do is release the pressure and you have no brakes...

Electronic handbrakes are famous for seizing solid or, alternatively, releasing of their own accord and letting your car loose unaccompanied.

[Welly]

I've just googled "benefits of electronic handbrakes" and found more complaints than praise.

One chap parked his pisshat nose-down at the bottom of a steep slope and found he needed to cover the footbrake before pressing the button to release the handbrake....and his other foot was busy with the clutch. Or something.

[benczuk]

I always thought they auto released when you drove off? ergo you didn't need to try to find the biting point then press a button? (and by extension all the people who complained about having to press said button were just stupid?)

[Welly]

My limited research (I got bored) suggests not all car have the auto-release thing but then some have it and the owners didn't know how to engage it. I mustard mitt it seems silly to press a button every time you move off.

It won't be long before we see seemingly new cars driving along with the back wheels on fire that's for sure.

[Doggy]

The last one I suffered was an Insignia. IIRC, the handbrake would only release if you press said button while you had your foot on the brake.....

.....which means you wind up stalling it cos you can't press brake and accelerator together and release in sequence, or trying to swap quickly from brake to accelerator before it rolls backwards. You know, the kind of thing you can avoid if you've got a HANDBRAKE FFS!

[DaiRees]

Mine auto releases, if you want to release it manually you do need to put your foot on the brake. The auto release only works when you rev the engine and release the clutch at the same time, neither of those things alone will release it. Makes hill starts a doddle

It's nice to have a handbrake that reliably and effectively holds the car though

[benczuk]

The last one I suffered was an Insignia. IIRC, the handbrake would only release if you press said button while you had your foot on the brake.....

.....which means you wind up stalling it cos you can't press brake and accelerator together and release in sequence, or trying to swap quickly from brake to accelerator before it rolls backwards. You know, the kind of thing you can avoid if you've got a HANDBRAKE FFS!

fromhttp://www.vauxhall.co.uk/content/dam/V ... t_2012.pdf page 151

"Drive away function
Depressing clutch pedal (manual
transmission) or engaging drive gear
(automatic transmission) and then
depressing the accelerator pedal
releases the electrical parking brake
automatically. This is not possible
when the switch is pulled at the same
time.
This function also helps driving away
on inclines.
Aggressive drive away may reduce
life time of wear parts."

So it would seem to be a general case of RTFM?

[Welly]

Aggressive drive away may reduce
life time of wear parts."

How did Vauxhall know that Doggy would be driving?

[Doggy]

So it would seem to be a general case of RTFM?

Agreed. In the real world, how many hire car manuals do most users study?

[steve_earwig]

In my experience the manual's usually been stolen by the time I get to drive.

[Welly]

In the real world, how many hire car manuals do most users study?

Bailes reads it from cover to cover