Electronic Parking Brake in Golf 7

[phaeton]

Negatives
No more handbrake turns for those that buy the performance versions.
Car parking facing downhill and taking off again is known to be difficult with EPB.

Positives
Ease of use round town & hill starts.
More space available where handbrake would have been.

[ralp2dam]

I think it's a great idea. I have the electronic handbrake and yet to have a problem.

[DoggieHowser]

For city driving, the electronic brake on my Tiguan is great, but it does feel odd at first. And it does sometimes get tripped up when I'm backing up over a steep driveway and hit the brakes. There's a manual override but have its not intuitive to disengage it at times.

Having said that, I now forget to use the handbrake on the Golf.

I've only used a handbrake turn once on my old Evo when I was getting some practice from a motorcross training session. But seems odd even the Boxster has gone this way

[raygti]

Wasn't the whole point of a handbrake was so that if your brakes fail you would have a mechanical back up ?? I think it is a stupid idea !

Step backwards in that regards .... In regards to space, how much room are you using near the handbrake ???

Hypothetical situation: cars brakes fails and loss of electronic power ... What happens ? Are there any fail safes ? This whole adaptive cruise stuff etc is just making us lazy as drivers in general. Lane changing feature is a good one though !
I've yet to see a computer that has not failed yet .

[wai]

I believe the electronic brake is a major backward step. When I looked at buying my Caddy Maxi Life, the lack of a standard hand operated hand brake was an absolute deal breaker. My brother has a Honda CRV with another absurdity of a foot operated parking brake, and you cannot use it for anything other than parking. It is just as bad as an electronic brake. Even an umbrella handle type handbrake is better. I learned to drive in an XM Falcon that has one and you can modulate them quite well.

I have mentioned in other postings the issue where there is a delay between releasing the footbrake and the engaging of the reverse clutch in a DSG. Yes, the only way to work around this and not run into a car when parked facing downhill is to have a handbrake you can modulate. At the very least, the transmission should be allowed to engage the clutch before the electronic brake can be released. Chances are this is not the case as I know someone with a new Passat which has an electronic brake and he has a lot of problems as the DSG will not let the clutch engage until the electronic brake is released. This then sees a delay of almost 1 second before the clutch engages and launches you backwards.

The reason for this is to reduce weight, and VW are going on about how the Mk 7 is bigger but lighter. It is easy to reduce weight, but you still need functionality.

I'd love to see a VW executive use their personal car with one of these try and reverse park up a hill and then try and get out of a parking space when facing downhill.

[Ryan_R]

The press release says it's supposed to be better/easier for hill starts but I'm not sold on it. I had a look in my car and the handbrake doesn't seem to be talking up any significant space (compared to the Mk7 interior photos). Fortunately I read the EPB is an option so hopefully those of us who don't want it can say no to it.

[iampivot]

What happens if you're parked on a hill and the battery runs out. Will it just refuse to disengage?

[buzuki]

Hopefully they added the feature that when a certain load is applied to the engine the brakes auto release. So you can have the EPB on then apply throttle and once a certain load is reached (not high) the EPB will auto release.

[brimway]

To help with hill starts, the e-brake has an "auto hold" feature. Whatever that is.

[team_v]

To help with hill starts, the e-brake has an "auto hold" feature. Whatever that is.

This is standard in the tiguan.
It will essentially hold the brakes on until it feels the point where the car will start to go and then disengage the brake.

I am yet to have any issues with my e-brake in the Tiguan.

[brimway]

This is standard in the tiguan.
It will essentially hold the brakes on until it feels the point where the car will start to go and then disengage the brake.

I am yet to have any issues with my e-brake in the Tiguan.

Sounds like a good thing then

[Transporter]

Yeap, both, my wife and my 24y old daughter, don't complain about the ebrake in their Tiguans. Actually they're finding it easier to use than the mechanical handbrake.

[wind]

Electronic brake and associated hill-hold function works well on my Passat. Will hold the car in place until you take off and disengages smoothly when the car starts to pull away (great on steep hills, has not rolled back yet for me!).

The only downside (if you want to call it one) - if you use the hill-hold function, the automatic engine stop-start on the TDI does not operate i.e. engine will idle instead of turning off when at a standstill - probably because it does not know what you intend to do since the brakes have been applied by the hill-hold function and you do not need to be holding your foot on the brake, just hit the gas when ready to move.

[Ryan_R]

Well we all have hill hold assist in our Mk6 DSG Golf's and while it generally works ok while driving (although I've found it much better since I've turned it down via VCDS, much less jerky takeoffs), I don't trust it when I start my car at home, parked on a steep incline. First time my Dad tried to move the car he left some nice skidmarks from spinning tyres since it started rolling backwards towards his car. So I'm always doing the classic handbrake start when I leave home each morning, esp if I have to reverse out, car is noticeably worse in that orientation.

[James_d1]

The Auto hold function will also engage and disengage the electro mechanical handbrake. From a fresh start, you just ignore the handbrake and the system turns it off automatically when you drive off, engages again when you turn the car off. Works great, just take a bit getting used too. eg. If your parked in a steep drive and need to back up the hill, just put it in reverse and then drive back, don't touch the handbrake the car does it for you, no rolling at all.

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