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S60 & V60 '11-'18 / XC60 '09-'17 General Forum for the P3-platform 60-series models |
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Parking Brake ExperimentViews : 1260 Replies : 7Users Viewing This Thread : |
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Apr 12th, 2011, 23:31 | #1 |
XC60 Owner
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Parking Brake Experiment
something had bothered me recently. the combination of the awkwardly placed on/ off parking brake by my right knee along with the awkwardly placed fog lights, front and rear, also by my right knee.
as such, hitting the handbrake in fog and coming to a sudden stop was something i thought might be possible. this led me to do a bit of research. firstly, when driving tonight, i thought i'd see if it was possible to accidentally put the handbrake on whilst searching out either set of fog lights. i established quite quickly it would be quite hard to do. they feel very obviously different, i.e. a small button vs a large lever-button. secondly, i thought i'd test out what would happen if i hit the handbrake whilst moving. i found a very quiet road, drove at about 15 mph and hit the handbrake. instead of being projected towards the windscreen, i was greeted by a pleasantly sounding alarm and the brake came on temporarily and went off immediately. i lost very little speed. i then tried it again. this time, i kept my hand on the button. the car kept braking and the alarm sounded until i took my hand off it. anyway, checking the manual, it turns out if you hit the handbrake whilst the car is moving, the footbrake is applied i.e braking all 4 wheels. as you come to a stop, the brake is transferred to the rear wheels only. so on the plus side, little chance of mistakenly causing a motorway pileup in fog. on the minus side, no handbrake turns in the snow!
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59 (MY10) XC60 D5 205 AWD Geartronic SE Lux 54 RX8 231ps Renesis ****el 96 Megane Coupe 2.0 82 Metro 1.0 |
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Apr 13th, 2011, 09:59 | #2 |
New Member
Last Online: Sep 20th, 2012 14:46
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Athens
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The thing with the handbrake is that you no longer can pull it in case of emergency... I have saved a couple of times stupid light crashes with a car in front by pulling the handbrake (especially at low speeds and slippery surface -e.g. light shower- ABS gets in and prevents the braking...)
You can't do that with the XC60... |
Apr 13th, 2011, 12:15 | #3 |
Long-term XC60 Owner
Last Online: Sep 18th, 2014 20:46
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Living near Maastricht
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I still think the operation of the handbrake is counterintuitive when compared to a ‘normal’ handbrake. Also, I can’t understand why the switch for it is on the lower right, generally hidden by steering wheel etc, would have thought it would make more sense to have it near the gear lever on the central tunnel somewhere providinge a little commonality between R/H and L/H drive versions. But then I have never designed the inside of a car, did spend a lot of time doing the outsides on my school books years ago, non made it into production and I did get detention for wasting time in class...............
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Apr 13th, 2011, 15:57 | #4 | |
Better than an X3 or Q5
Last Online: Dec 15th, 2011 21:34
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Location: Peak District
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Quote:
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Apr 13th, 2011, 18:31 | #5 | |
Long-term XC60 Owner
Last Online: Sep 18th, 2014 20:46
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Living near Maastricht
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Quote:
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Apr 13th, 2011, 20:20 | #6 |
Senior Member
Last Online: Nov 6th, 2012 21:12
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Location: Falkirk
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Apr 13th, 2011, 20:33 | #7 |
XC60 Owner
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on some surfaces, e.g. snow, ABS doesn't stop you quicker, it just allows you to keep control of the car by allowing you to use the steering when braking hard.
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59 (MY10) XC60 D5 205 AWD Geartronic SE Lux 54 RX8 231ps Renesis ****el 96 Megane Coupe 2.0 82 Metro 1.0 |
Apr 14th, 2011, 12:12 | #8 |
New Member
Last Online: Sep 20th, 2012 14:46
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Athens
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ABS prevents your wheels from blocking, by reducing the braking in the wheel that is about to block... This is of huge importance when braking at high speed, say 150 kph, and helps you maintain the control of the car...
In a sudden brake in slippery surface, at low speed (say 20-30 kph) there's is no threat of losing control. So, if your wheels block, braking distance is minimised. You step on the break, hoping your wheels to block, but ABS prevents that, and you end up kissing the rear bumper of the car in front of you... But, if you had a handbrake.... |
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