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Skoda Fabia?

Whenever I am properly stopped, such as at lights, I engage neutral and put the handbrake on. This is I believe the 'correct' thing to do to prevent annoyance to those behind who have to look at your brake lights. I believe it also minimises wear to the clutch release bearing. It is also safer.


Most new cars in the U.K. are autos, and soon most will be EVs. ‘Hand’ brake will be seen as so quaint :)

Exactly! I have no hand brake, just a transmission lock. So when I’ve been stationary for a period or I turn the motor off it goes into park mode. Only trouble is when I drive Mrs L’s car I have to both remember to use the clutch, and not forget the handbrake!
 
Exactly! I have no hand brake, just a transmission lock. So when I’ve been stationary for a period or I turn the motor off it goes into park mode. Only trouble is when I drive Mrs L’s car I have to both remember to use the clutch, and not forget the handbrake!
You do still have a parking brake though - I’m guessing it’s one of the new kind that’s operated by a switch between the seats: these now engage whenever the car is stationary and release when you move off. That’s a different thing to the transmission-lock, which is what happens when you put the transmission into P.
 
I can only imagine that the old driving test routine of going down the gearbox was devised in the days of crap brakes. The current police procedure when driving at speed is apparently to stay in top, brake to the speed required, put the clutch in if necessary, then engage the gear you need at that speed and go again.

I've been out on training sessions with police motorcyclists and they also do the "no brakes" thing. It works well on flowing A-roads, but it's very, very slow on windier stuff. On a twisty B-road I had to stop and let one guy who was supposed to be following me to observe my riding catch-up (and was just about to go looking for him as it took so long I thought he'd fallen off). And that was me on my little 650cc Honda Deauville and without exceeding the speed-limit at any point, and with him on a Pan-European (which is much, much faster).

When he eventually arrived he was whining because I was using the brakes - so I asked him two questions:
  1. Is there a law against using the brakes?
  2. What did he think they were fitted for?
He was pretty sullen for the rest of the ride, so I didn't say anything when he missed a 30mph sign and went sailing into the zone at about 80mph, or when he nearly fell off when misjudging a corner (although it was quite impressive seeing the Pan European get round with corner with the stand, footpeg and the side of his foot all scraping) or when he had to stop and look for his keys after they fell out of the ignition when riding along. He was a bit of a prick though, so I bit my tongue and didn't suggest we flipped and I'd run a training session for him instead!
 
Most new cars in the U.K. are autos, and soon most will be EVs.

Seriously, Tony? I'm amazed that we've followed America and Australia in preferring auto. cars. This must be a VERY recent analysis then. I appreciate that the take-up of EVs will increase this figure, but even so............ However, most cars on the road must still be manuals.
 
Seriously, Tony? I'm amazed that we've followed America and Australia in preferring auto. cars. This must be a VERY recent analysis then. I appreciate that the take-up of EVs will increase this figure, but even so............ However, most cars on the road must still be manuals.

 
You do still have a parking brake though - I’m guessing it’s one of the new kind that’s operated by a switch between the seats: these now engage whenever the car is stationary and release when you move off. That’s a different thing to the transmission-lock, which is what happens when you put the transmission into P.

It’s an ev so the P is a transmission lock. Auto hold is for general use at lights etc.
 
It's all a bit of a sore point at the moment. I couldn't get my car in for MOT at my usual place, or anywhere else, having missed the fact that expiry was today.

However, the dealer where I bought Mrs Mull's Fabia do MOTs so I asked them. Not only did they decide that I need two new front suspension arms at a cost of about £300 fitted...with one apparently corroded beyond permissible levels..oddly with no previous advisory of corrosion mentioned, but they also found that my handbrake was not locking tightly enough and decided it was rear pads and discs, which I had replaced not so long ago. Cost fitted, another £200. I know for a fact that discs are about 40 quid a pair and pads maybe 30 quid, so that's another 130 to fit them. And I've just bought a bloody car from them. The 10th car we've had from them in 35 years.
You can go off people..
 
It’s an ev so the P is a transmission lock. Auto hold is for general use at lights etc.
What model of car is it? Most EV’s do not have a “transmission” in the sense we’d talk about it in an ICE car, just the final reduction-gear at the wheels that all cars have.

All cars have two independent braking systems. The front wheels are held by the brake pedal in the footwell, and the rear wheels are held by the parking brake (previous operated by the handbrake lever). This isn’t just common practice that manufacturers can opt in or out of: it’s part of the safety rules for putting any car on sale.

On an EV, when you put it in “P” and turn off the car, a brake is applied directly to the front wheels. Some vehicles, especially the ones from European makers, are a bit more clever and automatically apply the parking brake to the rear wheels too if you then turn off the car, as if you’d pulled the handbrake (you can then disengage this by pushing the parking-brake button again - you need to do that if the car is going to be towed with a wheel-lift, as in that case the back wheels need to be free to turn). Tesla is notable for hiding the existence of the parking brake in a menu somewhere, but it’s there. (Americans are notorious for not using parking brakes, so that may be the reason why Tesla’s UI designers didn’t think it was an important feature)
 
All cars have two independent braking systems. The front wheels are held by the brake pedal in the footwell, and the rear wheels are held by the parking brake (previous operated by the handbrake lever). This isn’t just common practice that manufacturers can opt in or out of: it’s part of the safety rules for putting any car on sale.

All four wheels are part of the hydraulic braking system operated by the brake pedal.
 
You can go off people..

Not good, Mull. Presumably it failed on those points and you'll need to resubmit when work done. In your shoes I'd be suspicious too, and I wonder if there's any way those failure items can be verified. Maybe SORN until you can sort it out? Too much hassle really and with no time to juggle, it seems they've got you. At least, surely, they can show you the defective areas for your own satisfaction.
 
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I've told them I want to see the old suspension arms.
They called today to say they got new arms but they wouldn't fit..so got a second pair which also didn't fit . I'll see what happens tomorrow..but I had no difficulty finding arms t Euro Car Parts for about 60 quid each.
 
Right. It eventually cost me over 500 quid to get my Civic through MOT, including new front suspension arms and new back brake pads and discs.. Still.. it has cost me well under £6k including purchase price, in the last 9 years. It owes me nothing and is still a great drive with more than enough 'Ooomph' for me. But that's not important right now...

Today I had my first 'go' in Mrs Mull's 'new' Fabia. I was pleasantly surprised. A bit 'dieselish' on accelleration.., probably due to the 3 cylinder engine, but otherwise OK. Drives well, decent ride for its class and more power than I expected. Not exactly sporty, but nippy enough in the 'burbs'. Easily ran up to, and seemed comfortable at.. 70 mph on a motorway, and went easily up to 80..with a fair bit to go... so more than enough for getting about, mostly locally. More importantly.. Mrs Mull admits it is 'growing on her'.
Success. :)
 
Auto Civics have a traditional handbrake or at least they do up to the 9th generation, not sure about the latest one.

The 2021 models have an electric parking brake.

honda-civic-hatchback-dashboard-view-402119.jpg
 
I still prefer the old Escort rally car parking brake in the 70s. Hydraulic discs at the rear, no parking brake included there, so they cut a hole in the transmission tunnel above the uj and the driver could drop the blade of a screwdriver into the uj, job done, passed the MoT as well. (Wouldn’t these days)
 
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I still prefer the old Escort rally car parking brake in the 70s. Hydraulic discs at the rear, no parking brake included there, so they cut a hole in the transmission tunnel above the uj and the driver could drop the blade of a screwdriver into the uj, job done, passed the MoT as well. (Wouldn’t these days)
Similar games in my Caterham 7 days. Some cars had no handbrake mechanism, the solution was a line lock on the brake pipe that ran along the transmission tunnel. Press the pedal, shut the valve. Brakes locked. Then release the lever to drive away. Come MoT the pedal box was too tight for the testers clumpy boots so "I'll operate the brakes mate, just say when". The "handbrake" would be demonstrated by lifting the lever and applying a judicious nudge of the brake pedal. Ignition off so there was no telltale brake light to give the game away.
 


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