Using the Handbrake

That’s what I was told too.

It’s been well over a year since I drove an rhd but as I recall I used to pull the handbrakes up without pressing the button and only pressed it to release the handbrakes…:thinking:

My French lhd doesn’t have a handbrake at all which for a start caused me much cognitive dissonance…frantic explorations into the door compartment and many embarrassing moments in the first few days when I stalled the car…

Even now with no handbrake except a red light that lets me know the brakes are on I still leave the car in gear as my driveway slopes down towards my house…

With the caveat that I have no mechanical expertise whatsoever and my knowledge of cars is reduced to whether they start or don’t…then maybe you need a new handbrake cable…??? :slightly_smiling_face:

Modern cars aren’t mechanical, any apparently moving parts are a visual hallucination generated by the cunningly evil brain that is installed at eye level in a bulge above the rear mirror.

The vehicle itself is a paranormal brain that interprets you in all your dimensions by the contours of your own rear end, the distance between your eyes, and your ( or to be less invasively direct my personal ‘fragrance’ :thinking::stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:.

Between journeys it implants the route and destination of your next journey into your lizard-brain at the top of your spinal cord, so you respond accordingly at a time pre-programmed by Renault, according to an algorithmic master-plan made by gnomes in the bunker under the European Commission in Strasbourg.

If you ever decide “I won’t use the car today, I’ll walk and get some fresh air” the idea has been planted in your in cortex by your car, when you last took off the seat belt, because you were beginning to annoy it, and it needed to calm down.

I hope this helps. My next message will try to demystify greasing the nipples, which the car will not be expecting, but will put the car in its place. It’s a kind of #metoo tactic for bullying cars.

If you doubt any of this, just let the idea surface briefly in your thoughts before the car takes them over and decides it’'s time for you to release the handbrake…:robot::alien:

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It really would help if Stella explained what her handbrake issues were.

From what I see around here, handbrakes are an optional accessory. You can see them at a “circulation alternée” with their brake lights on and their engines running even when the countdown tells them they are going to have to wait 5 minutes.
I always find this problematic. Chances are they are going to roll back when they start, so do you keep well back, or do you get really close so that they won’t have gathered much speed when they hit you?

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Depends on the handbrake. My Morgan has a “fly off” hand break so you press down the button to pull it back and release the button to lock it. Then one press of the button and it… flies off. With a normal hand break you don’t have to press the button when pulling back and the ratchet clinks notch by notch into place, however more mechanically sympathetic folk would advise pressing the button when pulling back so that over time you do not wear/damage the ratchet. However this can be somewhat time wasting if you are emulating Stig Blomquist and approaching a hairpin flat out in the Kilder forrest.
Alternatively you can ask your passenger to take charge of the hand break or just press the “Auto” button on the dashboard or just put it into “park” and ignore the hand break altogether (depending if it is normal or dual clutch auto of not) :upside_down_face:

Some automatics have a known tendency to jam in the ‘Park’ position, especially if left stopped on an incline with the weight of the vehicle resting against the transmission. The manufacturers recommendation is to fully and firmly apply the handbrake BEFORE releasing the footbrake and moving the gear selector into the ‘Park’ position.

I agree with this totally, & add something else; when you are stopped behind someone who doesn’t use their handbrake at lights etc. & it is dark you end up being blinded, unless you studiously look elsewhere for the duration.
Having said that I now have an electric car with an e-pedal option which means that as long as one judges distances correctly you never touch the brake pedal. The car then sits on any gradiant ready to move off with a simple press of the accelerator. Believe me, once you’ve driven with this option you don’t go back.
The downside of this is that the cars sits with it’s brake lights on until moving off. I only use the (electric) parking brake when actually parked (as with a normal automatic it prevents the roll-back/forward you get if you only use P).

Good to know that you won’t be pumping out poisonous exhaust fumes, so I’ll forgive your brake lights!

imbecile or what?

When I was taking advanced driving lessons, I was thought to press the button, as this will reduce the wear on the teeth, and I still follow this advice 30 years later

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Why on earth would she need to do that? Seems crystal clear to me?

Really? I think not. In my first hand experience I’ve had at least three handbrake ‘issues’ on cars I’ve used. In this thread everyone has concentrated on the ratchet and the button on the handbrake lever. If Stella told us what her issue was we could be more precise. One handbrake issue I had with a car I owned was at this time of year was that water in the handbrake cables froze causing the handbrake to stick on. I had to get assistance and the man did a temporary fix using a blow lamp to temporarily solve the problem. His advice was to avoid using the handbrake until the next thaw. If we knew if Stella’s issue was weather related like that, a sticking disc, or indeed something to do with the ratchet mechanism it would help answer her question.

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Ok I now understand your perspective,

But - there is no need to be so unpleasantly rude - please think again before posting again. Cheers.

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How was it rude? All I was asking for was more information. The OP was vague and posters had taken it in one direction which could well have been irrelevant. I genuinely thought that I was being helpful.
I do admit that some posts can seem rude, I’ve read a few recently.

That’s rude,

It was direct, as your reply to me was. I will remove the offending words.

Nope , I was direct, you were being / have been being antagonistic,. And not just to me.

I don’t have the time / energy to police your posts. Please either decide to embrace the ethos of my site or choose to post elsewhere. Thanks.

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Some interesting responses to my question about “pushing the button”. Thanks to everyone for your input.

There is no need for me to go into further details -, since the button-actioning was the only area of discord amongst me and my pals.

We have now found the User Manual for the car, which makes things quite clear.

To set: Lift the handbrake lever.
To release: Depress the button, lift the lever slightly, then (with button still depressed) gently lower lever to the horizontal.

Phew… :hugs: