Electric parking brake

[mfspen]

It gets worse.

Lots of horror stories have appeared about Audi's electric parking brake in the A4/6/8 and now the new A3. People have burnt out their clutches trying to stop the car rolling back on steep slopes where the parking brake doesn't work properly.

They are losing the plot big time.

 

[Ste_Nova]

works spot on in my a6, no clutch ftw!

anyway... if the car goes to roll back you use the brake to stop it not the clutch!!

 

[mfspen]

The problem occurs when you take your foot off the brake and onto the throttle.
One guy reported lurching backwards down a hill in his A4, throttle to brake, throttle to brake, ad nauseum, since the parking brake wouldn't hold the car in between.

 

[Ste_Nova]

how steep are we talking here???? i've not had anything too steep for my brake to hold

also if its that steep just launch it and attempt to spin it, the tc will kick in and all will be good

 

[mfspen]

..also if its that steep just launch it and attempt to spin it, the tc will kick in and all will be good

No, I think you're missing the point:
If the car is rolling backwards because the parking brake is ineffective, and you are also on the throttle trying to move forwards (up the slope), then the clutch will necessarily be slipping, irrespective of what the traction control is doing.

This is what is happening to a number of people, and they are almost burning out clutches as a result.

 

[NHN]

I've not heard anyone discussing this before tbh, so it cant be that well known & audi for sure, if it affected that many cars, would do a safety recall.

 

[mfspen]

I've not heard anyone discussing this before tbh, so it cant be that well known & audi for sure, if it affected that many cars, would do a safety recall.

Try putting 'audi electric handbrake problems' into Google.

I think they will try to keep it quiet as long as possible, given that the A4, A6, A8 and now the A3 all use the same seriously flawed system.

 

[Cruiser89]

I have an Audi A6 Avant Le Man edition (11 plate) that I use for work and the electronic park break has been spot on.

Im sure if there were any real issues a recall would be issued.

 

[IceHanger]

I'm sure it's the same system 31,000 on my 60 plate company hack...works well every time.
Even tried a handbrake turn...shhhhhh

 

[Ste_Nova]

can anyone tell me what situation its not ment to work right in and i'll go and test it and video

 

[Ste_Nova]

No, I think you're missing the point:
If the car is rolling backwards because the parking brake is ineffective, and you are also on the throttle trying to move forwards (up the slope), then the clutch will necessarily be slipping, irrespective of what the traction control is doing.

This is what is happening to a number of people, and they are almost burning out clutches as a result.

full foot brake it stop the car, hold the brake down as hard as you can and apply the electric brake, then pull away as normal

one other thing, how did people used to cope with cars with weak handbrakes? or cars with the handbrake on the driven wheels?

 

[nadsi77]

Don't audi's come with hill hold assist.I hired an insignia once and that came with this feature you take your foot off the brake and the car doesn't move until you touch the accelerator,you don't need to touch the parking brake.

 

[h5djr]

Don't audi's come with hill hold assist.I hired an insignia once and that came with this feature you take your foot off the brake and the car doesn't move until you touch the accelerator,you don't need to touch the parking brake.

Those with the s-tronic gearbox have it as standard and it's a £90 option of those with a manual gearbox. The description of it's operation on the new A3 is:

Hold assist. Holds the vehicle stationary for unlimited periods after stopping and prevents the vehicle rolling on hills and on gradients. The system is activated by push-button and allows the driver to drive away easily and comfortably without having to operate the electromechanical parking brake.

Sounds like £90 well spent to me.

 

[mfspen]

Well I've cancelled my order, for the time being at least.

I don't like the parking brake - the fact is that many A4 and A6 owners have had problems, including almost burnt out clutches. I don't like the lack of a (usable) CD player, and I'm not keen on the dashboard design generally.

I'm going to wait to see what the new Golf looks like, although it may well be just as bad of course.

 

[jb0o]

Even tried a handbrake turn...shhhhhh

Lmfao, would love to have seen an Electric Handbrake turn.. how did it turn out?

 

[Ste_Nova]

hill hold basicly wont let it roll backwards if its in a forward gear

as for the burnt out clutches its probs more lack of driving skill rather than a fault with the cars design

 

[mfspen]

I've driven several Golfs with the hill hold function, and that doesn't work well either - it only very weakly holds the car - not at all if you are on a steep slope.

 

[h5djr]

I've driven several Golfs with the hill hold function, and that doesn't work well either - it only very weakly holds the car - not at all if you are on a steep slope.

I've had the Hill-hold on my last three A3s and I've always found it to work OK. All mine have been s-tronic so perhaps if works better with the s-tronic gearbox.

As far as alternatives to the new A3, based on the pictures I saw in last week's Auto Express, the new Seat Leon looks interesting. The article said it was a great leap forward in interior quality over the existing models. Like you I will also be interested to see what the new Golf is like, in particular the interior.

 

[timdownieuk]

It gets worse.

Lots of horror stories have appeared about Audi's electric parking brake in the A4/6/8 and now the new A3. People have burnt out their clutches trying to stop the car rolling back on steep slopes where the parking brake doesn't work properly.

They are losing the plot big time.

just for archival purposes, I thought I'd share my friend's experience with his new A6 manual diesel car.


He successfully rejected his 3 month old A6 because the handbrake would not function as either the handbook said it should or as Audi UK stated it ought to function. Namely, it was releasing the handbrake as soon as he started to lift the clutch and NOT waiting for the clutch to engage (causing the car to roll back on hills).


This problem seems to be fairly common to manual gearbox A6 cars (his was a 2.0 170bhp diesel estate). His previous A6 had an electromechanical handbrake that always auto-released appropriately so it's not as if Audi don't know how to make one.


In his view (and in the view of a ROSPA examiner) this was a dangerous fault. The garage only wanted to give him trade-in value but he
held out for (and got) purchase price minus reasonable wear & tear deduction, not depreciation.

Clearly this is not everyone's experience of the automatic handbrake so it's got to be a fault, not a feature but unfortunately his local dealer were unable to acknowledge this fact and consequently couldn't fix it. It took a threat of legal action in the end to get his refund.

so, if your handbrake is behaving similarly, don't put up with it! Moan like hell and get it fixed or demand a refund.

tim

 

[Ste_Nova]

so the final answer is..... get an auto

 

[Daggerit]

so the final answer is..... get an auto

Haha, good answer!

I've never had any issues with mine at all wheter facing up or down a hill when it's engaged. It applies the brakes much harder than I normally do anyway judging by the way the pedal dips when I activate it. Also noticed that it periodically checks itself to make sure there is enough pressure (you can hear it every now and again if you're near the car for any length of time).

I know a few people with electronic handbrakes and never had an issue.

Also, if your new can has stop-start I wouldn't even bother with the hill hold unless you're planning on using the 'unlimited' holding time as the car automatically holds on a hill while restarting anyway, even in the manual. Well, it did on the A4 and A5 that I test drove anyway!

 

[timdownieuk]

I know a few people with electronic handbrakes and never had an issue.

Well it obvious should just "work" without any issues but judging from messages here (and my friend's experience), sometimes it doesn't work properly and Audi seem to have a problem recognising the issue. I posted my message just to let folk with misbehaving handbrakes know that they weren't alone, they aren't just "imagining it" or "using it incorrectly" and that one shouldn't put up with it if your Audi suffers from the "premature release and roll back" problem.

Tim

 

[Daggerit]

Well it obvious should just "work" without any issues but judging from messages here (and my friend's experience), sometimes it doesn't work properly and Audi seem to have a problem recognising the issue. I posted my message just to let folk with misbehaving handbrakes know that they weren't alone, they aren't just "imagining it" or "using it incorrectly" and that one shouldn't put up with it if your Audi suffers from the "premature release and roll back" problem.

Tim

Haha, 'premature release and roll back', that made me laugh!

Yeah, I was just giving my experiences with it as well as the people I know with it. Not saying it doesn't happen because obviously it does! I hope for those that are having issues they (or Audi more to the point!) find a solution because I can imagine it is very annoying and dangerous for moving off...

It wasn't electronic but I did find that the handbrake on my 10 plate A3 was terrible and had to be pulled on very hard. Read a few threads about people having the brake release and their car roll down a hill or something. Not good...

 

[TreborA4]

I currently have an Audi A4 Avant with electric handbrake (no hill hold assist) and will soon be ordering an A3 Sportback.

I have driven over 70,000 miles in less than three years with no problem except on one occasion during a trip in Cornwall.

I was on a steep downward hill and had to reverse to allow on-coming traffic to pass on a single track road.

Every time I began to take my foot of the clutch to reverse the electric hand brake released and I rolled forward toward the on-coming traffic. After several attempts and a burning clutch I managed to move backwards! Result one new clutch!

Certainly not "lack of driving skill" !

 

[Gavin0478]

the simple answer to overide the hill hold assist is to treat it like an old style handbrake and week the switch pulled up, take up the strain on the clutch then let go to release break... simple