Explain to me about hand breaks and automatics

[mollyfolk]

Got an automatic car this week. Was still putting the (button) hand break on at traffic lights or stopped on a slight hill ect. Gave a lift to a friend yesterday and she told me the automatic won’t roll back in Drive “mode” . Today I tried just having my foot on the brake but was paranoid that the car seemed to roll back a little in the spilt second between holding the foot brake and touching the accelerator.

So how do you use your handbrake in an automatic?

And if you are in the front at traffic lights are you using the handbrake in D or N

in fairness the car could have been moving forward today - I’m just paranoid

top end marques, and cars have hill control assist I think it called and hill hold On the merc and rangrover, at lights, inclines and declines and or start stop traffic, you give the brake a slightly harder pressure and it holds the car where it is and you can take oot off brake it wont roll back - when moving again, all you do is touch the accelerator and cars do not roll back at all no mater what the incline - best thing in recent years on fully auto cars as you can rest your right foot and not have to keep it on the brake.

I know it sounds stupid but I find the concept of driving an automatic quite intimidating. Only ever driven manual and not sure I could fathom an automatic but I know they're supposed to be easier 😂

Not at all. I was really apprehensive and made DH drive us to a really quiet estate so he could show me how to.do it like I was a learner all over again.

My parents changed their car last year and were considering an electric or hybrid but my mum decided that at 76 and after nearly 60 years of driving a manual she really couldn't face trying to change.

We had an automatic for just over a year. It was written off (entirely other driver's fault) and we replaced it with a manual.

I don't have an automatic, but the Highway Code states that you should use your handbrake when stopped in stationary traffic once a car has stopped behind you:

In stationary queues of traffic, drivers should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take their foot off the footbrake to deactivate the vehicle brake lights. This will minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again.

Most modern manuals have hill hold as well, my point was that it is possible for some autos to roll back on a steep enough hill if no throttle is applied.

DD just switched to an automatic from a manual after hearing me going on about how much more pleasant to drive they are. I took her out for her first drive as she was a bit worried about it and after trying to change non existent gears a few times and trying to put her left foot on the non existent clutch, she loved it. Bit panicked she might stall it until I told her it just won’t! Two weeks in, she says she’ll never have a manual again.

That is me at the moment - trying to change my non existent gears and pressing my left foot on a non existent clutch!

also it’s an electric so it feels like it’s cutting out when I’m stopped in traffic. You don’t need your keys so my new thing is losing them in the car 🙃

I’m sure it will be easier in the long run.

They will a few inchecs especially the bigger heavier cars. But with the auto brake hold, they don't as you release the brake by depressing the accelerator.

Eve when I had a manual, I rarely used the handbrake as I could control it really well

I'm glad more cars are fitted with the systems in our car as years ago, on 2 occasions had cars roll back into us this was on slight inclines even though we had a good distance between us and the car in front

The biggest roll back I've seen are cars or vans making three point turns and cars can roll onto a drive as they reverse up close and hit the parked car/s,

I've never driven an electric car but I'm guess they don't roll back at all

You should not be in neutral at all.

My car doesn't have a handbrake either. It doesn't have creep mode either so doesn't move in D when stopped and not touching any pedals. It's like a go cart, accelerator to go, brake to stop.

That seems completely nonsensical to me.

By that reasoning, nobody should use lights at all in order to minimise glare to oncoming traffic.

I'm still failing to see how anyone could be dazzled by brake lights. This really isn't a thing.

I use my handbrake all the time in my automatic. It's one of the little pull ons on the dashboard but the media centre. I use it at traffic lights or in slow moving traffic. I then put my right foot on the floor to rest it.

It helps that the handbrake comes off automatically when I use the accelerator.

When I say slow moving traffic I mean stop start traffic!!

I'm the same, my brother keeps on at me to get an automatic when I get a new mobility car, but I wouldn't know where to start to drive one, I've only ever driven manual cars. I can do everything in a manual car without thinking, it just comes naturally.

I live in North America, I've never heard of anyone using a hand break in that way with an automatic!

You really shouldn't need to with a manual either, at least not normally - if you find the clutch point, your car won't roll back and it's a much smoother transition.

Australian here, where pretty well everyone drives automatics. My first car (old Honda CRV) tended to do a bit of hill creep. My current one (old Toyota Corolla) doesn't. I only put the handbrake on when I'm parked and about to turn the engine off. Putting it on while driving, or even putting the car in P, sounds very risky to me - good way to have someone drive into you if you don't react quickly enough when the lights change.

The rules may well differ in different countries (seems they do).

I'm in the UK, where the Highway Code is what we are supposed to follow and so I use the handbrake when stopped in a queue of traffic. It's not that anyone will be blinded by brake lights ahead of them, but it's just unpleasant. 🤷‍♀️

OP - I also have an electric and found it quite confusing at first. I never go out of drive until I'm parked. My car has the handbrake as a little pull button next, it's super easy to pull it so I can rest my brake foot in a queue. Then the car takes it off and moves off itself as soon as I press the accelerator.
You absolutely should not need it for hill starts though - the car should take care of if that automatically.

So much bad advice on here.

OP, the first thing you need to do is confirm which type of automatic you have.

Is it a DCT, CVT or Torque Converter?

It's really important to confirm which type as you can destroy your gearbox if you don't drive it according to the type.

A DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) is a manual gearbox with clutches that changes automatically by computer.

A CVT is a complete different thing and doesn't have any gears at all.

A Torque Converter is the old type that has been around for decades and is what most people think and "automatic" gearbox is.

You CANNOT, let me say that again, you CANNOT drive a DCT like you would a Torque Converter. If you hold a DCT on a hill using the accelerator, you WILL burn the clutches out. NEVER do this with a DCT. And NEVER creep in traffic with a DCT, you will damage the clutch, you have to leave a gap in front and drive into it, the car has to fully engage first gear or you will slip the clutches and damage them. So always use auto-hold if you have it, or keep your foot on the brake in a DCT. You can also of course use the handbrake.

A Torque Converter works differently and has a big, oil filled "box" that takes up the job of the clutch, so you can creep in traffic and use the accelerator to hold you on a hill.

A CVT doesn't have any gears, just a belt that spins across two different sized "cones", they are awful to drive and break easily.

Please confirm the type of gearbox you have before you end up destroying a very expensive Transmission.

Also, never use "P" when parked instead of the handbrake.

Stop, keep foot on brake, put gearbox into park, set handbrake.

It's an electric car - so almost certainly a single speed transmission. Now one of those above? (I don't know despite driving one myself)

Have driven an automatic for years and only ever touch the handbrake when I'm parking it up.

Yes, the whole idea seems quite bizarre! And worrying about the break lights, I've never experienced a problem of being blinded by break lights while waiting in traffic, I've never even thought about it.

It goes to show that some things which everyone takes for granted as the only safe way to do things are really just convention.

I've never seen brake lights that bright - it's headlights that trouble me, especially when they're on all the time. What I find most annoying about the lights-always-on cars is the tail lights, because they look like they're braking when they're not.

Another one who only uses handbrake when parking. My car has only ever rolled back for a split second on very steep hills.