Handbrake warning - leave in gear!

[morrismen]

If you park on a hill and leave your POLO GTI out of gear, BEWARE it may ROLL DOWN THE HILL! I noticed this recently after driving and parked on a slope about 1:4.

When I went back some kind lady told me that my car was in the middle of the road and that the car had rolled back - Doh!

The reason for this is that the handbrake works on the rear brakes - these are disc brakes.

When the pads and discs cool down, the handbrake may still be fairly tight, but the brakes loosen off and your GTI rolls back.

I will never be putting my POLO GTI on another hill without leaving it in gear Suggest you do the same

[jon_poloV]

good advise!
mines pants just with the handbrake neway and its not a gti! and it wasnt long ago the handbrake was tightend!
jon

[carmadaaron]

i always put my car in gear if im parked on a slope.
its better to b safe than sorry!

[Si_GTi]

i always put my car in gear if im parked on a slope.
its better to b safe than sorry!

I always leave my car in gear wherever it is

[carmadaaron]

[KarlM]

I would have thought that would have been obvious?

the old Citreons were reknown for this

[Si_GTi]

Yup, my mates old heap of a rover 214 had the same problem. Hot days and lengthy parks on slopes led to the handbrake regularly sticking partially on and making a lovely burning smell on the move... nice

Fair enough, technology has moved on a bit since the 1980s but its still something to be wary of eh?

[waveydavey]

morrismen wrote:

The reason for this is that the handbrake works on the rear brakes - these are disc brakes.

When the pads and discs cool down, the handbrake may still be fairly tight, but the brakes loosen off and your GTI rolls back.

I will never be putting my POLO GTI on another hill without leaving it in gear Suggest you do the same

Myself and my other half have had 5 cars with all round discs in the last 6 years and never had a problem with this sorta thing with any of them. We live in Sheffield, which if you've ever been, you'll know has quite a few steep hills.

Might be worth getting your brakes checked out as i regularly go straight from motorway driving / braking to parking on our driveway, (1.5 miles from motorway), and our driveway is pretty steep, and have never had the GTi move once.

Cheers

Dave.