Automotive

What's the advantage of placing the e-brake as a pedal on the floor??

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  • Feb 8th, 2008 12:30 am
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Feb 6th, 2008 12:32 am
leon200608 [OP]
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Feb 6th, 2008 12:32 am

What's the advantage of placing the e-brake as a pedal on the floor??

I just don't understand why so many cars, well, especially American cars, place the handbrake/e-brake/parking brake on the left foot side floor!! It looks soooo retardate to me. I looked it up in wikipedia, they say that many US cars come with front bench seats and thus has no place to put a handbrake, that's BS! Of course you can mount something in the middle. And in fact many American cars that don't have bench seat also have no handbrake! Assume the driver suddenly loses consciousness and the passenger trying to stop the car, well...how? Get a stick and poke the e-brake that's a meter away?? Are there ANY advantage associated with this setup?

The reason I ask this is because I'm teaching my sister how to drive, but my Allure's e-brake is below her left foot!
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Feb 6th, 2008 1:01 am
cwb27
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Feb 6th, 2008 1:01 am

Trying to teach your sister how to do mad e-brake slides?? That's right, I said mad.

LOL. Anyways, I wouldn't really call it BS, plenty of older cars always had the foot pedal style brake because well, they had bench seats. Why does it make a difference where it is? Besides the obvious, previously stated reason.
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Feb 6th, 2008 2:16 am
GangStarr
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Feb 6th, 2008 2:16 am

Acura TL's and CL's (2001ish) all have foot e-brakes. Also adds more room for a comfortable arm rest that doubles as a storage compartment.

The only disadvantage I can really think of is that its not good for e-brake slides, which you shouldn't be doing anyways. That and when someone else drives your car they may not realize you have it engaged.
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Feb 6th, 2008 4:44 am
Ten Count
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Feb 6th, 2008 4:44 am

I thought almost all cars had the console mounted one these days? I don't think I've seen one in the footwell on a new car since the early 90's (although I hardly ever sit in truck or SUV...). I'm really surprised to learn about that Accura one.
Feb 6th, 2008 5:49 am
Maxspeed
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Feb 6th, 2008 5:49 am

camry 07+ has an ebrake..... dont mind it ...
Feb 6th, 2008 8:53 am
Mir
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Feb 6th, 2008 8:53 am

E-Brake in US called Parking Brake. Not an emergency brake.
Feb 6th, 2008 9:03 am
enforcerviper
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Feb 6th, 2008 9:03 am

My lexus has a foot pedal and my neon has a handbrake. The lexus has quite a bit more storage room in comparison.
Feb 6th, 2008 9:27 am
SkiD
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Feb 6th, 2008 9:27 am

Mir wrote: ↑E-Brake in US called Parking Brake. Not an emergency brake.
+1

If used for it's intended purpose (park brake) it shouldn't matter where it's located.
Feb 6th, 2008 9:42 am
DragonZealot
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Feb 6th, 2008 9:42 am

leon200608 wrote: ↑Assume the driver suddenly loses consciousness and the passenger trying to stop the car, well...how? Get a stick and poke the e-brake that's a meter away?? Are there ANY advantage associated with this setup?


You should reconsider if you really want to use it as an "Emergency brake". As previously mentioned this is a parking brake and its primary purpose is to lock the car in place when parked. Manual cars also use this to start from an incline.

The parking brake activates the rear wheels only which carry only a small portion of the full braking capability. I think its like 30% or less. You will not be able to stop the car like you are using the regular brake.

The biggest problem is that it could be unsafe to use the parking brake to brake, especially in an emergency situation, because it could easily lock up the rear wheels causing the vehicle to spin.
Feb 6th, 2008 10:36 am
VivienM
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Feb 6th, 2008 10:36 am

leon200608 wrote: ↑I just don't understand why so many cars, well, especially American cars, place the handbrake/e-brake/parking brake on the left foot side floor!! It looks soooo retardate to me. I looked it up in wikipedia, they say that many US cars come with front bench seats and thus has no place to put a handbrake, that's BS! Of course you can mount something in the middle. And in fact many American cars that don't have bench seat also have no handbrake! Assume the driver suddenly loses consciousness and the passenger trying to stop the car, well...how? Get a stick and poke the e-brake that's a meter away?? Are there ANY advantage associated with this setup?

The reason I ask this is because I'm teaching my sister how to drive, but my Allure's e-brake is below her left foot!
FWIW, Mercedes also does the foot brake thing.

But as for American cars, it's totally about the bench seat thing. Hell, your Allure is one of the few cars still available with a bench seat/column shifter option (though good luck finding one that way on a Canadian dealer's lot). The GM W and G platforms were both designed with column shifter/bench seats in mind. So were most other big American platforms, at least until very recently...

Another reason for a foot-mounted parking brake is that it gives you more room for a centre console, and everybody these days wants that...
Feb 6th, 2008 10:37 am
VivienM
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Feb 6th, 2008 10:37 am

GangStarr wrote: ↑That and when someone else drives your car they may not realize you have it engaged.
Shouldn't most cars beep if that's the case?
Feb 6th, 2008 10:51 am
corrupt123
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Feb 6th, 2008 10:51 am

My car (93 grand marquis) doesn't even engage the e-brake/parking brake if the car is in drive! I can put it on, shift into drive, and it'll release itself! It's in the footwell, just in case theres any confusion. The brake is for parking, not emergencies.

Heck, I dont know about the other models but I know the latest gen 7 series (BMW) has an electronic parking brake! You dont have a pedal or handle anywhere, just a little button on the dash you press to engage/disengage.
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Feb 6th, 2008 11:04 am
ichpen
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Feb 6th, 2008 11:04 am

Most Mercedes cars and Volvo XC90's at least all have foot parking brakes.

So it's not American cars only. Don't mind it especially on automatics as we typically don't need to engage them. As pointed out the only issue is that it's easy to forget that it's engaged.

P.S. Try stopping a car going at 100 with a handbrake and see what happens. You're not going to get very far... :)
Feb 6th, 2008 11:27 am
corrupt123
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Feb 6th, 2008 11:27 am

ichpen wrote: ↑ P.S. Try stopping a car going at 100 with a handbrake and see what happens. You're not going to get very far... :)

Wouldn't that be the point? :lol:
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Feb 6th, 2008 1:03 pm
IoannI
Dec 31, 1969

Feb 6th, 2008 1:03 pm

What does it matter iwhere it placed its not like your going to go drifting anyways to actually need to use it all the time.
Feb 6th, 2008 1:29 pm
Asad_A203
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Feb 6th, 2008 1:29 pm

I am not really a fan of the foot e-brake pedal. I have one in my car; and when ever I work on my car and have to take off the center console by shifting the car to a gear other than park; I always am a bit anxious I might accidently press the pedal when getting in my car; stupid I know; but I would just prefer it on the center console like it is with the 6MTs.
Feb 6th, 2008 2:42 pm
galanz
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Feb 6th, 2008 2:42 pm

IoannI wrote: ↑What does it matter iwhere it placed its not like your going to go drifting anyways to actually need to use it all the time.
It makes a huge difference with a manual transmission.
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Feb 6th, 2008 5:11 pm
BeaverLiquor
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Feb 6th, 2008 5:11 pm

chaoslord wrote: ↑is there a standard car with e-brake as pedal?
cadillac cts-v

using the e-brake or parking brake is not the way to drift, if you're using it to drift you're either a/ don't know how to drift or b/ you're using the wrong car to drift.
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Feb 6th, 2008 6:46 pm
Asad_A203
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Feb 6th, 2008 6:46 pm

BeaverLiquor wrote: ↑cadillac cts-v

using the e-brake or parking brake is not the way to drift, if you're using it to drift you're either a/ don't know how to drift or b/ you're using the wrong car to drift.
+1. Ebrakes is for power sliding in FWD cars. Real RWD cars don't need an ebrake to "drift". All can be done with steering; counter-steering, and throttle response.

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