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Allmac
14-08-2013, 12:28 PM
I haven’t collected my Golf yet but just wondering if there’s anything in the handbook relating to manual release of the parking brake in the event of an emergency e.g. flat battery and need to shift the car? I’ve now had experience of electronic parking brakes on three cars (Volvo XC60 d5 AWD auto, Audi A4 2.7tdi Multitronic & a Citroen Grand Picasso). Both the Volvo & Audi didn’t appear to have any manual release facility but the Citroen had a small aperture with removable plug into you could insert a small cranked handle (supplied) to wind off the parking brake. Two small metal chocks were also supplied in the tool kit to stop the car rolling away. I don’t know if the Golf works in the same way but the Citroen had quite a sophisticated control arrangement that used electronics to calculate the force required to immobilise the car depending upon the gradient. The system included a continuous monitoring function to readjust the brakeforce when, for example, the vehicle was loaded on a slope or the temperature changed significantly. I fact I remember noticing that when I was standing alongside it when it was parked on my sloping drive (with nobody inside it) that the brakes creaked slightly and I could hear the brake being applied a bit harder and although I didn’t notice any actual movement of the car is was a bit disconcerting!