Redd

No, really. I asked them about what happens if you lose the service brakes on the highway (i.e. pedal to the floor with nothing happening) because I've had that happen.

In which case you pull the hand brake, and engage the parking brake as an emergency brake. (In a real exotic or luxury car, like some Rolls Royce, there are actually three separate braking systems, park, service, and emergency, installed on the prop shaft(emergency) the axle (parking) and the wheels (service).

So I asked, if I pull up the parking brake switch, and I'm doing 65mph, do the brakes simply slam on the rear wheels at full effort? And lock up?

Or do they feather in, the way I would manually apply them? What happens, what control do I have, what should I expect?

And the nice lady said, oh, when you're moving about 8(?) mph and raise the switch up, it will engage the normal hydraulic service brake on all four wheels, and release the brake when you release the switch.

SAY WHAT?! If I have a hydraulic loss, an ABS or master cylinder loss, there's no cable brake, no use of the electrical parking brake, no redundancy to provide for an emergency brake?

Surely...Yugo didn't buy out Audi recently, did they? Has anyone experimented with the parking brake as an emergency brake? Or can anyone really confirm there's no redundant brake activation, cable or dual hydraulics, nothing down there??

superswiss

Not sure what the lady was talking about, but the e-brake applies the rear brake calipers via an electric motor. You don't need hydraulic pressure, but you do need electricity. So I guess if the car completely fails at once and there is no power to engage the motor, then you'll be out of luck. To engage the emergency part of the e-brake, you pull and hold the e-brake switch on the console. You don't have granular control as in a mechanical parking brake, but you can let go to release it and pull it again to engage it. Also, it doesn't act on all four wheels as the clueless lady told you. It only acts on the rear brakes as I said via an electric motor.

Redd

Interesting concept. Some years ago a friend of mine had a Fox wagon. The alternator had failed and they didn't know that. Couldn't drive home because it would START just fine, then quite 100 yards later. Who knew, the fuel pump was being run during the START position, then immediately cut off because there was no alternator (tach) signal to the engine.

But I think if my alternator, battery, and brakes all went out at once...it would probably mean I was dead, from the RPG that took them all out.

What you describe is what I expected, my only question being how violently (or, how lame) the rear brake application would be. I just really didn't want to "insult" the parking brakes by having them slam on at 65mph in order to find out the real story.

Will the parking brake, when engaged at speed, simply stay locked? Or will I have to keep a hand on the button to keep it engaged at speed?

Q5 Bob

Page 90 of the owners manual explains how things work, for better or worse.

I suppose one could test out the function in an empty parking lot or on a back road.

auditrinidad

I tested the e-brake at about 30mph in both my Q5 & Tiguan.

The system uses the ABS as well, so no locking up. Both cars came to a violent stop.

You keep holding the switch in the up position, which applies full braking force.

Once you release the switch, the brake pressure stops.

Hope that helps

Redd

Thanks, Trinidad.
The "keep holding" and the "violent" were the main things I wanted to find out about, and I didn't recall the manual really discussing the finer points of violence.(G)

I was just totally amazed that AUDI could tell such creative tales. Or maybe, the folks at Yugo have also intercepted all the Audi emails, and are impersonating the Audi staff. Hmmm....Maybe they've all been kidnapped, and a call to SWAT for a health and welfare check is in order?

Decisions, decisions.(G)

uberwgn

Redd, federal law would require an emergency brake in any car sold in the USA.


I've tried it on a loaner car. It was an A4 Avant. The braking force increases quickly and brings the car to a halting stop in short order. No worries unless there's someone behind that can't stop quick enough...

auditrinidad

Glad I could help!

The kind of answers I've got from people at the dealers, I am now very careful who I ask. What I have found, it's like you ask a question and they are ready with the quickest response to get you of the phone.

If you don't have a Q5 already. Get one they are great vehicles.

Redd

"If you don't have a Q5 already. Get one they are great vehicles."
There are good reasons that my vehicle borrows the name of Herr Doktor Professor Strangelove. Same number of wheels, same borderline of brilliance and psychosis. "Great", yes, that's one word to describe it. At times.(G)

LOANER CAR!
Darn, that's the reason they never have an R8 around for me....

Dalancroft

"But I think if my alternator, battery, and brakes all went out at once...it would probably mean I was dead, from the RPG that took them all out."

That is rich Redd!