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HighFlyingBird

2016 Leon FR 1.4 150 in Chilli Red 2019 - 2020
Jan 15, 2019
243
80
Leeds
Does anyone with a manual handbrake and a DSG gearbox ever just put the DSG in park and leave the handbrake off? My old man insists it's fine to do it and I know Americans do it all the time but the slight roll in the car when leaving it in park feels dodgy and insecure, plus leaving the handbrake off makes me feel dirty.
 
I do it by accident sometimes and it’s never rolled away. But not sure tbh lol


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I do it by accident sometimes and it’s never rolled away. But not sure tbh lol


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I always make sure it's on, the old man has recently swapped his C Class with an electric handbrake for a 3 Series with a manual one and the old goat not only forgets to put it on but keeps driving off with it still on as well!!
 
Haha yeah it’s hard getting used to change.

When I get in my partners manual car I sometimes break and forget to put the clutch in because I’m used to my DSG.

Old habits


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Haha yeah it’s hard getting used to change.

When I get in my partners manual car I sometimes break and forget to put the clutch in because I’m used to my DSG.

Old habits


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That's nothing, I jumped in my mates car and I couldn't get it going, totally forgot to put the clutch in and put it in 1st
 
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When driving under normal condition I always apply the handbrake.

When doing a track day I never apply the handbrake
 
I rarely apply the handbrake (just often enough to keep the cable free as it needs to be working for the MoT) and have never had a problem.

That slight roll forward is just the slack in the transmission being taken up.
 
When driving under normal condition I always apply the handbrake.

When doing a track day I never apply the handbrake
Don't think I'll be doing any track days any time soon but I understand why you wouldn't want to use it there.

I rarely apply the handbrake (just often enough to keep the cable free as it needs to be working for the MoT) and have never had a problem.

That slight roll forward is just the slack in the transmission being taken up.

I see, I'll still always be applying the handbrake, especially if I'm parked on a hill which is usually the case near me
 
I see, I'll still always be applying the handbrake, especially if I'm parked on a hill which is usually the case near me

Never tried it but is that not why you have the hill start function that puts the breaks on for you until you move off.
 
Never tried it but is that not why you have the hill start function that puts the breaks on for you until you move off.
I meant when I'm parked and not in the car haha. If I park it on a hill with the selector in P and the manual handbrake off, if the parking gear failed then the car would roll away. When I'm setting off on a hill with the selector in D the hill assist just delays when the clutch pack in the DSG engages from what I can tell.
 
ahh missed the point (break when stopped not moving)

I would have thought the hill start assist actually keeps the brakes on even though you have taken your foot of the break until the car starts to apply torque but happy to be proved wrong.
 
ahh missed the point (break when stopped not moving)

I would have thought the hill start assist actually keeps the brakes on even though you have taken your foot of the break until the car starts to apply torque but happy to be proved wrong.

Well I'm not entirely sure, it might still keep the brakes on, I don't really notice. In my old manual 1.2 the assist would hold the brakes for a few seconds which would give you chance to get the "bite" on the clutch before you move off, but there's no clutch pedal in the DSG obviously so not really sure how it works yet
 
ahh missed the point (break when stopped not moving)

I would have thought the hill start assist actually keeps the brakes on even though you have taken your foot of the break until the car starts to apply torque but happy to be proved wrong.
My gf has a mini with hill start assist, when you take the foot off the brake it holds, but only for a couple of seconds, it's definitely timed, not until you press the accelerator/raise clutch, I tried it, it started rolling back

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My gf has a mini with hill start assist, when you take the foot off the brake it holds, but only for a couple of seconds, it's definitely timed, not until you press the accelerator/raise clutch, I tried it, it started rolling back

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This is exactly what it was like in my manual Leon, although the timer could be adjusted in Carista but it wasn't shown in seconds, just the choices short, normal or long.
 
On OBD11 Its early, normal or late and you can also increase the threshold (default = 3%)

Another school day, however as i live in the flattest county in the UK I never use it :)
 
On my old FL octavia vrs with dsg and manual handbrake i never used the handbrake unless i was on a gradient. On the flat there was no point with transmission locked and no strain on the pin.

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I always make sure it's on, the old man has recently swapped his C Class with an electric handbrake for a 3 Series with a manual one and the old goat not only forgets to put it on but keeps driving off with it still on as well!!
At least on the Leon if you leave the electric handbrake on when moving off it automatically releases. The auto hold isn't 'hill hold' though i.e. it releases a couple of seconds after you release the brake pedal so you have revs and clutch balanced.
 
I always apply the handbrake with DSG as I've noticed the car may roll very slightly on a gradient until the gearbox locks, then on restarting the DSG gear stick can be very stiff moving out of 'P' mode.