Modern cars

[les]

Didn't think attempting to exceed the speed limit was an offence

[panky]

It's difficult sometimes trying to tame the beast

[SteveClem]

Must admit to 'trying ' to exceed the speed limit in my A30 once. A straight road, no traffic, slightly downhill. I had great expectations. Couldn't get over 50 though.

[Chipper]

It was once the case that all round disc brakes didn't make for good handbrakes. My father had a Lotus Elan (The original type) and that had a poor handbrake (Made worse by the lever being a push pull affair under the dash); my Golf GTI handbrake was better but I still don't know if it was as good as a drum brake type.

I've heard about these electric ones, that come on if the car stops. One driver had a Passat and when it broke down, in the middle of a roundabout, he had to wait for the breakdown service to "Plug into it", before the car could be moved out of the way.

I have driven the ones that cut out when you stop (The one this week didn't do that) and all I could think of was the wear and tear on the ring gear!!

Indeed, though a lot of all-disc cars have built-in rear drums to accommodate the handbrake. I suspect many get neglected though, in term of shoe replacement, etc., simply because it's usually a bit of a faff to get the discs off for a look-see inside.

My dad had one of the first Passats with e-handbrake, and hated it - it locked up on the driveway once, and he had to call out the AA to get it reset. Thereafter, he didn't use the e-brake, but kept a brick in the boot for use when parking up! He also had a later Passat turbodiesel, in which the engine put a rod through the side of the block after only a few thousand miles (fortunately close to home); VW took the engine out to return it to Wolfsberg for their engineers to examine what went wrong...

[TDV102]

60 from a 948 with the 5.3 diff was really noisy. However it was excellent at climbing hills.

[Blaketon]

Indeed, though a lot of all-disc cars have built-in rear drums to accommodate the handbrake.

I have a feeling that my father's 1975 Volvo 245 had all round discs, with a separate handbrake but it's a long time ago!! I recall it was a good car and if I could have added anything to it, I would have added the optional overdrive gearbox and perhaps another carb, just to give it little more go. Like the Traveller, it was a proper estate car (In fact I think the rear door was even more upright but we won't quibble over a few degrees), that didn't have a letter box for a back window.

[philthehill]

The earliest Volvo that I can remember servicing had the handbrake shoes mounted and working inside a drum that was part of the disc.
To get to the brake shoes was difficult to say the least and as they were self adjusting - trying to back off the shoes to get the drum off was a nightmare.

[panky]

I had a Citroen BX GTi and had to strip and clean the rear discs and separate handbrake shoes every six months or they seized up. The only fault on the best car I've ever owned

[palacebear]

Mrs PB has a 2007 Astra SXi with discs all round. The handbrake is useless on our sloping driveway, and goes out of adjustment roughly every 6 weeks.

[philthehill]

Panky
I also had a BX Gti but the estate version.
It was so powerful that I would not let the other half drive it as on hard acceleration torque reaction would pull it to the side. The wife had a 2CV. Slight difference there.
The only down side of having that much power in a car with such good suspension was that on the motorway it was easy to get way above the speed limit without realising it.
It got written off (after I sold it) due to a hydraulic fluid return pipe failing and loosing all the hydraulic fluid. Thankfully the write off crash happened at slow speed on a short slope.
My later BX TD suffered the same failure of fluid return pipes on several occasions loosing not only the brakes but suspension and steering. It was the failure of those pipes that made me move away from using the BX and later Citroens.
Phil

[panky]

I did have one pipe failure but it was the week after I bought it and it was fixed under warranty. Thinking about it the hand brake was actually on the front wheels but the rear discs did need regular cleaning, they seemed to get little use and corroded quickly. Yes it was quick and I surprised several other hot hatches I actually sold it to get my Mini.

[Blaketon]

The earliest Volvo that I can remember servicing had the handbrake shoes mounted and working inside a drum that was part of the disc.
To get to the brake shoes was difficult to say the least and as they were self adjusting - trying to back off the shoes to get the drum off was a nightmare.

My mother had two Vauxhall Novas (Good little cars; both 1 litre but the second had wider tyres and was less prone to understeer) and they had self adjusting rear drums. The problem was that the shoe worn the drum, leaving a ridge which snagged on the shoes, when you tried to remove the drum. Wheel bearings were in the drum if I remember correctly. Anyway, each service I used to take off the drums and grind away the ridge, before it became too pronounced.

[philthehill]

The BX GTi was quick but the version fitted with the 16 valve engine the performance was out of this world. Unfortunately reliability was not one of its finest attributes.

[panky]

Still keep looking at them on Ebay. There's a 16v on there for £10,000 at the moment

[philthehill]

My Minor, BMX GTi estate in the background and me some years ago (late 1980s early 1990s) at Harewood Speed Hill climb.
The BMX Estate was used as the tow vehicle and it would drive as if the trailer was not hooked up behind.

[panky]

Excellent
They were known for being a superb tow vehicle

[Blaketon]

My Scirocco Storm was a good puller. It had a balanced/flowed 1.8 GTI engine and was slightly lighter than a Golf. I recall towing the Jedi (On a Brian James trailer, so very strong but not the lightest) up the Blackrock, from Gilwern to Brynmawr (A465). It's a four mile drag, that must gain a good 7 or 800 feet. The road was built as a three lane road (In the process of being dualled) and overtaking is more or less for up traffic only. I was behind a lorry in the overtaking lane and jammed under the wing of the Jedi, was a Ford Escort Mk3 or 4. I couldn't go anywhere, as the lorry was overtaking another lorry but this jerk in the Escort didn't seem to appreciate that and wanted me out of his way. As the lorry pulled in, I dropped the Scirocco into 3rd and put my foot down. Slightly to my surprise, the Escort couldn't pass me; he tried but then, as he saw me pull away, gave up and pulled in. It made me smile. That was quite nippy car; once, when the Jedi broke it's diff, I entered it at Shelsley Walsh (Rather than go home). It beat a Porsche 911 (Not a Carrera on anything) and was trading blows with a Caterham. It was the only car in class with a tow bar.

[philthehill]

My old Rover 220GSI was entered at Prescott when fitted with a tow bar. It was once used during the lunch break to move my neighbours (who was also entered) Jedi which had problems out of the paddock in the trailer pod. It seemed strange seeing the Rover one minute with a trailer on the back and then the next rushing up the hill at full pace without the trailer of course
That Rover was quick and put up very reasonable times considering that it was a standard production car and it proved to be quicker than some of the modified cars in the same class. Happy days!

[Blaketon]

I don't know whether it's imagination but I don't think (Based in what I saw yesterday) that moderns are good in the snow. Whether it's less common these days (At least locally) and drivers are less used to it or whether it's due to wide, low profile tyres (Or a combination), I don't know. I saw quite a few all at sea yesterday; one was a modern Fiat 500 and when I think of my old Minis, there was no comparison. Modern cars can be heavier and that can be a disadvantage. When a Mini started to slide, it didn't do so with such a force. They didn't win the Monte Carlo rally four times (Albeit disqualified on a stupid technicality in 1966) for no reason.

I know that older RWD cars could struggle for grip and people used to put a heavy weight in the boot, to gain traction (And you could let some air out of the tyres). I know that my Midget wasn't that good in the snow (Esp after a Mini) but fitting a Quaife diff transformed it. I've only driven it once in snow (I wouldn't normally take it out in that kind of weather and I didn't fit the diff for that), since I fitted the diff but it was enough to show the difference. I was so impressed, that when I later bought the Morris (Which would be more likely to go out in snow), I fitted a Quaife to that and it is very good in slippery conditions (Has a bit more ground clearance than the Mini too).

[Nickol]

It is simply because you do not have winter tyres fitted. They really do make all the difference and although they would not be that effective on ice, on "normal" snow, slush etc you do have a Chance.