Does anyone know if the ABS prohibits the rear wheels from locking up when you apply the e-brake (handbrake) while the car is moving? (ie performing a "handbrake turn")

I was experimenting in the wet today with DSC/TCS OFF and found it almost impossible to lock up the rear tires with the e-brake. I only managed it twice and I had to practically pull the handle out of the centre console to do it. Could this have something to do with the fact that the ABS cannot be turned off, or is it just that the e-brake in the RX-8 is extremely weak?

P.S. Please spare me the "you should be on a racetrack" lectures. I was in a wide-open empty carpark. ;)

I don't beleive the ABS could have an effect on the E-brake. The E-brake is not hydrolic (sp?) and ABS works off of the hydrolics

Weak e-break IMO.

WAY weak hand-brake.
There just isn't enough mechanical advantage on the lever arm to get the thing to lock up.

That is a cheap (ie - unskilled) way to get the rear around, anyway so why bother.

Emergency brake and rear service brake mechanisms are totally separate, although you are using the same brake pads and brake disc (i.e. no in-board brake drum for the emergency brake).

Originally posted by MazdaManiac
That is a cheap (ie - unskilled) way to get the rear around, anyway so why bother.

well, not when your vehicle's turning radius far exceeds the radius of the corner, then the only means of getting the car around the corner would be with rotation... too much grip and too little speed can leave you little option.

btw, love the seemingly always-improving avatar. digging the halloween themed epilepsy attacker :cool:

My avatar is mutating!

I prefer the brakes followed by the throttle to the hand-brake alone. If you can't accomplish the same thing with the throttle, you need more training (and, perhaps, a bit more power).

Originally posted by MazdaManiac
(perhaps, a bit more power).

more power!! [Tim Allen-esque grunting]

Originally posted by MazdaManiac
My avatar is mutating!

I prefer the brakes followed by the throttle to the hand-brake alone. If you can't accomplish the same thing with the throttle, you need more training (and, perhaps, a bit more power).

I totally agree- if you can't toss the backend of a rear-wheel drive 50/50 balanced car with 200+HP without using the hand brake, you gotta practice more. Or get a 6MT ;)

It didn't take much to get my ~140hp Miata to spin 180* with some throttle/clutch modulation.

Yep - only 400 miles on the car as of today, and have performed two e-brake assisted power slides - great fun, and it really scares the shieeit out of the clerks behind the glass at my convenience store. Mo' Power is always a good recipe for any stunt.

Did you have the clutch to the floor when you yanked the parking brake?

When your turning radius exceeds the corner radius? That is why you do a 3 point turn.