Well, I've always called it the "parking brake", but certainly not a "hand brake" because of when I learned to drive and what I learned to drive on. I learned on three different vehicles at various times... A '66 Dodge pickup (manual, three-on-the-tree, non-synchro first gear), a '72 Monte Carlo, and an '80 Citation (manual). None of these cars HAD a "hand" brake, as they were all floor-mounted pedals, as was the convention for American cars "back then". Heck, even the '86 Sable and '92 Taurus SHO I owned in later years had that floor-mounted pedal, though I do remember those cars had text on it that said "parking brake".... So I guess half the cars I've owned have had a pedal and not a handle. I know that the pedal isn't dead, I found one in a car recently, but I don't remember what that car was (Toyota something-or-other, if memory serves, maybe the Avalon?).

Frankly, I don't remember now if it was called the "emergency brake" or the "parking brake" in the oldern days. If they're still teaching "e-brake", it's probably a leftover from those older cars.

 

I have always call it a parking brake, probably because that is what my mom always called hers. My recently dumped ex has a floor one in his. He has an 04 or 05 Chrysler Pacifica (I hate that thing!). My neighbor has a 90 something Dodge van with a floor one, also. Not that I pay a whole lot of attention but I've only noticed them on the floor in Chrysler products lately.

 

the ones with a foot pedal I call parking brakes. you couldn't use them to stop. If it has a handbrake with a button within normal driving reach, it's a handbrake or emergency brake. If it'a handle style but not where you could nromally reach it, it's an emergency break. You only see these on suv type cars like a honda element.

 

Where do they put them that you can't "normally" reach them? Seems like they would be inconvenient and pretty useless then if the intent was for an "emergency."

 

teehee ... we always called it an e-brake cuz we do e-brake slides in the snow i think it's just like saying either soda or pop (or coke if you're down south).

parking brake is probably more accurate. and pop is preferred around chicago too!

 

There have been a couple posts on rx8's that have rolled while the e-brake was up. They are some old posts, but I remember a rash of them probably about 2 years ago.

 

Sure you can. Maybe not from 140mph, but at lower speeds you absolutely can use them to stop.

How do I know? I tried it once.

They do exactly the same thing as a hand-operated parking brake, they are just actuated differently. It'll be hard to modulate the stop, however, as you'd have to pull out the release handle to do that modulatin'... Just like if you pulled up on your handle and didn't use the button to keep it from locking in the ratcheted position. It's hard to imagine having the presence of mind to do this in an emergency, however, unless you've practiced it.

 

My mom is from Wisconsin and she always call it pop, and a drinking fountain is called a bubbler. LOL

 

that's odd ... people up in 'sconsin call it soda and feel the need to constantly correct me when i say pop.

 

Huh. Maybe it's the part of Wisconsin you go to? She hasn't lived there since 1978 when she moved out to Oregon. She always lived near the Madison area, same with her family members, who also call it pop. Maybe the Milwaukee area of the state is different? Who knows. All these odd little regional dialect differences. LOL

 

Heh heh... People in Indiana say "pop", but I refuse to give up "soda"... And if you get something in a bag when you make a purchase, they refer to it as a "sack".

The most narrowly-used word I can think of is the name used for a type of sandwich "back home" in a NYC suburb. What most people would call a "sub" or a "hero" is referred to as a "wedge". That's very specific to a part of the county, cuz if you go across the river or into the city people stare blankly at you if you use the term.

 

they say pop and sack here too. of course they are wrong on both and i keep using Soda and Bag.

Soda for instance started as Soda Pop. the Pop was because when the old bottles caps were removed there was an audible "POP" noise. With the advent of newer bottling methods the caps were changed and the pop noise went away. so eventually it was left out of the coloquial usage as well. Since there is no longer a Pop there is no need to say Pop. Soda it is areas that use Pop are talking about aq beverage that doesnt exist any more

 

Ha, ha. That's like me, too. I ALWAYS say soda. If we go out to eat I will say I want soda and my mom nearly has a stroke to tell me emphatically that it's pop. LOL Something about the work "sack" bothers me. I don't really like it. It's like "moist." I really hate that word! It somehow seems dirty or something. *shudder*

Well, it's lunch time! I think I'll go grab me a wedge!

 

Pittsburgh Pa and we say POP!!!!

People from philly and elsewhere come to UPitt and wanna try and tell us that it's soda, but it will forever be POP around here

 

well im from near philly and of course Pittsburg is wrong. all of you

 

This has happened to several 8's.

Now that we are getting special attention from Mazda, they should read the forumn and address the not very functional parking brake.

 

Haha, there was a show called "Dead like me" and the characters mother didn't like the word moist either.

 

I did it too once. When my parents had a convertible Buick. I was driving it and it was raining. I was used to manual transmissions and I went to hit the clutch and I hit the e-brake instead. I did a nice little 360 on the freeway going 70mph. Luckily it was 2am and nobody was on the freeway at the time.

 

Terrifying. I was driving my mom's Tribute on Tuesday to pick her up at the hospital, since it would probably be too hard for her to get in and out of my car after having knee surgery. Anyway I needed to the brakes because some small furry animal (I think raccoon) ran out in front of me. Out of habit I went to hit the clutch and there was none. I jammed my ankle at a weird ankle on the floor. Ouch! Not to mention I nearly had a heart attack because the clutch was "missing." LOL I also kept repeatedly trying to shift and hitting my elbow on the console storage box.

 

Whoopsie-doodle!

At least you know it works.

 

Ha ha ha... Moist is one of my favorite words. If you want it to sound even creepier, say it with a lisp, so it's pronounced like "moiTHt".


I really could go for a wedge right about now. Not some ersatz "sub", I mean a real NY sammich.

 

I agree. Lots of posts on here assume that "1st gear downhill, reverse uphill" is common knowledge. What matters is the gear ratio, i. e., how many engine revolutions per unit distance the engine would need to crank through (opposing engine compression) if it were to roll. I've always been taught that this lowest ratio for most (piston) cars was in reverse, and I've always parked my MT cars in reverse for forty years.

Can someone give me a good mechanical/physical explanation whether this is correct or not?

I've also read that the rotary engine provides less effective engine comprssive braking, so the parking brake and wheel orientation are more important. Comments??