Yep...bendy also when it gets hot!! Oh Errrr...But, my H-Brake has never failed. Now, with that said I don't park on inclines much. There are'nt many hills in Texas!!!

- Irish

 

but dude... if u don't put the hand brake up... some body can just push ur car away!!

 

I've never had a problem with mine. In fact like another guy mentioned I've tried driving a little with it fully engaged and the car didn't go anywhere. I leave my car in gear whenever I park on any slope. Otherwise I leave it in neutral. But now... maybe I should always leave it in gear.

 

wow, i thought i was the only one!!! Two days after i got my 8; i had it parked in my driveway (which is at an incline, but not a HUGE one) and my grandmother came running in the house telling me my car was in the neighbors driveway...I walked outside all confused like, and it had rolled down my hill, into the side paneling of the neighbors garage door and bounced off a good 5 feet....left a very nice dent too...

I took it to two dearlships and they both claimed it was ok...and yet i can drive PERFECTLY with the brake on and i can push it even with the brake engaged....mazda sucks at this brake stuff..

 

Yea..i do that too..i took the wheel holders from my airplane and put them behind my tires whenever i park at an incline..it is SO annoying!!!

 

am in biggar, not too far from stirling. i work for a us company so often go to san jose. love to meet up sometime, you are not in semiconductors are you?

brian

 

So just to be straight here 4 notches is FULL ON in my car. I have built and restored cars and never in 23 yrs of driving has this happened before. I know its good practice to leave it in gear and turn the wheels, but thaat is a great way of kerbing those soft alloys.

I have bought hundreds of used cars and I check the handbrake by putting it in 2nd and trying to pull away, if the car revs away the clutch is goinb, if it moves handbrake is ineffective, try this in your rx8 and I guarantee if its more than 3 mths old/3k miles it won't stall.

Its pretty easy to prove this once and for all, take a 3mth old car with unadjusted handbrake, drive it hard or put it on the rollers with brakes scuffing to heat up the disks, then put on handbrake and test it on the rollers, repeat this every minute or so for 20 mins. I guarantee the braking efficiency will decreas to next to nothing after 20 mins. Then reset the handbrake with the disks cold and i bet its spot on.

You wouldn't gat away with a hanbrake like that on an old car in the UK, why the hell are mazda getting away with it on a new one.

Imagine your brakes fail, total fluid loss. Fancy relying on your hand brake to stop you going over that cliff edge at 60mph?

Brian

 

first post here...so hello

I bought my car august 31st and I had to help my mom move into her new house a week later. Her driveway had a semi steep incline and when i parked it i heard the brake disengaging and re-engaging. I put the car in gear and it stopped doing it. The brake was all the way up because i put it down and pulled it back up again, and it kept doing it.

 

Ive never had that problem. But I have noticed that it does roll super easy on neutral.

About the gear: Both reverse and 1st should work about the same since they are almost the same ratio. The rotary doesn't have very much inertia so dont use only the gear but it will give it a decent amount of hold.

PULL THAT BREAK LEVER, and pull hard that thing is designed for hand breaking douring extreeme maneuvers on the track so unless you are intentionaly trying to break it i doubt that you will damage it. Also if you pull hard but slowly (not yank the hell aout of it) it shouldn't do any harm.

 

I had that happen with a 7 I had years ago . I was going to work and stopped at a store came out and my car was gone. I had it in gear and the brake on. Needless to say I was freaking out and someone came up to me and said is that your car over there? It had went down a incline and across four lanes of traffic on a busy highway and rested next to a big telephone box. The cops came and laughed. They were going to give me a ticket until they saw my brake was engaged. I came to the conclusion that someone had to have bumprd me.I had no damage whatsoever.

 

Hey Brian...

No not in semiconductors. Do you work for Sun? Work did'nt bring me to the States. I am home every year, usually in April. I am planning my trip for next year already. My buddy is arriving next week. Looking forward to a few night on the lash!! Anyway, if you ever make it the Texas, PM me.

Have a good one.

- Danny

 

The other posters are right--the parking brake alone can never be relied on, in any car, to hold back several thousand pounds. Just last week, a buddy's BMW 540 went rolling across our nearly-level parking garage with the parking brake fully engaged, and right into a wall, but he had left it in neutral. (The funny part was the e-mail to about 500 people that said, "Will the owner of the green BMW 540, license _____, please contact the building office . . .")

Always leave it in gear when parked, brake tight, and curb the wheels on an incline. These are simple basics.

 

I found a few liks on driving manuals, and every single one says to use the parking brake AND put it in gear. We really aren't making this stuff up.

http://www.10w40.com/individual/100186.asp
http://www.standardshift.com/faq.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_3234_drive-car-with.html
http://www.dor.mo.gov/mvdl/drivers/dlguide/chapter5.htm
http://www1.excite.com/home/info/lea..._689_8,00.html

 

I think people with rolling problems are not using the parking brake properly. I really don't want another big yellow and black warning decal in my car like the air bag warning or the silly warning screen when I want to use the navigation system. Corporate lawyers are already skittish of everything, please don't add to the paranoia.

Anyways if you are having rollling problems are able to move the car while the parking brake is engaged, try this:
1. Fully engage your regular brakes. (push hard).
2. Engage your parking brakes until you hear several clicks. You'll also notice that the parking brake handle has a lot more resistance now.

 

so wait...let me get this right....the parking brake is that fancy lever thingy on the right side of the console? Hmm...and the brake must be that pettle in the middle?

These are good things to know! :D

I must say, reading this thread is pretty scary. I'm truly fearing for my car now. I would have planned on leaving my car in nuetral for remote starting purposes...but now I'm a bit more than worried....I guess I'll just have to do some testing in my driveway and see what happens.

 

Even the few automatics I've owned, I've always use the parking break, I'd rather the car rest on the brake than the transmission (but probably wouldn't do it any harm).
I've had a couple of problems with other cars, the Chevy Cavalier I had when I was 17 rolled twice, once because I didn't have it in gear and the parking brake was too warm, rolled right down a hill into a Geo Storm, they cancelled my insurance then. Another time, I was on an incline didn't put it in gear and me, my friend, and the passing pizza delivery guy stopped it before it rolled down a chasm.

 

I probably could have been a little more clear. While the brake is fully engaged, pull up on the fancy parking brake lever. Most people with issues only push on the brake lightly while pulling the lever.

 

Ok, I did some researching and found the answer on the Mazda Web site.

"Warning, some drivers have reported their vehicle moving after parking. We have discovered a fault with the ECU. Apparently the car gets bored and wishes to go Zoom Zoom after a period of time. We are curently working to resolve this problem."

 

Ha ha ha ..Yeah right, you are bored man .. go take out your RX8 and zoom zoom... :D

 

All other RX-8's at school seem to have theirs in gear. I always keep mine in neutral because I'm ****-retentive. My parking brake is quite strong. It has yet to fail.

 

I only put the car in gear when I'm parked on a steep incline. I've never had any problems with the 8's parking brake when parked on a slight incline, nor have I with any other car that I have driven.
Also when sitting in traffic I always use the parking brake and go in neutral instead of depressing the brake and clutch pedals; Less tiring. I've never had any rolling problem there neither when on a steep road.
You guys with the rolling problem must have your parking brakes checked.