[90driver]

I thought that was just the drivers 

LOL.... Ouch !

I have a "spare" Toyota avensis sitting around as back up incase one of my many vehicles is not working..... And I do find myself doing more miles in that than anything else....... Soooooooo dull.

[Fleecewife]

 
Hu'Hum...any further thoughts on stopping the Subaru ?

[90driver]

Oooops sorry..... In the unlikely event..... Turning the ignition off , as long as you don't take out the key would slow you down... The engine would still be turning as it would still be in gear (unless it is auto) so you would still have PAS and Brakes as they are engine driven.... ( unless Subaru have started using electic PAS pumps. )

Nice to have all eventualities covered.... But I hope you never have to do it.

[southernskye]

If it is a manual "box you might be able to knock it out of gear and try to get to the footbrake. Really don't know what I would do?!
 
Electronic handbrakes are technology for technologies sake. I really do not see a need for them and I hope it is a fad that passes soon....along with the associated hill start assist etc.
 
Rgds
Sskye

[Fleecewife]

Thank you - yes it's a manual gear box (I don't like automatics).  I have got used to the hillstart doodah but I can't help wondering how long that and the electronic handbrake will last.  This is supposed to be our forever car, and in all other ways it's great.
 
I think we'll take it into the fields which aren't too wet now, and experiment with getting it into neutral, and trying to stop it, all off the road.   I'll let you know how it goes.  If that doesn't work I will contact Subaru direct.
 
PS we also have  series 1 and  series 3 Land Rovers so wonderfully electronics free 

[90driver]

I will let you into a secret...... Even though I am a LR specialist, and have fields full of them..... I always make sure nearest and dearest drive something sensible..... And for the past 24 years my mother has had Subarus. Her last one is still going strong at 17 years old. So is a good choice for a forever car !  The "hill holder" on her one and I assume it is the same on yours is entirely mechanical and has not needed any messing with from new.  If you do wanna have a safe play switch of the ignition and see how quickly it slows down.... Important to keep it in gear and the key in the ignition.

The last incarnation of the Range Rover with the electronic handbrake had the capability of stopping it from quite some speed and was even part of the demonstration when you were luck enough to have a factory backed test drive.

[Small Farmer]

Hu'Hum...any further thoughts on stopping the Subaru ?

We have a 2012 Forester and that has a conventional handbrake.  But more relevant to your question turning off the engine at the key does not lock the steering until you remove the key, and on ours that takes quite a deliberate effort.  You would lose steering power assistance but not immediately and if the car is still in gear its own motion will drive the hydraulic pump as you slow.


You don't have the model with the "key in the pocket" feature do you?  I'm not fond of the idea myself.

[Fleecewife]

So it would work just to turn off the ignition and stumble to a halt?
 
I don't know what the key in the pocket is, so I probably don't have it    just a normal ignition key with door lock doodah.

[SallyintNorth]

Re: Turning the engine off and coasting to a stop - only if you are on level or slightly rising ground?  If on any downhill slope, you'd be better to keep it in gear so you have the engine braking wouldn't you?

[Fleecewife]

Hi Sally    - yes, that's why I put 'stumble to a halt' meaning still in gear.  Can't reach the clutch or brake from the passenger side, but yes, wouldn't try to knock it out of gear, although if we were going fast, I wonder how it would pan out then.   I really don't want this to happen (although I would be the one collapsing so wouldn't have any say in the matter  ).
The longest I ever coasted in a car (not this one) was about 4 miles in Yorkshire    so it could be a slow way to stop the Scoobie 

[SallyintNorth]

One thought I had was a second brake control on the passenger side - they fit dual controls to cars being used to teach learner drivers, could something similar be fitted?

Or some sort of 'dead man's handle' (gruesome term! ) on the steering wheel, like on an electric lawn mower, so that if you stop holding that, the brake automatically engages?

[Fleecewife]

I think if they were unsafe then the manufacturer would have recalled all models with electronic hand brakes and changed them for manual.  Soon all cars will be driven by robots anyway 
 
My original question was just an idle thought, a 'what if' moment.................................

[Small Farmer]

The top of the range Subarus and a lot of others have a key that merely needs to be near the vehicle to unlock it, and there's just a pushbutton to start the engine.  So the "key" stays in your pocket.


Not sure about it myself.  I could see us swapping drivers and the one with the key wandering off.


There's an automatic braking system standard on some Volvos now which uses radar to look for hazards in front and will intervene if you don't.  Not to mention the Google driverless car which sounds perfect for those trips to the pub.

[doganjo]

About 60 years ago my Mum had a vision, well two actually, but this one is relevant.  She told my sister and I as small children that one day if you wanted to travel anywhere you'd go to your door, clap your hands and a car would come. You'd get in it, tell it where you wanted to go, house number/name, street, town etc, then when you wanted to go home or anywhere else you'd do the same again.  Far sighted or what?

Her other vision was that one day you'd type a list of your groceries on a typewriter (no computers in those days), press a key on the machine, and an hour later your groceries would come down a chute into your kitchen. Not quite so accurate but close - go to supermarkets websites, type your list, and a man with a van comes with the groceries.

Maybe she was a witch?

[SallyintNorth]

Annie, are we related? 

My Dad had a few visions:

• one day we'd get our computing through the TV screen (this in an era when only very large companies had computers; they ran off punched paper tape and took up a whole room)
• one day, handling of waste / rubbish would be big business

I don't think anyone's ever thought anyone on that side of the family was a witch - but I did have one boyfriend used to tell people that my mother was a test pilot in a broom factory...     (He loved her really. )