E-brake starts are just another tool to have, nothing silly to it. Without them, somebody right on your bumper on a San Francisco hill can make life really hard on you and your clutch for that second or two starting off in a manual shift car. Heel-toe is good as well. Practice all techniques, such as ebrake turns in big parking lots when there are no security guards around. Especially fun when it's wet out.

 

No perfection required---just find it far more difficult to add yet another extremity into the coordination mix, which is why I so clearly lodged the word "opinion" in my post...

So sorry (or, you know, I'm not) if anyone took my opinion as an affront to their own driving skills or propensity to e-brake it on hills. It's just not for me and I was simply offering my OPINION.

_________________

 

>>No perfection required---just find it far more difficult to add yet another extremity into the coordination mix, which is why I so clearly lodged the word "opinion" in my post...
>>
>>So sorry (or, you know, I'm not) if anyone took my opinion as an affront to their own driving skills or propensity to e-brake it on hills. It's just not for me and I was simply offering my OPINION.

I don't think anyone took it as an affront to their driving skills, just another tool as someone pointed out.

It's just that your opinion is silly in in my humble opinion. Although I hope we saved some innocent grilles out there! :smile:

Regards,
Red

 

When I took my first license test in California hill country over fifty years ago stopping and starting on a fairly steep upgrade was required. Either heel/toe or e-brake was acceptable so long as the car didn’t roll backwards at all.

Back then if you took the test in an automatic you received a restricted license limited to driving only hydro-flushes.

Another thought about back in the “olden days” of driving. There were no turn signals! When turning a corner you had to use the clutch with one foot and the gas or brake with other while signaling your turn with your left arm and both steering and changing gears with your right hand. IMO if using the e-brake on hills taxes your coordination, then maybe some time should be spent practicing chewing gum while walking.

 

>>
>>When I took my first license test in California hill country over fifty years ago stopping and starting on a fairly steep upgrade was required. Either heel/toe or e-brake was acceptable so long as the car didn’t roll backwards at all.
>>
>>Back then if you took the test in an automatic you received a restricted license limited to driving only hydro-flushes.
>>
>>Another thought about back in the “olden days” of driving. There were no turn signals! When turning a corner you had to use the clutch with one foot and the gas or brake with other while signaling your turn with your left arm and both steering and changing gears with your right hand. IMO if using the e-brake on hills taxes your coordination, then maybe some time should be spent practicing chewing gum while walking.
>>

THAT was really funny! really (but it's just an opinion).

Regards,
Red

 

The E-Brake is certainly better on your car than using the clutch to hold it on a hill (an e-brake is fraction the cost of clutch replacement). Holding position on hills regularly will prematurely wear your clutch down...

However, unless it's a very steep hill AND someone pulled up within a foot of your bumper (allowing no error for rollback)- some practice and expierence should not require the use of the e-brake on hills. Sometimes I have to feather the clutch a bit on very steep hills (usually only with several people in the car and the A/C on), but thats about it...
Granted the Mini and MCS are low-torque cars at the bottom end, but they (IMHO) have decent clutches and (specifically the MCS) have pretty good transmissions...

 

Hand brake jobs on BRG jobs are particularly difficult as I understand that since the BRG's are all built on Mondays by replacement labor, the hand brake levers are usually mis installed....just another warning.......