Electronic Handbrake

And Auto Hold doesn't engage if you haven't got your seatbelt on. I learned that quite early on when I would release the belt when queuing to board the ferry and after leaving it unbuckled during boarding I found the car rolled a fraction until the EPB engaged fully. I now buckle up for the 100yrd drive onto the ferry and the AutoHold keeps the car completely stationary while the EPB fully engages. First few times it scared me silly until I figured out what was happening and decided to just buckle up and take full advantage of the Auto Hold system.

They are separate systems. If the epb is engaged then the auto hold disengages. You can't have and don't want both engaged at the same time.

I like the combo, it works pretty seamlessly in most cases (other than the fine manoeuvre case where it's good you can turn it off).


...if it creaks, it's probably made by VAG

And you cannot pull away if you first have not shut the driver's door! First found this out last year. Came back from the supermarket to the car and started the car and tried to pull away only the car wouldn't budge then realised the door wasn't properly shut. On opening and closing it again the handbrake released - Phew!
Otherwise the combo of Autohold and EPG is so far is excellent and am not quite sure what trouble others are experiencing unless their problems are more evident with DSG cars.

Thanks for the comprehensive explanation, Golfdave.
So the Electronic Parking Brake and the Autohold are two separate systems. I wasn't aware of that.
It sounds to me that the Autohold system may be the more effective of the two as, not only does it act on all four wheels, but also it acts as strongly as your application of the footbrake.
In practice, I use Autohold all the time with the one exception that I stated: when rolling slowly backward down a steep slope, for the reasons I gave.
It is a very useful addition, and one that I have never had the good fortune to have in previous cars.

Autohold is completely adequate for all driving scenarios except when the ignition is off, at which point you need the EPB (which is incredibly powerful btw, I've never had a VW with an effective handbrake before and this is very, very effective).

And this is exactly how the two systems operate if you don't intervene by trying to be clever and pressing buttons all the time..


...if it creaks, it's probably made by VAG

I have had my Golf with manual gearbox for 18 months now and have never had any need to disable Autohold or resort to any sort of trickery to drive my car. Admittedly, I have experimented with things and even pulled up the EPG but only at a very low speed -Don't! Retardation is abrupt and very frightening but I suppose at much higher speeds may be less so.
Autohold, as explained is a completely separate system working on maintaining hydraulic pressure in the brake system. The sytem is much more responsive on inclines than when the car is on the exact level therefore necessitating one to press slightly harder on the brake pedal to 'lock' the car when stopping for whatever reason and this is observed by the appearance of the green icon in the instrument panel.
The EPG operates automatically whenever the ignition is switched off or indeed one can apply it by briefly pulling up the button. In that case the rear brakes are applied by their electric motors and Autohold sort of disengages and Green icon is replaced by Red icon.

When washing the car and should I so wish perhaps to move the car back a few feet whilst sitting in the car, I turn on the ignition then press the brake pedal and then depress the EPG lever whereupon the brakes are released and on my sloping drive the car will move freely until such time when I pull up the EPG lever.

JBR said:

Thanks for the comprehensive explanation, Golfdave.
So the Electronic Parking Brake and the Autohold are two separate systems. I wasn't aware of that.
It sounds to me that the Autohold system may be the more effective of the two as, not only does it act on all four wheels, but also it acts as strongly as your application of the footbrake.
In practice, I use Autohold all the time with the one exception that I stated: when rolling slowly backward down a steep slope, for the reasons I gave.
It is a very useful addition, and one that I have never had the good fortune to have in previous cars.

Click to expand...

No problems...& yes I have my autohold one all the time.....when coming to a stop you should ease off the brakes a fraction for normal smooth braking...I then reapply the brake fully once I am stopped before I fully remove my foot of the pedal..


& yes steep uphill with the auto hold is nerve wracking at first....it will adapt & so will you...but if you are really worried then lift up the EPB switch & release it & you will here the motors engage...then you can move off without rolling back...

Correct function of the Autohold on steep hill is better if you apply more throttle...eg as you are lifting up the clutch you are applying some accelerator....it helps..(as you should with a manual handbrake)..otherwise you are off clutch & then on accelerator...too slow & the engine can bog down..& the autohold releases & you roll back....

dr_mat said:

Autohold is completely adequate for all driving scenarios except when the ignition is off, at which point you need the EPB

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Yes, I now use only the Autohold facility.
However, once stopped and the engine is turned off, I notice that the EPB light comes on as the Autohold light goes off.
Interesting.

golfdave said:

& yes steep uphill with the auto hold is nerve wracking at first....it will adapt & so will you...but if you are really worried then lift up the EPB switch & release it & you will here the motors engage...then you can move off without rolling back...

Click to expand...

Actually, the example I gave of turning off Autohold is when I reverse out of the garage and down the very steep drive, rolling backwards and trying to control it with the footbrake.
As you would expect, releasing the foot brake results in the Autohold operating. Then when I go into reverse and set off again, it is jerky. It is much smoother and simpler to turn off Autohold and just control the rolling back (clutch in) with the foot brake.

I have no problem moving off uphill in a forward gear from Autohold.

JBR said:

Yes, I now use only the Autohold facility.
However, once stopped and the engine is turned off, I notice that the EPB light comes on as the Autohold light goes off.
Interesting.

Click to expand...

Yes. The system automatically puts the parking brake on when the ignition goes off. It uses the same light on the dash so they can't both be on at the same time....


...if it creaks, it's probably made by VAG