Motorhome of the year 2023.

[colinm]

cars with electric handbrakes usually have an auto-hold footbrake. Press the foot pedal down firmly and the brakes hold for a set time while you select gear and start again. You can also just put the hand brake on - it will disengage automatically. All the old ways are no longer applicable with modern vehicles
(I don't have an electric handbrake on my current car, but the last two did and I liked them).

First time I drove a car with electric handbrake, pulled up at traffic lights, switched on handbrake, lights changed, drove off then thought "I've forgotten to let off handbrake", of cause it had done it automatically.

 

[colinm]

Blimey Trev. Best you go have a test drive and see for yourself. You don't have to ease of a handbrake anymore.
As mentioned, most vehicles have an auto hold. My last two vans have and they had conventional handbrakes.
More interested in the conversion than the van it's based on

Trev will be worried it's something that damn Bill Gates dreamt up.

 

[trevskoda]

Blimey Trev. Best you go have a test drive and see for yourself. You don't have to ease of a handbrake anymore.
As mentioned, most vehicles have an auto hold. My last two vans have and they had conventional handbrakes.
More interested in the conversion than the van it's based on

I lost my flued brakes one day when up in Derry, got home on the h brake, these days I carry a hose clamp in case of such events, a rear w cyl burst.
Na still want a real h brake which wont require an electrical engineering degree to fix if it goes wrong, no more modern cr-p for me thank you.

 

[Robmac]

Trev will be worried it's something that damn Bill Gates dreamt up.

He's never been the same since they did away with the cranking handle.

 

[trevskoda]

He's never been the same since they did away with the cranking handle.

Something else that was dam handy when setting up the valves and timing.

 

[RSD7a]

Love the quality of the van and some clever designs. there's a claustrohobic feel about the whole thing, but the general spec is impressive.

The one downside to having a super convenient electronic handbrake in my car which I drive every day and not having one on the much less frequently driven van is this. When exiting the car the electronic handbrake comes on automatically and I'm now used to just jumping out. With the van, I've now, a couple of times, begun to leave in the same carefree way only to find it beginning to roll.
Sh -------- t! Never moved so fast in my life.
Beware new habits.

 

[mark61]

I lost my flued brakes one day when up in Derry, got home on the h brake, these days I carry a hose clamp in case of such events, a rear w cyl burst.
Na still want a real h brake which wont require an electrical engineering degree to fix if it goes wrong, no more modern cr-p for me thank you.

Yes, I still prefer old school sometimes as well.
In those Rufford ford clips, it showed how many cars with auto handbrakes couldn't release them when they got stuck, still I guess when you've just hydro locked ya motor a locked handbrake is the least of your worries.
May well be theres a manual way of unlocking brakes, if so, it would appear most don't RTFM

 

[trevskoda]

Love the quality of the van and some clever designs. there's a claustrohobic feel about the whole thing, but the general spec is impressive.

The one downside to having a super convenient electronic handbrake in my car which I drive every day and not having one on the much less frequently driven van is this. When exiting the car the electronic handbrake comes on automatically and I'm now used to just jumping out. With the van, I've now, a couple of times, begun to leave in the same carefree way only to find it beginning to roll.
Sh -------- t! Never moved so fast in my life.
Beware new habits.

When I park up at home I dont use the h brake, two wood blocks on the drive stop it from rolling, if I put my car one on the shoes bond to the drums overnight and I have to rock the thing back and forth to free them, the van does the same if left more than a few days as damp causes swelling and bonding.

 

[Tonybvi]

I have an electric car which, presumably, has an electric (or electronic - what’s the difference?) brake as I have to do absolutely nothing. When I stop the car stops and even on a steep hill the car doesn’t roll away, when I put my foot on the accelerator the car goes. I have no buttons to press or handles to pull.
i have often worried a bit about how effective this is but recently we took a really bad weather crossing on the fast ferry from Poole to Guernsey. There were many announcements about ensuring the handbrake was on tight and the vehicles put in gear. I could do nothing, no brake, no gears. I worried all the crossing about what was happening to the car, especially as at least 2 vehicles had broken free judging by the announcements asking for their drivers to report to reception. On arrival in Guernsey the car was fine and hadn‘t moved an inch. So however the system works it works well!

 

[Dezi]

Very nice, but I still prefer our Murvi Morello.

Dezi

 

[RSD7a]

When I park up at home I dont use the h brake, two wood blocks on the drive stop it from rolling, if I put my car one on the shoes bond to the drums overnight and I have to rock the thing back and forth to free them, the van does the same if left more than a few days as damp causes swelling and bonding.

All a bit of a faff when shopping at Tesco I find.

 

[RSD7a]

Very nice, but I still prefer our Murvi Morello.

Dezi

Murvi. What a van, Dezi. Used to have one until it rusted from the bottom. (54 plate). Such an elegant and clever internal design. Sadly a replacement was beyond our budget and our willingness to wait, so we went for the similar layout Devon Arizona which we're highly pleased with. In fact it's better in some ways.

 

[SimonM]

My car is a DSG with auto handbrake ie no lever to pull. Foot brake on, stick it in drive or reverse as needed then just put foot on the throttle and off it goes. No effort. The throttle pedal take up is what controls the on/off of the brakes

However, it is possible to fool the auto brake when on an incline by slightly depressing the throttle just enough to release the brakes, then it can be made to roll. Not very nice when facing downhill near a kerb when parked up, and applying reverse and only caressing the throttle pedal, then it can roll down into the kerb. The scratched front valance needed a bit of TLC.

It is also not easy to manoeuvre the car ‘slightly’ there is always a bit of a jolt. But overall I like it, but I just hope it doesn’t fail as it will be expensive to sort out no doubt.

 

[trevskoda]

All a bit of a faff when shopping at Tesco I find.

Put it in gear and turn the wheels to the kirb, my old boy always did this, said it saved stretching the cables, dont know why he bothered as he changed car every 2 years.

 

[Obanboy666]

What

When I park up at home I dont use the h brake, two wood blocks on the drive stop it from rolling, if I put my car one on the shoes bond to the drums overnight and I have to rock the thing back and forth to free them, the van does the same if left more than a few days as damp causes swelling and bonding.

What a laugh ! Back in the dark ages comes to mind.
i have a V90 Volvo automatic.
Get in, foot on brake pedal start engine, put in drive and drive away. Love the technology in car, electronic handbrake, keyless entry, auto lights that turn with steering wheel, auto wipers, lane assist, head up display, heated front screen, paddle gear change if I want manual gear change, radar cruise control, auto rear tailgate opening, memory front seats, no dipstick for engine oil, checked by car brain box everytime it starts, and that’s the technology i can remember Lots more. 2 years warranty left then I’ll be changing it so no worries if anything goes wrong.
love It all, makes driving a pleasure.

 

[mark61]

Last work van I had was ex main dealer demo. Had virtually every option on it, lovely van it was too.
Bought the current camper from the same dealer, same sales bloke, he was surprised when I didn't want any of the auto lights, wiper, lane assist, blind spot assist and all the other stuff. Don't you like them he asked, love them all, but not enough to pay extra for them I replied.
Glad it still has a dip stick though, computer check is ok for daily checks, but I like to see the oil on a dip stick every so often.

 

[Fisherman]

Last work van I had was ex main dealer demo. Had virtually every option on it, lovely van it was too.
Bought the current camper from the same dealer, same sales bloke, he was surprised when I didn't want any of the auto lights, wiper, lane assist, blind spot assist and all the other stuff. Don't you like them he asked, love them all, but not enough to pay extra for them I replied.
Glad it still has a dip stick though, computer check is ok for daily checks, but I like to see the oil on a dip stick every so often.

I love tech mark, I am a salesman’s dream customer.
But some of the things I really don't get.
Keyless go, what’s the point. It’s a security hazard, I see hardly any advantage.
Another one an induction phone charger at £300. I do have a usb.
Automatic air con, I just turn the dial up and down, seems pointless particularly when the aircon is only sufficient for the cab and not the whole van.

But I have ordered, auto smart lights, auto wipers, lane assist, brake assist, blind spot assist, led front lights, directional fog lights, the 1800 BHP engine,and more.

 

[trevskoda]

I knew a chap that bought a Volvo with no dipstick, and yep seized after a few weeks, dealer here said he should have looked at the dipstick until he pointed out it had not got one, dealer said still his fault as the light would come on and the car goes into limp mode, took him to court and got his money back.
The outcome was faulty electrics, no need for half of it, must be a lot of easily swayed gadget men here, salesmen love you LOL.

 

[trevskoda]

The next daft thing on my hit list is aircon, what in the name of heavens is that for over here when temps are around zero for 3 mths of the year, hot weather just wind the windows down and smell the fresh country air, pig farms excluded LOL.

 

[mark61]

The next daft thing on my hit list is aircon, what in the name of heavens is that for over here when temps are around zero for 3 mths of the year, hot weather just wind the windows down and smell the fresh country air, pig farms excluded LOL.

Some people do travel out the UK you know

I'm a windows open person too, but when the vans been sitting somewhere in full sun half a day, the air con works wonders. Otherwise you got baking hot air that take ages to cool down. Wouldn't be without it