Bit of a stupid question probably here.

Browsing eBay as you do, I come across a Phaeton.

What is the 3rd tiny pedal above the foot rest for?

Handbrake.

Aha! Now I know

I had a Q7 once and that had one on, god awful things to operate

The W124 Mercedes had one too...

Love Phaetons. Incredibly well engineered. Bargains too!

Handbrake? I think you mean a footbrake.

Handbrake? I think you mean a footbrake.

Alright smarty pants... a parking brake!?

Hmm... what would happen, if say someone who was used to driving a manual, went to put the clutch down. Wouldn't it put the "parking" brake on full?

I nearly went through the windscreen first time I came to a stop when I test drove a DSG!

Ah the merc W124......that brings back memories of been a apprentice,press the small pedal to apply the handbrake & pull a lever on the dash to release the handbrake,always seizing up due to lack of use (mainly on the autos).

Alright smarty pants... a parking brake!?

:coffee: You got it!

Yeh... you ever driven a manual with that footbrake?! Bloody stupid.

If you want to put the handbrake on you have to really think about it and make sure to take it out of gear so you can use your left foot to engage the brake.

Phil

Yeh... you ever driven a manual with that footbrake?! Bloody stupid.

If you want to put the handbrake on you have to really think about it and make sure to take it out of gear so you can use your left foot to engage the brake.

Phil

I often wonder if designers live in the real world.

I do question some of the "features" that our development department come out with sometimes. :wonder:

They are quite common in the US, but an awful lot of mechanism required to make them work and a pain when they go wrong.

The W124 Mercedes had one too...

Love Phaetons. Incredibly well engineered. Bargains too!

Was there not a story here of someone who had a Phaeton but they were going to be £1200 to replace a dash switch coz it was made from Simon Cowel's tears or some other rare material.

That has to be the most horrible steering wheel i have ever seen :(

I'd quite fancy a phaeton but ive heard stories of unreliability and BIG bills?

Strange cos iv heard the opposite, it's just a passat underneath really.

I'd quite fancy a phaeton but ive heard stories of unreliability and BIG bills?

You mean HUGE bills

Definitely not just a Passat underneath, it's shares a platform with the Bentley Continental! And quite a few bits of the Audi A8. The foot operated parking brake makes sense with autos, but is a complete pain in the arse with a manual. Surprised VW didn't go for an electronic parking brake like the Passat has. Mercedes are still using the foot operated parking brakes now, they're on the latest E-classes.

Was there not a story here of someone who had a Phaeton but they were going to be £1200 to replace a dash switch coz it was made from Simon Cowel's tears or some other rare material.

No idea. I'm talking about the actual development of the car. Such as Piech demanding the development team to ensure the car could cruise for an entire day, at 186mph, with an outside temperature of 50 degrees, whilst maintaining an interior temperature if 22 degrees. Or the fact the car's rigidity had to be 37,000Nm/degree.

Then there's the build process. They were/are totally hand-built, sometimes by two people, but mostly one person made each car... the production line is amazing. Look...

Hazard switch was £1500 as its part of the infotainment unit, made someone cry with that.

No idea. I'm talking about the actual development of the car. Such as Piech demanding the development team to ensure the car could cruise for an entire day, at 186mph, with an outside temperature of 50 degrees, whilst maintaining an interior temperature if 22 degrees. Or the fact the car's rigidity had to be 37,000Nm/degree.

Then there's the build process. They were/are totally hand-built, sometimes by two people, but mostly one person made each car... the production line is amazing. Look...

Nice toolboxes there.

Can't remember who it was on here that had one, think it was a 5.0 TDi which he had 'mapped.

Be interested to see what a V10 TDi maps to... if it's around 20% then there's 370bhp waiting to play in there... and enough torque to reverse the Earth's spin...

On a sidenote, there's loads of the buggers on AutoTrader for peanut... 3.2s are insanely cheap.

I did see on TV a couple of years ago the Towrag V10 towing a 747 Jet, yes serious torque. The early V6 diesels were not that good hence the bargain price.