How does our handbrake work?

[rikrose]

There's many different ways a handbrake could possibly work. How do ours work? What are the parts in use, and what's shared with what's in use when we press the pedal?

I'm thinking about this as I've got new discs and pads going on shortly (this week, I hope), and I want to make sure I'm treating this set exactly right. If I stop at a set of lights on a hill, and I take my foot off the brake but apply the handbrake, am I still holding a hot set of pads onto a hot disc, melting the pads and warping the disc in a localised area, or does our handbrake do something else like lock the diff?

[ChipHazzard]

IIRC the hand brake pushes the pads out against the disc to hold the the car in place

[rikrose]

So, holding the car still at traffic lights on a hill is a choice of footbrake or handbrake, but either will cause hotspots on the discs?

[jeffw]

It's very unlikely you will damage your disks using the handbrake unless you've just come off a track after a 20 min session.

[rikrose]

Excellent. I didn't know how sensitive these things are.

[lemond]

I was wondering about this...the Merc has diddy litte drums but Audi does not (AFAIK) I recall Rover SD1's they had drums on the back and the early ones were pretty poor drums... the drivers woud thrash the blx off them and park up with the handbrake on..... Next time brake judder from oval drums...super... that twin plenum (late model vitesse ) was a nice motor in its day.... apart from the square steering wheel