Nasty noise after engaging reverse

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it's a thing with disc brakes - the clearance between pad and disc is very very small and doesn't take a lot of moisture to bridge the gap.
I also park with handbrake off if on level-ish ground - the problem is prevalent with unassisted brakes such as those in the Elise as the gap has to be that much smaller. At least with 4wd you've got a fair chance of using the engine power to unstick them but with 2wd if a non driven wheel is stuck and you're on gravel then its a case of carving a huge gouge 'till you hit tarmac.

you can use something like wd40 on the discs if you are storing the car for extended periods (say over winter) but just remember to write in big captial letters on a piece of paper what you've done and stick it to the steering wheel as the brakes won't work for a couple wheel revolutions till the film is worn away!

[Nastase]

I tried parking the car without the hand brake on. Same thing happened but less abrupt so I guess it must be the brakes bind effect you guys suggested. The weather is pretty detestable nowadays here with all the snow melting and mixing with the gravel they use instead of salt for roads, then it turns into dirty ice during the night... I'm sure these conditions help to create the bound between pads and disks. We'll see if it goes back to normal in spring and summer. Cheers

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Ahhh gravel. Yes, the salt acts like a bridge so the water can stretch over a larger gap