Do you know that your car can hide some sort of secret pedal? It’s useful in a particular situation, we’ll explain how it works.
Here we go again. We are driving our car and, at the red light, we stop to wait for the green light to return. Some motorists have a habit of holding depress the brake and clutch pedals together in order to get back on track as soon as possible. Others prefer to keep in neutral species to take advantage of the functions Start&Stop of the car.
A type of “secret pedal” present in some cars can make this routine less stressful, especially for those who live in cities or drive on roads that are regularly busy. Let’s find out together.
The “secret pedal” that facilitates braking at traffic lights or in traffic
This “secret pedal” is nothing more than a small button that activates a function called Auto Hold. What is it for? It is a latest generation system designed for hold the brakes of the car when stationaryfor example in case of heavy traffic or at a red light.
With the car kept in auto hold mode it is therefore not necessary to press the brake pedal to keep it stationary, so as to relax the leg a little especially on busy roads. To restart, simply press the accelerator.
The automatic lock function features several advantages as, we have seen, in the case of traffic jams that force us to stop and start again continuously, making driving more comfortable.
Also, it can be useful for keep the car stationary when you have to wait somewhere uphill or downhill, whether it’s to talk on the phone, get a snack or wait for someone. Yes, in short, a bit like the classic “handbrake”.
For this purpose, it is useful therefore for improve road safety avoiding that, in the event of traffic jams, some distracted car ends up on the car in front of him or, conversely, goes backwards until hitting someone.
Is the “secret pedal” available in all cars?
As we said we are talking about a last generation function that for the moment it is found on medium-high range cars and in any case it can be requested from the dealer as an option, even quite expensive.
In general, over time it is clear that will become an increasingly widespread feature and as has happened with many things that were previously only paid options, such as air conditioning or even airbags, it will eventually replace the traditional parking brake.
There auto hold function it can be activated both on cars with manual transmission and on those with automatic transmission. Naturally, in the first case it will be necessary to remember to engage first gear before setting off again, while in the second case operation will be even more fluid and automated.
