Works the same way in VW/Skoda etc. You only try it once (and not at speed). Full on breaking with ABS as others have stated. No hand brake turns that's for sure.

Same as if the collision prevention sensor thinks your going to hit something, now that really does surprise you. Have that a few times in my V70. Parking into a parking space with an overhanging hedge is a good situation to trigger it. Doesn't half wake you up.

I have had two occasions in my motoring life (45 years) when use of the handbrake saved me from accident - once in a FWD Ford Fiesta XR2 (pre ABS) when the car in front lost control in the snow and spun in front of me - I entered rapidly into an emergency handbrake assisted, tail-out slow down (which worked). Just braking would have meant I slid into the car blocking the road.

The other time was, again, in the snow, but this time in one of my RWD Volvo 940 estates. On this occasion a large single decker bus decided to pull out of a side road in Ipswich and fill the only available carriageway; I flicked the back of the "old wagon" out with the hand brake and opposite lock to slow it and enable me to then power into the packed snow on the left side of the road. A near miss. Must have looked impressive, a Volvo wagon hanging its back right out...

Ah Well.... I just wondered. It was certainly an option on my previous car - Jaguar S Type.

In fairness I've not had any real problem - just a couple of times I have noticed a "clunk" when moving off.

I heartily agree with all the comments about electrickery on modern cars. How did we ever mange when presented with a large lever which required a hefty tug??

One final note from me..... We live in a VERY flat coastal area and hill starts are not an issue. We visited friends in the Peak District last weekend... Lo and Behold I DO have the auto hold feature!

My thanks to all who have responded

Peter

On a slightly separate but related matter, when the car is in reactive cruise control and the system applies the brakes to reduce speed, do the brake lights operate??

Yes, they do.

Thanks for that.

On the subject of cruise…. What about when the cruise is set for 70mph in a Volvo with “ordinary” cruise (not adaptive). You see a car slowing down in front for example in plenty of time, so you adjust your speed lower with the steering controls to gradually slow down, instead of slamming on the brakes. Does lowering speed by the steering controls put the brake lights on?

I wouldn't think so. The brakes would have to be applied. AG

On my XC70 2012 I notice that merely lifting off the accelerator has very little deceleration effect and the car cruises on at virtually the same speed. The car needs to be driven with the brakes. However, if I'm using cruise control and opt to reduce the cruise speed to formate on the car ahead, the effect of reducing the control speed setting is to immediately reduce the speed of the car. Can this mean that the brakes are indeed automatically applied until the demanded speed is attained and if that were the case, would the brake lights not operate? I mention this purely out of curiosity.

If you have adaptive cruised control, then the car actively slows down either if you catch up with somebody driving slower or if you reduce the set speed significantly. This is especially true if the car's cruise control software hasn't been updated in a 2012 model. When my 2012 was new it braked even with rather a small reduction in the set speed, but after some update not so much.